WordPress Plugin – My Link Order Archived

This page is an archive for the older versions of My Link Order. All new comments should be made here.

Gives you manual control over the order of your WordPress link categories and links by letting you set an arbitrary order. Includes drag and drop ordering and a replacement Widget.

If you’d like to say thank you or make a donation please visit my Gifts and Donations page.

Download My Link Order:

Updates:

  • Update 3/19/2008: With 2.5 coming up, I’ve moved all future downloads to the WordPress Plugin directory. This page will stay up as a testament to this plugin’s popularity over the past 2 years.
  • Update 2/09/2008: Works with 2.3.3, just copy taxonomy.php again.
  • Update 9/30/2007: Updated to WP 2.3. The category table got nuked this release so you’ll need to go back and order your categories again (link order is preserved).
  • Update 6/30/2007: The release you’ve all been waiting for!!! Built in widget support, hacking the widgets.php file is a thing of the past. I’m also dropping support for WP1.5, if you really really need it just ask, but seriously if you are on 1.5 it is about time to upgrade.
  • Update 5/17/2007: Javascript include bug fix, won’t mess up the editor now, redownload if you had the previous 2.1.3 version. 2.2 update coming soon but current version should still be compatible. Things are good with 2.2.
  • Update 5/10/2007: Big update! I rewrote the interface and replaced the unfriendly up and down arrows with spiffy new drag and drop ordering. Check it out, definitely worth the upgrade, I’ve only tested on 2.1.3 but it should work on any 2.1.x install.
  • Update 1/22/2007: Published WP 2.1 version of plugin. Eliminates need to modify core files but uses new WP template function. Also eliminated up/down arrow images, now uses plain buttons to avoid problems with image paths. See updated instructions above.
  • Released January 2006 for WP 1.5 and soon after 2.0, many updates followed 2.3, 2.2, and 2.

Installation Instructions

  1. Unzip packed files
  2. Move mylinkorder.php to /wp-content/plugins/
  3. 2.3 only: move taxonomy.php to /wp-includes/
  4. Activate the “My Link Order” plugin on the Plugins menu
  5. Go to the “My Link Order” tab under Blogroll and specify your desired order for both link categories and links in each category.
  6. WIDGETS: Just drop the “My Link Order” widget that gets installed with the plugin and that’s it!
  7. Modify sidebar template to use correct function (additional parameters seperated by ampersands):
    wp_list_bookmarks(‘orderby=order&category_orderby=order’);

If you have a problem with it not ordering, make sure you have a plain “&” and not “& amp;” between the parameters which could happen if you copy straight out of the browser. Also make sure quotes are plain straight ones, some people have had problems when copying and pasting code out of the browser and PHP chokes on the bad quote character.

Thanks for checking out my first WordPress plugin, My Link Order. I wrote this because WordPress is sorely missing the ability to manually set the order link categories and links themselves will appear in. WordPress provides seven options for ordering just links (ordering categories is mysteriously absent) and they all seem to tip toe around the idea of actually letting the user explicitly set the order they want. If you have any problems let me know, I am more than happy to help resolve any issues you may have. I’ll respond to your comment through email so be sure to put a valid email in. Even if you don’t have problems leave a comment or throw a couple bucks to buy some beer.

502 Replies to “WordPress Plugin – My Link Order Archived”

  1. Thanks for the plugin, but I can’t seem to get it to work. First I got the database error, which went away after using the Links Order page. However, the links order isn’t changing. I uploaded the correct php file and am using get_links_list(), so I’m not sure why it isn’t working.

  6. Hi there,
    I just stumbled across your plugin for My Link Order.

    Duh.

    This should be included in the standard build of WP if you ask me, bundled with Word Press, as part of the release.

    Something you might want to mention in your instructions- TURN OFF THE WP CACHE if it’s enabled.

    Man, I sat here making changes, refreshing, and it didn’t take. So I dug through WP, checking permissions on the files, thinking it’s not able to write or something.

