Configuring dynamic links
Dynamic Links allow you to populate the Goodreads and purchase links fields automatically, without having to enter them yourself. Note that in doing this, your links will not lead directly to the listing page. Instead, they will link to search results for that book title and author. Here's an example using Goodreads:
Without dynamic links
The Label
Notice how [goodreads] is used as the link placeholder.
The post field
You must manually add the Goodreads URL into the box on the Edit/Add Post page.
Where the link leads
The link leads directly to the listing of the book.
With dynamic links
The Label
When Dynamic Links are enabled, you don't use the [goodreads] placeholder in the URL. Instead, you enter the full URL to the Goodreads search results page, and use [title] and [author] as placeholders. The example you see above is:
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=✓&query=[title] [author]" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> <br>
Then, in the code, the [title] placeholder gets replaced with the title of the book, and the [author] placeholder gets replaced with the author's name.
The post field
When using Dynamic Links, you can leave the Goodreads URL box completely blank on the Edit/Add post page. The Goodreads URL will still be added to your post automatically.
Where the link leads
As you can see, the link we added to the label gets transformed into this URL:
https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=%E2%9C%93&query=the+one+kiera+cass
This takes us to the search results page for "the one kiera cass". Since it's a search results page, your readers will have to go through an extra step of clicking on the correct book, which may not always appear as the top result.
How to set up dynamic links
Step #1: Enable them
Go to Ultimate BB » Book Information and find the field for Enable Dynamic Links. Switch that to "On".
Step #2: Set up the Goodreads label
In Ultimate BB » Book Information, scroll down to the Configuration section. Edit the Goodreads text to look like this:
You want the label to read:
<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/search?utf8=✓&query=[title] [author]" target="_blank">Goodreads</a> <br>
You can change the surrounding text/markup to whatever you want, but you must use that value inside the href="" tags.
After editing the label, make sure you click the blue Save Changes button.
Step #3: Set up your purchase links
Go to Ultimate BB » Purchase Links and add your purchase links. You do not want to follow the instructions and put the [link] shortcode inside the <a href=""> tags. Instead, you want to enter the search URL for each site with [title] and [author] placeholders. Here are a few examples for the "Template" fields:
Amazon:
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=[title] [author]" target="_blank">Buy on Amazon</a>
Barnes & Noble:
<a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/?store=allproducts&keyword=[title] [author]" target="_blank">Barnes & Noble</a>
The Book Depository:
<a href="http://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=[title] [author]&search=Find+book" target="_blank">The Book Depository</a>
Stop a dynamic link from displaying
The beauty of dynamic links is that the URL will show up on your post even when you link the box on the Edit Post page blank. But there may be instances where you don't want a link to appear at all. If that's the case, then put this in the Goodreads or purchase link box on the Edit Post page:
[nolink]
If the box contains the code [nolink] then the Goodreads or purchase link will not show up on the post.