diff --git a/bibtexbrowser.php b/bibtexbrowser.php
index 253fca9..c8228d9 100755
--- a/bibtexbrowser.php
+++ b/bibtexbrowser.php
@@ -86,6 +86,8 @@ function bibtexbrowser_configure($key, $value) {
 
 @define('BIBTEXBROWSER_NO_DEFAULT', false);
 
+// BIBTEXBROWSER_LINK_STYLE defines which function to use to display the links of a bibtex entry
+@define('BIBTEXBROWSER_LINK_STYLE','bib2links_default');
 // do we add [bibtex] links ?
 // suggested by Sascha Schnepp
 @define('BIBTEXBROWSER_BIBTEX_LINKS',true);
@@ -1052,12 +1054,75 @@ class BibEntry {
     return BIBTEXBROWSER_URL.'?'.createQueryString(array(Q_KEY=>$this->getKey(), Q_FILE=>$this->filename));
   }
 
-  /** returns a "[pdf]" link if relevant */
+  /** Read the bibtex field $bibfield and return a link with icon or text
+   * e.g. given the bibtex entry: @article{myarticle, pdf={myarticle.pdf}},
+   * $bibtexentry->getLink('pdf') creates a link to myarticle.pdf using the text '[pdf]'.
+   * $bibtexentry->getLink($bibfield,$icon,$def) specifies the icon url $icon and default text $def.
+  */
+  function getLink($bibfield,$iconurl=NULL,$def=NULL) {
+    $show = true;
+    if ( $bibfield === 'pdf' || $bibfield === 'url' ) { $show = BIBTEXBROWSER_PDF_LINKS; };
+    if ($def==NULL) { $def=$bibfield; }
+    $str = $this->getIconOrTxt($def,$iconurl);
+    if ( $show && $this->hasField($bibfield)) {
+       return ' <a'.(BIBTEXBROWSER_BIB_IN_NEW_WINDOW?' target="_blank" ':'').' href="'.$this->getField($bibfield).'">'.$str.'</a>';
+    }
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  /* a few specializations of getLink */
+
+  /** returns a "[url]" link if relevant. modified to exploit the new method, while keeping backward compatibility */ 
   function getUrlLink() {
-    if ($this->hasField('url')) return ' <a'.(BIBTEXBROWSER_BIB_IN_NEW_WINDOW?' target="_blank" ':'').' href="'.$this->getField('url').'">[pdf]</a>';
+    return $this->getLink('url');
+  }
+
+  /** returns a "[bib]" link if relevant */
+  function getBibLink($iconurl=NULL) {
+    if (BIBTEXBROWSER_BIBTEX_LINKS) {
+      $bibstr = $this->getIconOrTxt('bibtex',$iconurl);
+      $href = 'href="'.$this->getURL().'"';
+      $link = "<a".(BIBTEXBROWSER_BIB_IN_NEW_WINDOW?' target="_blank" ':'')." class=\"biburl\" title=\"".$this->getKey()."\" {$href}>$bibstr</a>";
+      return $link;
+    } else {
+      return '';
+    }
+  }
+
+
+  /** DOI are a special kind of links, where the url depends on the doi */
+  function getDoiLink($iconurl=NULL) {
+    $str = $this->getIconOrTxt('doi',$iconurl);
+    if (BIBTEXBROWSER_DOI_LINKS && $this->hasField('doi')) {
+        return ' <a href="http://dx.doi.org/'.$this->getField('doi').'">'.$str.'</a>';
+    }
     return '';
   }
 
+  /** GS are a special kind of links, where the url depends on the google scholar id */
+  function getGSLink($iconurl=NULL) {
+    $str = $this->getIconOrTxt('cites',$iconurl);
+    // Google Scholar ID
+    if (BIBTEXBROWSER_GSID_LINKS && $this->hasField('gsid')) {
+        return ' <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites='.$this->getField("gsid").'">'.$str.'</a>';
+    }
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  /** replace [$ext] with an icon whose url is defined in a string
+   *  e.g. getIconOrTxt('pdf') will print '[pdf]'
+   *  or   getIconOrTxt('pdf','http://link/to/icon.png') will use the icon linked by the url, or print '[pdf'] 
+   *  if the url does not point to a valid file (using the "alt" property of the "img" html tag)
+   */
+  function getIconOrTxt($txt,$iconurl=NULL) {
+    if ( $iconurl==NULL ) {
+      $str='['.$txt.']';
+    } else {
+      $str='<img class="icon" src="'.$iconurl.'" alt="['.$txt.']" title="'.$txt.'"/>';
+    }
+    return $str;
+  }
+
   /** Reruns the abstract */
   function getAbstract() {
     if ($this->hasField('abstract')) return $this->getField('abstract');
@@ -1235,6 +1300,16 @@ class BibEntry {
     return $this->formatAuthor($authors[0]) . $etal;
   }
 
