As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar area is often referred to 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 WordPress Link Manager plugin.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v 3.5, the Links Manager section was removed …
Before …
(The Links Manager displayed in the WordPress dashboard menu until the release of WordPress v 3.5)
After …
(Post v.3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v3.5 and upgraded your installation, the Links Manager would be 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 you can’t see the Links feature when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to restore the built-in Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to restore the hidden feature. The last time we checked, this 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 – Link Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WordPress dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section in your WP navigation menu area …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you enter in this field displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
When done, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories area)
The link category will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when adding a new link, WordPress will automatically assign 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 your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Items’ etc).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can being adding new links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in the admin menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Addressand Description area)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of the link category. It must all 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 link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where your link should open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their browser to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens the link at the top level of the frame system if you’re using frames. Ignore 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 …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Ashley Gould 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 all of 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 lets you specify 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, enter nofollow into this field.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link page)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the image URL 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 link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: 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 ignore this section.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have created, click on Links > All Links in the navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your web browser. The Links screen displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To show or hide options in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Display/hide fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Hide or show – Table of links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify a link, go to the admin menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(WP Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Make changes to the link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up 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
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP admin menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ screen in your web browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of the active widget bars and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag & drop)
The Links widget includes various settings. You can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you create and display a number of links on your site …
(You can add multiple 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 rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
After configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section should show up immediately on your sidebar menu …
(An example of how 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 help using widgets? We have written a detailed article about widgets. You can learn more about this here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with filtering, sorting, and searching functions.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links)
Search Your Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can easily search your links with the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link 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 a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you output a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your website that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 links that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit this website for more details about the benefits of using this great plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external sites in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article on inserting HTML links into WordPress. For more info, see this article:
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum