Display Link Lists in the SharePoint 2013 Content Query Web Part

There are lots of articles out there about how to display a Link List in the Content Query Web Part (CQWP) for SharePoint 2007 and SharePoint 2010. However, today I had to set one up for SharePoint 2013 and things have changed slightly.

First of all, what hasn’t change is the XSL you can use to create a new display style. The XSL and where to add it can be found here – http://sympmarc.com/2011/02/15/displaying-links-lists-urls-in-a-content-query-web-part-cqwp-in-sharepoint-2010/

If you don’t want to go to that URL, simply place the following code in the ItemStyles.xsl in /Style Library/XSL Style Sheets.

<xsl:template name="LinkList" match="Row[@Style='LinkList']" mode="itemstyle">
     <xsl:variable name="SafeLinkUrl">
         <xsl:call-template name="OuterTemplate.GetSafeLink">
             <xsl:with-param name="UrlColumnName" select="@URL"/>
         </xsl:call-template>
     </xsl:variable>
     <xsl:variable name="DisplayTitle">
         <xsl:call-template name="OuterTemplate.GetTitle">
             <xsl:with-param name="Title" select="@URL"/>
             <xsl:with-param name="UrlColumnName" select="'LinkUrl'"/>
         </xsl:call-template>
     </xsl:variable>
     <xsl:variable name="TheLink">
<xsl:value-of select="substring-before($DisplayTitle,',')"/>
     </xsl:variable>
     <div id="linkitem">
         <xsl:call-template name="OuterTemplate.CallPresenceStatusIconTemplate"/>
         <a href="{$TheLink}" target="_blank" title="This link opens in a new window">
         <xsl:value-of select="substring-after($DisplayTitle,',')"/>
         </a>
     </div>
 </xsl:template>

<xsl:template name="LinkList" match="Row[@Style='LinkList']" mode="itemstyle">

<xsl:variable name="SafeLinkUrl">

<xsl:call-template name="OuterTemplate.GetSafeLink">

<xsl:with-param name="UrlColumnName" select="@URL"/>

</xsl:call-template>

</xsl:variable>

<xsl:variable name="DisplayTitle">

<xsl:call-template name="OuterTemplate.GetTitle">

<xsl:with-param name="Title" select="@URL"/>

<xsl:with-param name="UrlColumnName" select="'LinkUrl'"/>

</xsl:call-template>

</xsl:variable>

<xsl:variable name="TheLink">

<xsl:value-of select="substring-before($DisplayTitle,',')"/>

</xsl:variable>

<xsl:call-template name="OuterTemplate.CallPresenceStatusIconTemplate"/>

<xsl:value-of select="substring-after($DisplayTitle,',')"/>

</a>

</div>

</xsl:template>

Another recommendation in the comments of the same post is to use the Bulleted Title style that’s out of the box. Only downside is you get the bullets before you links.

If you use the XSL above, under the Presentation section of the webpart, for SharePoint 2007 and SharePoint 2010 you need to put “URL [Custom Columns]” in the Links Field. For SharePoint 2013 you need to change it to “URL [Base Columns]”. The same applies for the Bulleted Title option. For SharePoint 2017 and SharePoint 2010 has you put “URL [Custom Columns]” in the URL field and then put “Notes” in the Title field. For SharePoint 2013 you place “URL [Base Columns]” in the URL Field.