A few folk maintain their blogrolls by manually editing html. A large number of blogs use the fantastic service provided by blogrolling.com. They provide a very easy way to add new links and are always adding new features. However, it is also possible to use Movable Type to maintain your own blogroll, which is what I have chosen to do.
I used to use blogrolling.com and I was satisfied with everything except the speed. If their server lagged, then my site loaded slow. If their site was down, my site loaded everything up to the blogroll and never loaded the rest of my site. Using a local blogroll means it loads as fast as the rest of my site and it is always available as long as my site is up.
Here are step by step instructions on creating a Movable Type blogroll:
Step 1: Create a New Weblog
Movable Type allows multiple weblogs. From the Main Menu, select Create New Weblog and name it Blogroll.Step 2: Remove Unneded Templates
Select the Templates button and remove all defined templates except for Main Index.Step 3: Modify the Index Template
Edit Main Index template and set the Output file to 'blogroll.html'. Replace the Template Body with the template shown below:
<MTCategories>
<!-- CATEGORY TITLE -->
<h3 class="blogroll_title">
<$MTCategoryDescription$>
</h3>
<div class="blogroll_section">
<!-- ENTRIES -->
<MTEntries sort_by="title" sort_order="ascend">
<div class="blogroll_entry">
<!-- LINK -->
<A HREF="<$MTEntryBody$>" alt="<$MTEntryTitle$>" target="_blank">
<$MTEntryTitle$>
</a>
</div>
</MTEntries>
</div>
</MTCategories>
Step 4: Define Template Categories
This is required, even if you just want your blogroll in one category. Create each category and be sure to add a category description. The blogroll sorts the categories by name but displays the description instead. The reason for this is to allow the categories to be displayed in an order other than alphabetical.Step 5: Add Blogroll Entries
This is as simple as adding New Entries to the Blogroll Weblog. The title should be the name of the site you are linking through. The content should contain the URL (site address) including the leading http://. Here is a very useful sample which you will probably want to add anyways:Entry Body:http://king-of-fools.com
Step 6: Add the Blogroll to Your Blog Template
Determine which page types should include the blogroll. For each of those templates, add the following line at the place where the blogroll should appear:If you have questions or issues with this, feel free to contact me. My next technical article will show how to use the same method to manage an Amazon Associates reading list (like the one located in the bar to the right). UPDATE: I failed to mention that it is important to set the Default Text Formatting for the blogroll weblog to None.
