wp-recent-links

wp-recent-links is a WordPress plugin (hack!) for adding a links blog to your WordPress–powered site, similar to kottke.org’s remaindered links. A working example can be seen at the author’s weblog. Compared to WordPress’s included links manager, this plugin allows you to have a separate archives page for your links blog, with monthly archives. An RSS2 feed is also included for syndicating your links.

Download · Requirements · Changelog · Installation · Upgrade · Functions · Help · Copying

Download

  • wp-recent-links–2.08.zip Version 2.08 (August 13, 2006)
  • wp-recent-links–2.07.zip Version 2.07 (July 14, 2006)
  • wp-recent-links–2.06.zip Version 2.06 (June 13, 2006)
  • wp-recent-links–2.05.zip Version 2.05 (May 31, 2006)
  • wp-recent-links–2.04.zip Version 2.04 (April 26, 2006)
  • wp-recent-links–2.03.zip Version 2.03 (March 9, 2006)
  • wp-recent-links–2.02.zip Version 2.02 (February 7, 2006)
  • wp-recent-links–2.01.zip Version 2.01 (January 20, 2006)
  • wp-recent-links–2.0.zip Version 2.0 (December 25, 2005)
  • wp-recent-links–1.4.zip Version 1.4 (June 25, 2005)
  • wp-recent-links–1.35.zip Version 1.35 (June 19, 2005)
  • wp-recent-links–1.33.zip Version 1.33 (March 2, 2005)
  • wp-recent-links–1.32.zip Version 1.32 (February 22, 2005)
  • wp-recent-links–1.31.zip Version 1.31 (May 25, 2004)
  • wp-recent-links–1.3.zip Version 1.3 (May 19, 2004)
  • wp-recent-links–1.21.zip Version 1.21 (May 17, 2004)
  • wp-recent-links–1.2.zip Version 1.2 (May 14, 2004)
  • wp-recent-links–1.11.zip Version 1.11 (April 27, 2004)
  • wp-recent-links–1.1.zip Version 1.1 (April 5, 2004)
  • wp-recent-links–1.0.zip Version 1.0 (March 25, 2004)

Requirements

  • WordPress 2.0 or WP 1.5 (Users of WP 1.5 may use the latest 2.05 and above, or the older 1.4 version of the plugin, while those using WP 1.2 and below are better off with version 1.31.)
  • Upload access to your wp-content/plugins/ directory.

If you’re running WP 2.0 without problems, then you should be good to go with this plugin. This has been tested on all WordPress 2.0 releases and works nicely.

