LinkedList.wpjs

No blog is complete without a blogroll (links to other blogs/sites). My friend Karan Misra decided to make his blogroll a bit more interesting on his (excellent) blog by arranging the links in the order by which they were last updated. I dug the idea and decided to implement it on my blog as well. Halfway through I realised a lot of people may like to do the same with their blogrolls so I created LinkedList.js, and life was good. However, a few of my WordPress using mates kept telling me that life would be even better if I made LinkedList into a WordPress plugin, and so I did!

Non–WordPress users check out LinkedList.js, a JavaScript plugin.

Overview

LinkedList.wp is a simple WordPress plugin for sorting your blogroll in the order by which the sites on the blogroll were last updated. LinkedList.wp uses LinkedList.js to achieve the whole sorting thing and is essentially a wrapper, providing an easier way to add LinkedList to WordPress blogs.

Example

Imagine, if you will that this is a WordPress blog. This is how the blogroll (presently links to few sites that I frequent) would be sorted.

You can check out LinkedList at work on an actual WordPress blog — xAbhishek.com.

Installation

So you’ve decided to install it on your blog, good!

The Deep Breath

LinkedList uses Google’s excellent AJAX Feed API to read the RSS/Atom feeds, meaning you’ll need a valid Google AJAX Feed API Key for the website where you wish to display the links. Sign up for one if you haven’t got it already (don’t worry there aren’t any forms to fill).

Next, download the LinkedList.wp plugin.

The Pieces

Unzip the plugin file and upload the linkedlist folder to your WordPress installation’s plugins directory. The plugins directory can be located inside the wp-content directory.

Activate LinkedList from the plugins menu inside your WordPress admin. Once activated, you will see a new submenu under plugins — LinkedList Config. Go ahead, click it.

Well fill in your API key, select your preferences and fire her up!

The Plunge

Make sure the ‘Links’ widget is on your sidebar and you’re all set.

LinkedList is clever enough to fetch the links from your Blogroll and auto–detect their feeds. You can, however, make its work a little easier by manually entering the feed URLs ( Manage > Links > Edit Link > Advanced > RSS Address ).

Frequently Asked Questions

I haven’t actually been asked any of these questions (not yet at any rate) so I’ve taken a guess at questions one might have.

Which versions of WordPress is LinkedList compatible with?

LinkedList works with WordPress versions 2.3 and above. I haven’t tested it with older versions but it’ll probably work just fine.

Does LinkedList work with all themes?

In an ideal world, it should. If you do bump into a glitch with your theme then drop me a note and I’ll try and fix the issue.

What about using LinkedList in themes without widget support?

All you need to do (besides activating the plugin) is include this code wherever you want the list to appear:

<div id="linkedlist"></div>

LinkedList.wp is essentially a wrapper around LinkedList.js, so for a more custom implementation, checkout LinkedList.js.

Can LinkedList be used on a WordPress.com blog?

As far as I can tell, no.

What is the answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything?

42

Change Log

26th July '08 Version 1.1.1

• Fixed a bug which occurred when the blog URL differed from the WordPress install URL
  (thanks Amanda Bottoms)

21st July '08 Version 1.1

• Added LinkedList.js 1.2
  • Shows a status message while the feeds are loading
  • Shows relative time for feeds updated within the last 24 hours
  • Can specify max number of links to display by calling limitTo(number)
  • Reduced file size by using YUI Compressor

25th April '08 Version 1.0.3

• Added LinkedList.js 1.1.4
  • Cookies are now optional, and turned off by default
• Fixed a bug with escaping link titles

3rd April '08 Version 1.0.2

• Changed license to GPLv3

2nd April '08 Version 1.0.1

• Cosmetic changes for WordPress 2.5

Feedback

Like it? Hate it? Want something more out of it? Spotted a bug? General feedback? Drop me an email—I'd love to hear about it!
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