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External Link Assets in Cascade

An external link asset links to an external source while using the functionality of internal links.

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An external link asset is a way to link to an external source (i.e., a page on a different website) but still keep the functionality of using internal links in Cascade. Some components only allow for linking to internal links, so you must use an external link asset to be able to link to an external source.

Learn the difference between internal and external links in Cascade

Creating an External Link Asset

  1. Open the _external-site-links folder in the preview pane
  2. Click Add Content in the upper left corner of the Cascade navigation bar
  3. Click External Link
  4. Fill out the required information:
    1. Link Name: The link name is for internal use only and must be unique and contain no spaces, special characters or capital letters. It should be something meaningful to your site editors so that they know what it links to (i.e., tamu-website-home).
    2. Display Name: The display name will be used as the link text when added as a link to a page if no other link text is set.
    3. Link: The URL to which you want this asset to point (i.e., https://www.tamu.edu).
  5. Click Preview Draft
  6. Click Submit
  7. Enter version comments that will be saved in the asset’s version history.
  8. Click Submit

Linking to Phone Numbers

You can use the external link assets to create links to phone numbers.

When creating an external link asset following the steps above, you will fill out the required fields in this manner:

  • Link Name: The link name is for internal use only and must be unique and contain no spaces, special characters or capital letters. It should be something meaningful to your site editors so that they know what it links to (i.e., tamu-office-phone).
  • Display Name: Enter the phone number to call in the following format: tel:XXX-XXX-XXXX
  • Link: Add a valid URL format to this field (e.g., https://979-123-3456). When the Display Name is a properly formatted phone number, it will not use this URL, but this field is required by Cascade CMS.
Example External Asset for Phone Numbers
Link Name Display Name Link
example-phone-number tel:979-123-4567 https://979-123-3456