Links
Blogroll. What a weird word. This is what the WordPress Links section used to be called and still is by many people. So what exactly is it? Back in the day when WordPress was ‘just’ a blogging platform, a lot of bloggers wanted a link system so they could share some link love (as marketers we all know that desire!) with fellow bloggers. So they made the blogroll. It’s a list of links.
Doesn’t sound exciting does it? Well, I personally feel that the Links section has fallen out of favour, but with the right project and the right amount of pizazz, the blogroll can be an effective tool in your arsenal.
What sort of projects? Well off the top of my head, you could create a basic directory site as the blogroll has its own category system (see below), or you could use it to link to all your other sites, or to other sites within your niches community that you think would assist your clients (ideally affiliate links!).
All Links
A list of all your links, the name you gave it, actual URL, category and rating. Pretty much the same system as the other “All” pages (All Posts etc).
Add New
Adding a new link actually has a lot of options.Obviously there is the human readable name you give it, and the actual URL. You can also add a description that can be made visible to your users or just to remind you what the heck the links about!
Links can also have their own categories (but unfortunately not sub categories) which will make organising them much easier.
The Target options, basically determine what the browser should do when someone clicks the link. Should the user stay in the same window or have a new window/tab opened? It’s really your choice and depends on the type of link it is and site you have.
The XFN section is one i have never used, but basically if you have added your best mates link to your site you can advise the world/Google that you have a relationship of some kind with this person. Primarily a function for bloggers this one, and has been out matched by MicroTags which are just awesome and you should look into as they are a great way to increase SEO if done correctly.
The advanced section allows you to add an image to be displayed with the link, an RSS feed of the linked website and also a Rank. The Ranks merely allow for organisation of links with the Categories. Useful to know should you start using the Blogroll in a project.
Link Categories
Not much to say here, they are created in the exact same way as normal categories, but they are separate from normal post categories so you don’t have to worry about them being the same and you can create