After deleting several links I'm not sure if I should give new links that are added these old ID's or not? Let's say I've deleted link #'s 2, 3, and 4.....my links.db file looks like this now:
1|link info
5|link info
6|link info
etc......

Should I update the id text file to read 1 so that the next link added will be 2? Or will it effect anything if I just leave as is? Also, if I add a link directly from the admin section, and it currently reads 6002 as the link ID # will it corrupt the database if I manually change it myself (to 2) when adding this link? Sorry if these questions were asked before. Thank you for any replies.

No reason to change the numbering, unless you really can't stand the gaps between ID #'s. If you do add link #2 after link #6, for example, I believe your database numbering will go:

1|link info
5|link info
6|link info
2|link info

I don't think this will cause any problems, seeing as how the next ID # is selected independently of the links.db order, but why risk confusing the program?

The only real limiting factor I am aware of is the overall size of the database. The size of the link ID # shouldn't make any difference.

Dan

Re-numbering the Link ID is not a good idea for the following reasons:

1) Users will be confused about which ID to use when editing their links.

2) If you add Mods like the External Rate It script, then you will have to constantly contact your LINK OWNERS to tell them their new ID, which again raises confusion.

3) Some people may link their links in your directory by the jump.cgi file, and if you change IDs, then it will again raise confusion for LINK OWNERS and general web visitors.

Regards,

------------------
Eliot Lee....
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To take Eliot's points one step further. I had about 200 links hardcoded with jump.cgi ID's in a "featured" file for another part of the site. While upgrading to Links SQL, I noticed that the import procedure compresses unused ID #'s, which meant all of my hardcoded featured links had the wrong ID #...

There are a few ways around problems such as these, but in short, I'd recommend avoiding putting too much reliance on non-Links built (i.e. static) jump.cgi ID #'s.

Dan

Ok....cool! Thanks guys, I appreciate the tips. It's good to know I can save myself some work and leave them as is. :-)