As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Feature – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WP Links feature)
If you’ve had an earlier version of WordPress than v3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would be 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 you can’t see the Links feature when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin restores the default Links Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WordPress dashboard area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress adds a ‘Links’ item to the admin menu area …
(Links menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding new links. This way, you can assign any new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories screen)
The category details will display in the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can understand. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link 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, and click on the Update link Category button …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Items’ etc).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
After setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to your WP navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of the link category name. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already added, 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 where the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a separate browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new website 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Alexander Schwartz and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all your links will work just fine. XFN makes your links more understandable to some websites 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to specify 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 screen)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of your image and make sure that the image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the link’s RSS feed can display next to your links.
- 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).
Type in your 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 the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making links private allows you to toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want links to display during certain periods and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have added to the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the main admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your browser. The Links screen displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display additional fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Display/hide information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Hide or display – Links page)
Editing Links
To edit links, select Links > All Links in your dashboard menu to bring up your table of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Change your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and make sure that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, go to the navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkboxes next to individual items that you want deleted, 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’ drop-down menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links you have selected 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, let’s show you how to make links display on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP dashboard menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ screen 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 the widget to one of the widget areas in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Add a links widget to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget includes a number of settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebars and footers as you want. This allows you to add and feature links on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to 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 – Sort by options)
After configuring the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show on your website …
(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? Go here if you would like to learn more about widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sort, filter, and search functions.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can search links using the search function)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter your 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 category 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 link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you intend 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your website that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus all links listed in these categories. Additionally, 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 so that your site users can 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 to other websites and pages in your WordPress sidebar menu.
To learn more about how to add HTML links to WordPress posts, refer to this article:
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