Add Links to the “Resources” List in SharePoint Central Administration

The Resources list in the SharePoint Central Administration site lets you keep frequently accessed links to the home page. Say, for example, To access the user profile service application, you’ll have to navigate through the following:

  1. Central Administration >> Application Management 
  2. Manage Service Applications >> Search and pick your user profile service application.

Sometimes, you’ll find difficulty navigating To-And-Fro in SharePoint Central Administration. So, a Resources list comes in handy to manage this hassle. Just add your frequently accessed links to it! When you log into the SharePoint Central Administration site, you’ll see the Resources link list in the right pane.

Consider Resources list as your Favorites or Bookmarks List!
sharepoint 2013 central admin resources list

To add a link/remove links in the resources list:

  1. Click on the “Resources” link from the SharePoint Central Admin home page (or you can Click the gear icon and click Site Contents >>  Find the Resources list)
  2. From here, you can add or delete the link like any list item.
    sharepoint 2013 add link to resources list in central admin

This saves time and effort, especially if you have trouble finding service applications in Central Admin.

Populate Resources List using PowerShell

Let’s use PowerShell to add items to the Resources list in the SharePoint Central Administration site.

Add-PSSnapin Microsoft.SharePoint.Powershell -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue

#Get Central Administration Site
$CentralAdminUrl = Get-SPWebApplication -includecentraladministration | where {$_.IsAdministrationWebApplication} | Select -ExpandProperty URL

#Get Resources list from Central Admin
$List = (Get-SPWeb -identity $CentralAdminUrl).Lists["Resources"]

#Get Service Applications to add to Resources List
$ServiceApps = Get-SPServiceApplication | Where {($_.TypeName -eq "Excel Services Application") `
                                 -or ($_.TypeName -eq "Managed Metadata Service") `
                                 -or ($_.TypeName -eq "User Profile Service Application") `
                                 -or ($_.TypeName -eq "Search Service Application") `
                                 -or ($_.TypeName -eq "Business Data Connectivity Service Application") }

#Loop through and Add Links to Resources list
foreach ($App in $ServiceApps)
{
    $Item = $List.Items.Add()
    $Item["URL"] = "$($App.ManageLink.Url), $($App.DisplayName)"
    $Item.Update()
}

Write-Host "Service Application Links added to Resource List!" -f Green

Salaudeen Rajack

Salaudeen Rajack - Information Technology Expert with Two-decades of hands-on experience, specializing in SharePoint, PowerShell, Microsoft 365, and related products. He has held various positions including SharePoint Architect, Administrator, Developer and consultant, has helped many organizations to implement and optimize SharePoint solutions. Known for his deep technical expertise, He's passionate about sharing the knowledge and insights to help others, through the real-world articles!

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