As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other websites or web pages that display on your sidebar area as a blogroll.
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 display links on your blog using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Links Manager – included in the WordPress menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(Links – no longer shown in WordPress after WordPress v3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v 3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve 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 feature is not visible when you log into your WP backend, you can add it by installing a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to display the Link Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to your installation in order to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the plugin had not been updated for some time, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use this plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
In your WordPress dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ item will show in the sidebar menu …
(Links menu)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your WP dashboard menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you enter here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of your link category. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
When finished, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories page)
The category details will be added to the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can understand. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the link category)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Addressand Description – Add New Link)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that a separate browser window will open up to display the content for that link. Your visitor can access the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new website 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area – Add New Link page)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Lisa Smith and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will still work. XFN makes your links 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 defines 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced area)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to your links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can add a rating score to the link if you would like to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to the main navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The Links page displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To display or hide options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Links
To modify a link, go to the navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your links)
Change the link …
(Edit Link page)
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 make sure that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your link table if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete links, select Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkboxes next to individual links that you want to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The selected links will be removed …
(Deleted links notification)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display your links on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in your WP admin menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …
(Drag & drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you add and display specific multiple links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links will show up immediately on your site …
(Links can be displayed on your site’s 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 more help using widgets? We have written a detailed article on configuring widgets. To learn more about this go here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, filter, and sort features.
Sort 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 your links)
Searching Links Function
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Searching your links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, or if you want 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your web site containing all the link categories in your Links area, and all links listed in 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 of your links that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in WordPress.
To learn more about creating HTML links in your WordPress content, see this article:
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