WordPress to Dump Blogroll Feature in 3.5

Starting in WordPress 3.5, the Links feature will no longer be a part of the WordPress core. The blogroll feature will be available as a plugin, Link Manager, so it’s not completely going away. Though it could be more convenient to use the Menus feature in place of the older blogroll function, having a menu to hold your blogroll links.

Lorelle VanFossen goes into considerable detail on the issue, with a few migration routes, including using custom menus.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about blogrolls. On on one hand, they’re a convenient way to recommend some of your favorite blogs in a persistent manner. Certainly good for a personal blog. On the other hand, they’re of more limited benefit for more topical sites. It’s probably a good thing that it’s being removed from the WordPress core, since blogrolls aren’t as popular as they were ten years ago.