It could be the end of an era for one of blogging’s institutions, not to mention one of search marketing’s favorite ways to give and get links.
The blogroll — or Link Manager as it’s currently known — is on the chopping block for the upcoming release of WordPress 3.5.
The folks at WPBeginner noticed a ticket in the WordPress 3.5 development system that discusses the possibility of removing the Link Manager from the core WordPress software.
The way WordPress development works is that ideas are proposed and then discussed among the developer/user community; this idea has a few dozen comments pro and con over the two months since it was posted. The current proposal seems to be shifting towards
eliminating Link Manager (blogrolls) completely from new WordPress software installs, and
supporting existing and in-use blogrolls via a plugin.
That plan could change as more feedback comes in, but it looks like the wheels are in motion.
Blogrolls, of course, have been a major source of links over the years for marketers, business owners, you name it. (And for many, also an easy way to list favorite websites.) At this point, it’s debatable how much SEO weight, if any, Google and Bing give to blogroll links but still … wow. Think about all the links that are going to disappear with new WordPress install or with upgrades if the blog owner doesn’t use the plugin.
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