As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or pages displayed on your sidebar area.
According to official WordPress documentation …
“The term ‘blogroll’ was originally used because it was a list of links to other blogs, but you can include links to any sites.”
You can manage a link section using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will display on your blog if you have added the Links widget.
Prior to the release of v3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of version 3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Menu – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v 3.5 and upgraded your installation, the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you have previously used it.
How To Add A Link Section To WordPress
You can add a link section to your sidebar menu by creating a custom menu, or use a plugin like the one shown in the tutorial below.
If the Links item is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to restore the default Links Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the plugin had not been updated for a while, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use the Link Manager plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
In your WP administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ section will be displayed on the WP admin menu screen …
(Links menu section)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the SEO friendly URL of the link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your site visitors. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name (remember to keep the slug in lowercase letters and replace all spaces with a hyphen), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Products’ etc).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, go to the admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of the link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the content for that link. This allows your visitors to see the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new site or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens links at the top level of the frame system if you’re using frames. Don’t worry about this option if you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Savannah Schwartz and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites and search engines that use this information.
rel – This field specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute is used to define what relationship exists between the current document and the linked document. For example, if you don’t want search engines to follow your link, type nofollow into this field.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced fields)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add an image URL and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the link’s RSS feed will display next to your link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: Add a rating score to the link if you want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential for links to work.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain periods and hide it afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will display in your browser. The Links screen displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view additional columns in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Display/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Hide or show – Table of links)
Editing Your Link Information
To modify a link, click on Links > All Links in the main navigation menu to bring up your links screen …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table of links …
(Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove links, choose Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkboxes next to individual links that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links will be removed …
(Link deletion message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to make links display on your website or blog.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will display in your browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget includes a number of settings. You can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display different lists of links sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can create and display links for a specific category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should display on your website or blog’s sidebar menu …
(Links can be displayed on a sidebar)
As the above example shows, you can display specific links to your site visitors (e.g. a list for a specific link category only), and add multiple lists of links to your sidebar menu.
Need help with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on widgets. To learn more, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using filter, sort, and search functions.
Sorting Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Find Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Find your links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by link categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you would like to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, and all links defined for these categories. You can select a sub-set of categories to display or not display, show only one category at a time, display a search box and find results based on visitor queries, display a form to accept user submissions that can be moderated by a site administrator, and even generate an RSS feed for your link collection so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more this plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress site.
Go here to learn more about creating links in WordPress posts:
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