Changelog

2.08 (August 13, 2006)
Problems with WP2 + PHP5 + wp-recent-links is now fixed.
2.07 (July 14, 2006)
Fix for sending of proper HTTP headers for wp-recent-links-rss2.php. Thanks Arfeen Arif.
A hacked version of Matt Read’s Custom Query String is now embedded for non–paged display of month and year archives, showing all entries for the given period.
2.06 (June 13, 2006)
Fix for sending of proper HTTP headers. (Affected file: wp-recent-links.php.
2.05 (May 31, 2006)
More fixes for archive handling and passing of $_GET variables.
2.04 (April 26, 2006)
Fixed rendering of title tags for wp-recent-links.php.
Rewrite rules and passing of variable to wp-recent-links.php work much more reliably.
2.03 (March 9, 2006)
Solved minor issue in default for the rp_recentlinks_home() function. Reported and fixed by Jon Mayes.
2.02 (February 7, 2006)
Fixed display of a given month’s links in wp-recent-links.php. Fix contributed by Arthur Hoogervorst.
Revised minor issue in wp-recent-links-rss2.php regarding charsets/content encoding. Related fixes from Arthur Hoogervorst and Kelson Vibber.
2.01 (January 20, 2005)
Solved problem with display of inline links when using paged posts. Thanks, John Blackbourn.
Revised sample index.php to solve a minor markup issue. Thanks again, John!
2.0 (December 25, 2005)
Inline style of displaying recent links, now really like Jason Kottke’s remaindered links.
Fixed RSS display issue, specifically when used with Feedburner. Thanks Robert Anderson!
Rewrite rules are now added before WP’s other rules (thanks Jason!), and written programatically. No more messing with .htaccess!
1.4 (June 25, 2005)
New functions, allows for easily–customizable display of links in the front page (index.php).
1.35 (June 19, 2005)
Longer captions! Cosmetic fixes, and then some. Please refer to the new install/upgrade instructions.
1.33 (March 2, 2005)
Cleaned up header() errors.
1.32 (February 22, 2005)
This plugin now works seamlessly with wp-1.5-strayhorn!
Submenu items added under “Write” and “Manage.”
add_magic_quotes() conditionally used for older versions only.
Bookmarklet tweaked.
1.31 (May 22, 2004)
Fixed some small bugs, including the unset $siteurl variable in the bookmarklet. Thanks George Bauer!
1.3 (May 19, 2004)
This hack is now a wp-1.2 compatible plugin!
Separate sets of files for wp-1.2 and wp-1.0 are included in the package.
Fixed all functions, especially those containing some copy-and-paste bugs. 🙂 Older rpmod_* functions are now deprecated, in favor of the plugin-flavored rp_* function names. Older functions will still work (and now, correctly) but you are advised to make use of the new ones.
A new template for the recent links archive page has been made based on the wp-1.2 index.php file.
Fixed/added other stuff I couldn’t remember right now. 🙂
1.21 (May 17, 2004)
Fixed non-display of captions (in title attribute), a result of my mastery of copy-and-paste without looking. 🙂
1.2 (May 14, 2004)
Added an rss2 feed for links syndication. Link to the feed is given by the rpmod_recentlinks_rss2_url() function, another addition.
Fixed the displayed text for the title attribute produced by the function rpmod_recentlinks(), now more simpler. If you didn’t add a description, you will simply get the date.
1.11 (April 27, 2004)
Removed some unnecessary “breaks”, which caused a problem for some users. (As reported by Kate. Thanks Kate!)
1.1 (April 5, 2004)
Added bookmarklet, taken from “Press It” on the WP main post window. (Suggested by Stephen.)
Fixed a bug involving time differences on servers. (Thanks Sushubh!)

Installation

Provided below are two sets of installation instructions, one for version 2.0 and the other is for older versions. You need to follow only one set of instructions.

For users of WordPress 2.0 using the latest version of the plugin (2.0 and above), please follow the next set of instructions. Some files are provided as examples/replacements if you are using the default template, Kubrick.

  1. Unzip the package in an empty directory.
  2. Upload the following files:
    rp-plugin-recent-links.php
    Just drop the rp-plugin-recent-links.php file into your wp-content/plugins/ directory, and activate it in the “Plugins” menu.
    wp-recent-links.php
    and wp-recent-links-rss2.php
    Upload to your wordpress root; i.e, the folder where your WordPress-powered page will reside. This is also where wp-config.php can be found.
    recent-links.php
    Upload inside your wp-admin/ directory.
    index.php and archive.php
    If you intend to use wp-recent-links similar to Kottke.org’s remaindered links, you may use these files as replacements for your current theme (assuming you’re using the default template or something similar or based on Kubrick). It would be advisable to rename/backup your current copies of index.php and archive.php.
    sidebar.php
    If you’d rather display your recent links in the sidebar, you may use this file as a replacement for your theme’s copy. Be sure to rename/backup beforehand.
  3. If you’d rather do things manually by editing your theme files, you may use index.php and archive.php, or sidebar.php, as basis for using the plugin just the way you want it.
  4. If you are using WordPress’s customized permalinks, be sure to update your permalink structure in the “Options” menu.
  5. Login to WordPress and start using your recent-links plugin, using the new submenu item “Add Recent Link” under the “Write” page. The first link has already been added for you.
  6. Optionally, you may edit wp-recent-links.php to your site’s style and design. The default was based on Kubrick (WP’s default theme) but should work with other templates.

The instructions that follow are only applicable for older versions of the plugin, and there really is no reason to use them unless you really have to, and you know what you’re doing.