    Then it dawned on me. WP Cache. As soon as I disabled it, bingo, works like a charm.. might make mention of this in the instructions so others won’t sit here like a chucklehead for hours on end like I just did.
    I’ll learn. Eventually. ;)

    Now that this issue is solved, I’m off to install the other ordering plugins. Thanks for these, they’re the answer to some big headaches.

    Congrats on the engagement by the way.
    Steve

  7. Worked great for me right out of the box on a new 2.0.5 install. This should definitely be a standard WordPress feature. Thanks for the plugin.

  9. I haven’t updated My Link Order to 2.0.6 yet, it was on my list of stuff to do this weekend. Check back in a few days and I should have a new version up.

  12. Well that might be a first, is the “Activate Plugin” page coming up blank or when you go to the “My Link Order” page?

  13. Also I have not updated for 2.0.6 or 2.0.7 yet so if you are upgraded to the newest version then that might be the problem.

  14. i’ve tried it with a fresh WP 2.0.7 install and its the only plugin, the activate plugin page is blank,

    I also have it on 2.0.5, its still a blank page when activating plugin, i have another version of 2.0.5 that its working on but not sure why it won’t work on this one, i used the same mylinkorder folder as well but one it works and the other it doesn’t

  15. Not sure there’s a lot I can tell you mushu since I’m a little stumped. It might be erroring out but the error message is hidden, check out the source and see if there’s anything there.

  16. 2.05, I installed it, but it doesn’t offer “manual” (I’m using tiga-06 theme)

    So, I see the plugin, change the order, but it does not take effect. Am I supposed to re-upload my *backed up* files? or overwrite with the new ones? The links are still there.. so I’m a bit confused.

  17. Well, like others on this board, I found (finally) my own error – and I think people are not saying it loudly or clearly enough – MANUAL IS FOUND IN THE AREA FOR LINK CATEGORIES!!!! Now, it’s working fine

  18. WP 2.1 is now out and it would appear that the current version won’t work because of changed file names in wp-admin, etc.

    Is a new version likely to be released for 2.1?

    Love the plugin…it works like a charm in 2.0x

  19. MANUAL IS FOUND IN THE AREA FOR LINK CATEGORIES

    Guess I’m not following you here.

    I just upgraded to 2.1, and this plugin is no longer working for me. I downloaded and installed the 2.1 plugin version. Where do I go to select ‘manual’ link order?

    Also, do we not change the links.php and link-categories.php files in this version of My Link Order?

    Also, in the instructions is something I don’t understand, at least, I’m not sure where it goes in the sidebar:

    Modify sidebar template to use correct filter(additional parameter seperated by ampersands):
    wp_list_bookmarks(‘orderby=order&category_orderby=order’);

    Thanks in advance for your help. If anybody would like to take pity on a poor blogger, my email is rickscheibner AT gmail DOT com

  20. Hey Rick, I’m still working on differentiating between 2.1 and the old stuff. You no longer need to copy those 2 files, just the plugin folder. In your template find the spot where your links are being displayed with get_links_list();. 2.1 has introduced a new function wp_list_bookmarks that is more flexible and allows the links to be ordered how you want without modifying the core files. The following is the minumum you need to display your links:

    wp_list_bookmarks(‘orderby=order&category_orderby=order’);

    I’ll revise the page to help make things more clear.

  21. Andrew, thanks for your quick response. I’ll disregard those two files.

    I’m still not exactly sure where the additional code goes, though. I see this:

    But I’m not exactly sure where to put this:

    wp_list_bookmarks(’orderby=order&category_orderby=order’);

    Thanks again for the support here.

  22. Thanks for the reply at WP. I’m using 3 column K2.
    I installed this plugin and it didn’t seem to do anything. I tried replacing get_links_list() with

    wp_list_bookmarks(’orderby=order&category_orderby=order’);

    in sidebar.php but it did not seem to make the plugin functional in the sidebar for 3CK2.