+  /**
+  * Returns a compacted string form of author names by throwing away
+  * all author names except for the first one and appending ", et al."
+  */
+  function getVeryCompactedAuthors(){
+    $authors = $this->getRawAuthors();
+    $etal = count($authors) > 1 ? ', et al.' : '';
+    list($firstname, $lastname) = splitFullName($authors[0]);
+    return $lastname . $etal;
+  }
 
   /** add the link to the homepage if it is defined in a string
    *  e.g. @string{hp_MartinMonperrus="http://www.monperrus.net/martin"}
@@ -1390,7 +1465,7 @@ class BibEntry {
           break;
       }
       $result .= bib2html($this);
-      $result .= $this->bib2links();
+      $result .= bib2links($this);
       switch(BIBTEXBROWSER_LAYOUT) { // close row
         case 'list':
           $result .= '</li>'."\n";
@@ -1475,37 +1550,6 @@ class BibEntry {
         return '<a name="'.$this->getRawAbbrv().'"></a>';
   }
 
-  /** returns a collection of links for the given bibtex entry
-   *  e.g. [bibtex] [doi][pdf]
-   */
-  function bib2links() {
-    $href = 'href="'.$this->getURL().'"';
-
-    $str = '';
-  
-    if (BIBTEXBROWSER_BIBTEX_LINKS) {
-      // we add biburl and title to be able to retrieve this important information
-      // using Xpath expressions on the XHTML source
-      $str .= " <a".(BIBTEXBROWSER_BIB_IN_NEW_WINDOW?' target="_blank" ':'')." class=\"biburl\" title=\"".$this->getKey()."\" {$href}>[bibtex]</a>";
-    }
-
-    if (BIBTEXBROWSER_PDF_LINKS) {
-      // returns an empty string if no url present
-      $str .= $this->getUrlLink();
-    }
-
-    if (BIBTEXBROWSER_DOI_LINKS && $this->hasField('doi')) {
-      $str .= ' <a href="http://dx.doi.org/'.$this->getField("doi").'">[doi]</a>';
-    }
-
-    // Google Scholar ID
-    if (BIBTEXBROWSER_GSID_LINKS && $this->hasField('gsid')) {
-      $str .= ' <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites='.$this->getField("gsid").'">[cites]</a>';
-    }
-
-    return $str;
-  }
-
 
 
    /**
@@ -1580,6 +1624,37 @@ function get_HTML_tag_for_layout() {
   return $tag;
 }
 
+/** returns a collection of links for the given bibtex entry
+ *  e.g. [bibtex] [doi][pdf]
+ */
+function bib2links_default(&$bibentry) {
+  $href = 'href="'.$bibentry->getURL().'"';
+
+  $str = '';
+
+  if (BIBTEXBROWSER_BIBTEX_LINKS) {
+    // we add biburl and title to be able to retrieve this important information
+    // using Xpath expressions on the XHTML source
+    $str .= " <a".(BIBTEXBROWSER_BIB_IN_NEW_WINDOW?' target="_blank" ':'')." class=\"biburl\" title=\"".$bibentry->getKey()."\" {$href}>[bibtex]</a>";
+  }
+
+  if (BIBTEXBROWSER_PDF_LINKS) {
+    // returns an empty string if no url present
+    $str .= $bibentry->getUrlLink();
+  }
+
+  if (BIBTEXBROWSER_DOI_LINKS && $bibentry->hasField('doi')) {
+    $str .= ' <a href="http://dx.doi.org/'.$bibentry->getField("doi").'">[doi]</a>';
+  }
+
+  // Google Scholar ID
+  if (BIBTEXBROWSER_GSID_LINKS && $bibentry->hasField('gsid')) {
+    $str .= ' <a href="http://scholar.google.com/scholar?cites='.$bibentry->getField("gsid").'">[cites]</a>';
+  }
+
+  return $str;
+}
+
 
 /** prints the header of a layouted HTML, depending on BIBTEXBROWSER_LAYOUT e.g. <TABLE> */
 function print_header_layout() {
@@ -1597,6 +1672,12 @@ function bib2html(&$bibentry) {
   return $function($bibentry);
 }
 
+/** this function encapsulates the user-defined name for bib2links */
+function bib2links(&$bibentry) {
+  $function = BIBTEXBROWSER_LINK_STYLE;
+  return $function($bibentry);
+}
+
 /** encapsulates the user-defined sections. @nodoc */
 function _DefaultBibliographySections() {
   $function = BIBLIOGRAPHYSECTIONS;