Class link pages students can open and nobody else can edit
4 min read · Switching & alternatives
Symbaloo organizes class links as tile webmixes, which works well until a subject grows past a screenful of tiles. Linksley is a Symbaloo alternative that gives the same links a structure instead of a grid: one board per class, one category per unit, and links inside those. Boards can be shared view-only, so students open every link and change none of them, and there are no ads on any Linksley plan.
When the webmix outgrows the screen
The Grade 7 science webmix started with twelve tiles. It has sixty now, spread over three pages, and the tile for the lab safety video is somewhere in the middle of page two. A grid is a good way to show ten links and a poor way to hold sixty, because a grid has no hierarchy. Every tile is the same size, the same color weight, and the same distance from every other tile, so the only way to find one is to look at all of them.
The second complaint teachers raise is about what surrounds the resources. A page carrying ad space next to a reading list is a page you preview before you project it. And when a colleague can edit a shared webmix, a well-meant tidy-up can quietly remove the link half your class needs on Monday morning.
One board per class, one category per unit
Linksley structures links as board, then categories, then links, with one level of subcategories when a unit needs it. In practice a teacher ends up with a board called Grade 7 Science and categories named after units: Cells, Forces, Lab Safety, Assessment. Finding a link becomes reading a heading rather than scanning a wall.
Every board is searchable, and the browser extension can make your boards the new tab page, which is the page you open most during a prep period. It renders instantly from a local cache, so it does not wait on a network call while you are mid-lesson. Saving a page is a keyboard shortcut, a right-click, or the extension popup.
You stay the only editor
Sharing happens per person or per group, and any person can be capped at view-only. The cap is enforced in the web app and in the browser extension, so a shared board cannot be edited from a popup either. Delegating is explicit: a colleague only gets Can share if you grant it. If a department head needs everyone to keep a board, an admin can push it as a required board that members cannot remove.
Symbaloo gives a class link a spot on a grid; Linksley gives it a category, an owner, and a permission.That matters most in June. When a student teacher leaves or a co-teacher moves schools, you revoke access in one action and every link stays with the workspace, and a board can be reassigned to whoever teaches the class next year.
Getting the links in front of students
For a page students open without an account, publish a board as a public page. It gets a clean URL, one of five themes (Classic, Gallery, Launcher, Showcase, Card Grid), a header image, a tagline, and a short description under each link so the class knows what they are clicking before they click it. You can put a password on the share link, or require an account to view. Publishing public pages is a Business-plan feature; sharing a board view-only with named people is not.
If the tile wall itself is what you like, this is the honest trade. Symbaloo still does tiles, and a picture-first grid that a nine-year-old navigates without reading is a real thing that Linksley does not try to be. Card Grid gets closest on a published page. Choose on the shape of your link list, not on the theme.
Moving without retyping sixty links
Linksley imports any browser's bookmarks HTML file, plus Toby JSON, Raindrop CSV and Pocket CSV exports, from Import and export in the sidebar. Each import lands as a board, with folders becoming categories. There is no direct webmix importer, so the practical route out of a tile grid is to bookmark the tiles into a browser folder, export that folder, and import the file.
Leaving is the same motion in reverse: Linksley exports standard bookmarks HTML at any time, on every plan, including the free one.
Common questions
Is there a free Symbaloo alternative for teachers?
Linksley has a free plan with one board, forever, and no card required. One board holds many categories, so a single class or subject fits comfortably. Paid plans start at $3 a month when you need more boards.
Can students edit a link board I share with them?
Only if you let them. Each person you share with can be capped at view-only, and that cap is enforced in the web app and in the browser extension.
Does Linksley show ads on class resources?
No. There are no ads on any plan, including the free one, and none on published public boards.
Does Linksley work on school tablets?
The web app opens in a phone or tablet browser, but the board experience is built desktop-first and there is no mobile app. The extension supports Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Opera, not Safari.
One board per class
Start free on one board, keep the only set of edit rights, and show your students a page with no ads on it.
Start free