    In your installation instructions, is there some reason why the wp_list_bookmarks() modification comes after ordering the bookmarks? Does the order somehow dictate the modification you need to do?

    It seems like you are saying just paste:

    wp_list_bookmarks(’orderby=order&category_orderby=order’);

    into the template, but that did not do the trick for me (though it did not _cause_ errors either, so WP seems to work fine with it present.)

    A

  24. Thank you so much for this wonderful plugin. It did everything I needed it to do after encountering problems with the 2.1 update.

    Thanks once again!

  25. After updating to 2.1 this plug-in was very nice. Very simple to use and works perfectly!

    Thank you!

  26. Great plugin. However, with 2.1 the link categories are in rather huge font while the links within the categories are normal sized but heavily indented.

    Try as I might, I cannot find where or how to modify the size of the category font and how to lessen the indent on the individual links within the categories. any help you could provide would be appreciated.

  27. Hi.
    Sorry, but when I try to start your mylinkorder-plugin, V2.1 under WordPress 2.1 (german), I get the following error-message.
    Fatal error: Allowed memory size of 8388608 bytes exhausted (tried to allocate 67584 bytes) in /mnt/kw2/08/565/00000012/htdocs/blog/wp-admin/menu.php on line 46
    After that, access to the admin-site only after deleting the plugin from the plugin-directory.

    Whats the problem?

  28. I could be missing something easy here, but would appreciate any help you could offer. I upgraded to WP2.1 and then upgraded this plugin to 2.1 as well (awesome plugin, by the way). I’m using the Sidebar Widgets plugin to manage my sidebar. I can see the controls for the plugin under the “Blogroll” tab, but the changes do not affect the order of the links. I’ve tried replacing the code in the widgets.php plugin file, but I must be messing up because I keep crashing the blog when I do that. Any recommendations?

  30. Note for those using WP 2.1 and a K2 theme : you need to apply the modification to the links.php file (in the /k2/app/modules folder), not the sidebar template. Then it works ! ;)

  31. outstanding plug-in. Thanks a lot for creating it.

    I have my links in each link category displayed alphabetically. Would it be possible to make it so they appear in random order each time one visits the site or refreshes the page? Kind of like a link shuffle…

  32. Hi there,

    I just installed the plugin and followed the instructions given, and received this error. Can you please give me some guidance?

    WordPress database error: [Unknown column ‘link_count’ in ‘where clause’]
    SELECT * FROM wp_categories where link_count > 0 ORDER BY cat_order ASC

    Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

    Adam

  33. Please disregard previous comment. I’m on 2.0.5 and downloaded the wrong version;)

    I’ve installed the proper one and it’s working great! Thanks for an awesome plugin!

    Adam

  34. Sorry to be a pain dude, but can you tell me where the up and down images are supposed to go? I’ve now installed both mylinkorder and mypageorder, but the arrow images don’t show?

    Thanks;)

  35. Sorry about not being too clear about where to install my plugins, each of the plugins need to have their own subdirectory in the plugins folder so plugins/mylinkorder and plugins/mypageorder.

  36. Okay, I spent an hour or two with this and I can’t get it to work. I followed the instructions, uploaded your files to my blog, activated the plug-in and I edited my themes/defualt/sidebar.php to look like this at the end. What’s wrong?


  37. Okay, so the code change is to replace the call to
    get_links(list)
    by
    wp_list_bookmarks('orderby=order&category_orderby=order');

    The unclear part is WHERE to make this change. I am using my own tweaked version of the default theme. So first I changed default\sidebar.php, no joy.
    Then I changed default\links.php, still no joy.
    Then I changed in plugins\widgets\widgets.php, JOY.

    I wonder if it would still work if I went back and reverted sidebat.php and links.php?

