Universal Link is a new way for Visiolink customers to link to their content across devices. The link is smart and will react differently depending on the device the link is accessed from. If it’s on a PC it will open link in the browser and if it’s on an iPhone it will open the installed app.
You can link to almost anything in your solution, examples are: open the app, open specific articles, open specific publications on a specific page and more.
What it does
Send a single Universal Link through the mail, social media or through push messages and the users will access the links content in different ways depending on what device they are on. A PC user will open it in his browser, while a user on his iPhone will open the app. Both will see the same content, but displayed the best way possible on their current device.
What happens if app is not installed?
If you click on a Universal Link on a mobile or tablet device and the app isn't installed, then you will open the link in a browser and see our web solution (and be prompted to login if there is any validation). Additionally, on iOS you will see a smartbanner with a link to download the app.
Requirements
For Universal Links to work you need to have your Visiolink products up to date for the feature to work.
Visiolink Desktop Web App
This is a must-have feature for Universal Links to work. Without it you won’t be able to generate links. It’s not enough to have the Desktop Web Reader.
iOS
Resubmit needed to add the Desktop Web App domain to the app. If not, then the link will open to the website instead of in the app.
Android
Resubmit needed to add the Desktop Web App domain to the app. If not, then the link will open to the website instead of in the app.
Validation
Visiolink has a lot of different customers with different validation solutions. Some validations might not work with Universal Links. Device validations and token validations should work, but we will need to evaluate any validation integrations manually.
Browsers
On iOS, only Safari works. On Android, only Chrome works. This mean that if you access the link from a different source on those devices, it will not work. Example could also be Gmail or Facebook app opening in their own browser. We don't actively support those browsers.
QR code
You can use these links with QR code, but with the same browser limitation as above. It won't work as expected if QR reader opens in a different browser.
Link redirection
You can't redirect a link to a universal link. For Universal Links to work, the user must click it personally and not through automated or redirected links. This is due to security measures on Android and iOS, which will only open an app if the user specifically selects a link which the app knows. Otherwise the user will open the link in the browser instead of the app.
Generating Links
Link generation is easiest through the Visiolink Desktop Web App.
To generate a link, you simply navigate to the desired page or article and copy the URL (the address specified in the address bar at the top of your browser).
It should look something like this:
https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/test/7698/publications/943/articles/719831/1/3
This links to an article and if the link is accessed from an iPad the same article will be shown in the iOS app.
Generating links manually
This is a list of the link structures and usage.
Specific parameters are required depending on usage:
[URL] - Your Desktop Web App URL.
[PREFIX_TITLE] – Prefix for specific title in your app. You can find your titles in the Visiolink Publishing Hub.
[FOLDER] - The folder ID. You can find your titles in the Visiolink Publishing Hub under publication overview.
[PUBLICATION] - Publication number of the publication you want to link. You can find your titles in the Visiolink Publishing Hub under publication overview.
[PAGE] - Page number in a given publication.
[ARTICLE] - Article number in a given publication, structured like this: "685902/6/5". Can't be found in Visiolink Publishing Hub, so best way to get it is to look at URL from open article on web.
[DATE] - Date of the publication you want to link.
[VOUCHER] - Unique voucher code to open publication for free.
[DEEPLINK] - Deeplink to any navigation point in a modular app. NB. Only supported in Modular Apps
[USERNAME] - Username of a registered user. NB. DEPRECATED
[PASSWORD] - Password of a registered user. NB. DEPRECATED
Open app
Open the app on the default start screen
URL: [URL]
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub
Open title - NB. DEPRECATED
Open Desktop Web App on the title screen for the title "Visiolink"
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/visiolink/7698
Open latest issue
Open latest publication in the title "Visiolink"
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]/latest
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/visiolink/7698/latest
Open latest issue on page
Open latest issue in the title "Visiolink" on page 2
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]/latest/pages/[PAGE]
Open the latest issue from the a specific title on a specific page
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/visiolink/7698/latest/pages/2
Open issue on date and page
Open an issue on the 8th of february 2018 from the title "Visiolink" on page 3
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]/dates/[DATE]/pages/[PAGE]
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/visiolink/7698/dates/2018-02-08/pages/3
Open specific issue on page
Open issue #435 from the title "Visiolink" on page 4
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]/publications/[PUBLICATION]/pages/[PAGE]
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/visiolink/7698/publications/435/pages/4
Show article list - NB. DEPRECATED (Not implemented on Web and modular app)
Open publication #848 in title "Visiolink" with the article list open
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]/publications/[PUBLICATION]/articles
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/visiolink/7698/publications/848/articles
Open article in title
Open a specific publication with a article "685902/6/5" open
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]/publications/[PUBLICATION]/articles[ARTICLE]
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/test/7698/publications/848/articles/685902/6/5
Show archive - NB. DEPRECATED
Open the archive on the title "Visiolink"
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]/archive
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/QA/visiolink/7698/archive
Open latest issue with voucher
Open a specific publication with voucher "freepaper"
URL: [URL]/titles/[PREFIX_TITLE]/[FOLDER]/publications/[PUBLICATION]?voucher=[VOUCHER]
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/titles/visiolink/7698/publications/435/?voucher=freepaper
Note: Voucher can be added in the end of any other URL
Open deeplink in modular app - NB. Only supported in Modular Apps
Open any deeplink in a modular app - below example will link to a named container in a named universe
URL: [URL]/app/[DEEPLINK]
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/app/epaperUniverse|.archiveContainer
Open issue with credentials - NB. DEPRECATED
Open latest issue with username = "universal" and password = "link"
URL: [URL]/latest?username=[USERNAME]&password=[PASSWORD]
Example: https://test.e-pages.pub/latest?username=universal&password=link
Note: This is not supported on desktop, but is still possible for apps
Comments