As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar area is sometimes 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 add a link section using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will then display on your sidebar once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager – excluded from the WordPress dashboard menu after WP v3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your site updates to a newer version. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not display on your menu.
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 Manager section when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the built-in Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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 WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WordPress dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on 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 it has been installed …
Once the plugin has been activated, a ‘Links’ section will be displayed in your admin menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your admin menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
The new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. This will not only make 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 ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(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 Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
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 description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to your admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description – Add New Link screen)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL 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 your link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category link.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new site or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens links at the top level of the frame system if you’re using frames. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Diya Silva and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and all of 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 is used to define a relationship 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, start, index, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced fields)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you 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 links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can add a rating score to the link if you want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ screen. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To view additional information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Hide or show – Links screen)
Editing Link Information
To modify a link, go to the dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Change your link information …
(Edit Link page)
After 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 its URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, go to the main admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check boxes next to individual items that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion 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 learn how to display links on your website.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in your WP dashboard menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
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 your links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget includes various settings. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This allows you to create and feature specific lists of links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category to display specific links …
(Link widget options – 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)
Once you are done setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should show on your site’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 about configuring widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, filtering, and sorting features.
Sorting Links Function
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)
Search Links Function
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Find links)
Filtering Your Links
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 find link categories, or click on the links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to display a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 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 about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article on adding hyperlinks in WordPress posts. To learn more, go here:
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