  39. If you are using widgets then you shouldn’t need to modify the sidebar.php and maybe links.php (is links.php for the sidebar or is it a page template?). It is hard for me to tell you exactly where to modify the code because there are so many variations between themes, so I’m forced to be a little generic. Glad you got it going.

  40. Upgraded with 2.1 and it’s working, but I want to turn off the link category being displayed on one of my sites. I’ve worked around it for now with CSS that hides that specific ID & H2 combo, but is there a way to make it not display the category name?

  41. For wp_list_bookmarks, there is a parameter that lets you limit which categories get displayed. Say you had 5 link categories with id’s 1-5 but wanted to exclude cat 4 you’d use the following:

    wp_list_bookmarks(‘orderby=order&category_orderby=order&category=1,2,3,5’);

    Would be nice if there was a parameter that worked the other way around, something like “excludecategory”

  42. Hi there – I like the plugin… or how it looks like it should work, but it doesnt seem to be working for me.

    My sidebar code looks like this:

    get_results(“SELECT cat_id, cat_name FROM $wpdb->linkcategories”);
    foreach ($link_cats as $link_cat) {
    if (get_links($link_cat->cat_id, ”, ”, ”, FALSE, ”, FALSE, FALSE, -1, FALSE, FALSE)) {
    ?>
    cat_id; ?>”>
    cat_name; ?>

    cat_id); ?>

    “>

    Im not sure what to replace from that, i’ve tried many different combinations but none seem to work.

  44. Andrew,
    First off, this plugin is awesome! The links ordered correctly when I was using WP 2.0.x. Now that I’ve upgraded to WP 2.1 the links are in a strange order. I just can’t seem to get your plugin to work with widgits. I tried what Rudy said above, but still no luck. Any suggestions?

  45. Sorry to say, I still haven’t got this one to work. I’ve done EVERYTHING by the book, and still no luck. Too bad, too…my previous installation worked great. I’ve had nothing but bad luck since WP upgraded to 2.1.

  47. I am getting this error which I have seen in several other posts:

    WordPress database error: [Unknown column ‘link_count’ in ‘where clause’]
    SELECT * FROM wp_categories where link_count > 0 ORDER BY cat_order ASC

    I installed and activated the plug-in then changed the sidebar.php which was:

    Links

    ‘, ”, ”, 0, ‘name’, 0, 0, -1, 0); ?>

    to:

    Links

    0, ‘name’, 0, 0, -1, 0); ?>

    But then when I go to “My Link Order” tab, I get the error above. Is there a step that I missed?

  48. Andrew, you and I emailed each other back and forth for a while a few weeks ago. I’m coming back to this to look at it with fresh eyes and see if there’s anything that I missed. Last we talked, you said that my process was correct, and that you weren’t sure exactly what the problem is.

    But, I’ll go ahead and email you my sidebar template so you can take a look at it. I’m using the sidebar widgets, for whatever that’s worth. Thanks for the continued support here.

  49. Judie,

    Are you on WP 2.1? “link_count” is a new column in 2.1 so either your database didn’t get upgraded correctly or you are on an older WP version and grabbed the wrong plugin version.

  50. I’m currently using WP version 2.0 and installed your plug-in. I had such high hopes with this as I have ALOT OF LINKS that I wanted to organize, however, I can’t get it to work. Even after re-ordering the links and their categories under “my link order”, the links appear the same way they did before on my blog. Also, as described by a couple others, I DO NOT get a “manual” option in the drop down menu. I do when I go to create a new link category, but I receive this error message:

    Warning: Cannot modify header information – headers already sent by (output started at /home/atcfnm/domains/allthingscfnm.net/public_html/wp-admin/admin-header.php:8) in /home/atcfnm/domains/allthingscfnm.net/public_html/wp-content/plugins/link-categories.php on line 78

    Now the category will show up even after getting this error, but that still doesn’t fix the main problem of not being able to organize the links and their categories like I should with this plug-in. Any ideas?
    I’m using the Anaconda 0.7 theme by the way.

Comments are closed.