  1. Unzip the package in an empty directory.
  2. Upload/Copy/Edit the following files:
    wp-recent-links-setup.php
    Upload to your wordpress root. Used only once for creating the required table. (For new install only.)
    wp-recent-links-upgrade.php
    Upload to your wordpress root. Used only once for updating the required table. (For upgrades only.)
    wp-recent-links.php
    Upload to your wordpress root; i.e, the folder where your WordPress-powered page will reside.
    wp-recent-links-rss2.php
    Upload to your wordpress root; i.e, the folder where your WordPress-powered page and syndication pages reside.
    recent-links.php
    Upload inside your wp-admin/ directory.
    rp-plugin-recent-links.php
    Just drop the rp-plugin-recent-links.php file into your wp-content/plugins/ directory, and activate it in the plugins menu.
  3. If you are using WordPress’s mod_rewrite rules, add the following rules to your .htaccess file on the server (where you also placed WP’s generated rewrite rules):
    RewriteRule    ^recent-links/feed?/?$    wp-recent-links-rss2.php   [QSA]
    RewriteRule    ^recent-links?/?$    wp-recent-links.php   [QSA]
    RewriteRule    ^recent-links/([0-9]{4})?/?([0-9]{1,2})?/?$    wp-recent-links.php?y=$1&m=$2   [QSA]
    
  4. Open wp-recent-links-setup.php (or wp-recent-links-upgrade.php for upgrades) in your browser, and follow the one-step instruction! After this, you are good to go! You may now delete wp-recent-links-setup.php (or wp-recent-links-upgrade.php).
  5. Login to WordPress and start using your recent-links plugin, using the new menu item “Recent Links.”
  6. Edit wp-recent-links.php to your site’s style and design. The default was based on Kubrick (WP’s default theme) but should work with other templates.
  7. To display your recent links on your frontpage (index.php), open the included file sidebar.php and view the two code blocks for recent links. There is a new code block for displaying recent links, as well as the old function. Just pick what you need.

    Provided below are the two code blocks:

    <!-- begin recent links block -->
    <!-- This is the new recent links block -->
    <!-- added for wp-recent-links version 1.4 -->
    <h2>Recent Links</h2>
        <?php if ($links = rp_recentlinks_home()) {  ?>
        <ul>
            <?php foreach ($links as $link) { ?>
    
            <li><a href="<?php echo $link->link_url; ?>"><?php echo wptexturize($link->link_text); ?></a> &amp;#8594;
            <?php echo wptexturize(convert_smilies($link->link_caption)); ?> <a href="<?php echo $link->link_permalink; ?>">#</a></li>
    
            <?php } ?>
            <li><a href="<?php rp_recentlinks_archives_url(); ?>" title="Recent Links Archives" rel="Links Archives">more &amp;#187;</a> | <a href="<?php rp_recentlinks_rss2_url(); ?>" title="RSS2 Feed for recently added links." rel="RSS2 Feed.">feed &amp;#187;</a></li>
        </ul>
        <?php } ?>
    <!-- end recent links block -->
    
    <!-- begin recent links block -->
    <!-- This is the old recent links block -->
    <h2>Recent Links</h2>
    <ul>
        <?php rp_recentlinks(12, true, false); ?>
         <li><a href="<?php rp_recentlinks_archives_url(); ?>"
         title="Recent Links Archives" rel="Links Archives">more &amp;#187;</a></li>
         | <a href="<?php rp_recentlinks_rss2_url(); ?>"
         title="RSS2 Feed for recently added links." rel="RSS2 Feed.">feed &amp;#187;</a>
    </ul>
    <!-- end recent links block -->
    

Upgrade

Deactivate the plugin, overwrite all files, and activate it again. That’s all!

Functions

Listed below are the functions made available for use by this plugin.

It takes so much time trying to write specific documentation for functions used in the plugin, when most people who use the plugin don’t really need it (the documentation). If you’d like to read more on the functions and their uses, most of what you need is in the rp-plugin-recent-links.php source. The older documentation for the plugin’s functions have been moved to the next page.

Help

Questions and suggestions regarding this plugin may be posted on this site, just as you can email me at markku at rebelpixel dot com. However, because of the volume of email I get everyday, I cannot guarantee a reply, or an immediate one if ever I decide to.

The author may also install or customize the plugin for you, or any WordPress–related issues in general, as a paid service. Just email the author at the same address above for more information.

Copying

CC-GNU GPL Copying, modification and redistribution is allowed under the terms of the GPL, better explained by the CC–GPL (Creative Commons Deed). If you found this hack useful, don’t hesitate to link to my site and the projects’s page.