Mister Linky needs some competition

by Lisa B on January 18, 2009

I have seen over the past few months when those of you who use Mister Linky’s widgets on your blogs have absolutely been scrambling. For whatever reason, he’s been going down and when he’s not up it throws you into a whirlwind.

I have been contemplating developing an alternative to Mister Linky that works in a different way — a way that if your blog is up, so are the links. A way that the links could be stored with your blog information and not on someone else’s server. Healthy competition for Mister Linky is needed.

There are a few things I need to know from you before I dive into developing this thing. So please leave me a comment below and answer these questions:

  1. What blogging platform do you use (WordPress.org? WordPress.com? TypePad? Movable Type? Other?)?
  2. If a good competitive widget was developed only on WordPress.org (self-hosted), would you be willing to switch to WordPress.org if you use something else?

Thanks for your feedback and please retweet this!

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{ 24 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Alyssa January 18, 2009 at 4:36 pm

Totally agree that he needs some competition. I use Wordpress.

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2 Dianne January 18, 2009 at 9:04 pm

I agree that competition is a good thing. I use Blogger (mostly) and that’s where I would want to use something like this. If it were WP only, I wouldn’t switch my blog, though.

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3 AM January 19, 2009 at 8:14 am

I would even pay for it.

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4 Heather @ Desperately Seeking Sanity January 21, 2009 at 12:45 pm

you’re a genius.

i think it should be for all platforms, but roll it out for Wordpress first.. :D

i’d pay for it too!!!

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5 Carol @SheLives January 22, 2009 at 4:04 pm

1. TypePad

2. No

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6 stephanie January 22, 2009 at 4:17 pm

1. I’m also on blogger and would like to see a Mr. Linky alternative.

2. Regarding people migrating to WP: Moving a blog is a BIG hassle. I don’t know, honestly, if a lot of people would want to switch to WP solely for a widget they haven’t tried out yet. (Even if YOU know it’s awesome, how does someone else know until they’ve used it?) Maybe if they were already on the fence about going to WP, it might be the final straw. I don’t mean to be negative, it’s just something to think about. (Look what happens when you ask for feedback! :) )

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7 Jennifer @ Frugal Front Porch January 22, 2009 at 4:28 pm

I’d love to see some competition for Mr. Linky but don’t know I’d switch from blogger to wordpress because of it.

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8 Julia @ Hooked on Houses January 23, 2009 at 12:51 pm

I’m with Wordpress.org and would LOVE to have an alternative to Mr Linky. It’s so frustrating when his site goes down and takes my blog parties with him.

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9 aggywanda January 25, 2009 at 7:03 pm

i use the widget but am seeking ideas in order to get full advantage. if competition for the widget appears it could be very popular.

try it out and send me a message if you succeed

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10 Peggy January 26, 2009 at 4:18 pm

Thanks Lisa…Mr. Linky can use some competition! I don’t have reason to complain except when they go down. But my problem is I have two memes that I use Mr. Linky (free version) on two separate blogs and because they are up at the same time, I need to upgrade for them to both be visible. Doesn’t make sense to me.

Maybe I’m technically challenged but I don’t think so completely because I have figured out everything on my own.

I use BLOGGER! Again because gmail made it available! I feel confined but I’m thankful and learning loads!

I came here via Heather’s thanks to you & I know I’ve read here before. I could not leave here without commenting on this-it pulled me in
…I would not know how to switch over to WordPress & I just became a team member with 2 other blogs on blogger…so I think I’m stuck with where I am. But if I decide to start fresh or create another, I’d consider.

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11 Noelle @TakeRoot February 5, 2009 at 3:11 pm

Well, Mister Linky has been around a long time and has served us well even though I feel like I can’t count on him always. That makes room for competition. As I NEED to be able to count on it!

I am on TypePad Pro like @shelive and there is NO way I am switching to anything else. I know a lot use Wordpress but Typepad pro w/advanced templates is the only way to go for me!

That being said, it allows me to add script or code wherever I want. Should be pretty simple to make it adaptable to using on TP.

Let us know!

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12 Tanya Dennis February 9, 2009 at 4:41 pm

I’d be interested in an alternative. I just switched from blogger to wordpress. I *think* it’s a self-hosted wordpress — it redirects to my own domain — but I’m not entirely sure. The switch was VERY recent and I’m still playing around. I still go to wordpress.com to edit my blog posts. So there is a very uninformed answer to your question. :)

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13 D. Roberts March 16, 2009 at 9:27 pm

I use both Wordpress.com and Blogger. I would love something besides Mr. Linky and free for basic needs $$ for premium but there should be more than just a few Memes to choose from.

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14 Marc March 25, 2009 at 8:57 pm

I would LOVE to see an alternative to Mistery Linky. I can’t even tell you how often I encounter problems. I use Blogger and would not be willing to switch to Wordpress. I would gladly pay for something more stable—especially something that lets me host the stuff myself.

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15 Tsh May 4, 2009 at 5:27 am

I absolutely would love a Mr. Linky alternative. I’m on Wordpress.org, and would pay for this!

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16 Fred McKinnon May 26, 2009 at 9:45 am

DEFINITELY. One of the biggest bloggers in my “market” promoted our blog carnival this weekend to nearly 10,000 folks … only for blenza.com to be down off and on all weekend. Not only does the Mister Linky not show up … the rest of my blog hangs up, stuck on “waiting for blenza.com”.

Start with WordPress, and then code for new platforms as you see fit.

Grab my email and save in your “notify” email when it’s ready!

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17 Jennifer@5 Mintues for Books May 26, 2009 at 1:28 pm

I’m on self-hosted WP, and would love it! Have you made any progress?

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18 Debbi Robertson May 26, 2009 at 2:29 pm

I’m a DT member of a challenge blog on blogger and we really need an alternative to Mr Linky – seeing as he seems to have completely overloaded his server today and nobody can use it now.

I wouldn’t be willing to migrate to wordpress though

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19 Scott May 26, 2009 at 7:20 pm

I use self hosted wordpress. I would love a plugin that did mr Linky internal to my server.

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20 Trish @ Another Piece of the Puzzle May 26, 2009 at 10:14 pm

This sounds like a great idea – I’m curious if you’ve made any progress on this since Mr. Linky seems to be permanently down. I use self-hosted wordpress.

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21 Kristen@The Frugal Girl May 29, 2009 at 10:43 am

I’m self hosted on Wordpress, and I would certainly love an alternative!

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22 Giovanna July 17, 2009 at 1:25 pm

I use blogger and the Linkster needs some competition!
His up down status is bringing me down !!!

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23 Vicky January 3, 2010 at 10:28 am

I have found an alternative to Mr. Linky
you can check this out http://www.inlinkz.com

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24 Moochy March 21, 2010 at 7:21 pm

I’m self hosted on Wordpress.

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