As you continue to learn more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar section.
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 a featured links section on your sidebar using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v.3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v 3.5 and updated your installation, then 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 the Links item is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add it by installing a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
Use this plugin to restore the built-in Link Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WP administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section on your dashboard menu screen …
(WordPress links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before adding new links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your link category. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
The link category will display in the list …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when adding a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to blog readers. This not only makes 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 …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the default link category name)
Change 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), then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Special Deals’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(WP Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the URL of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(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 create a new category.
Next, 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 by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a new, separate window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. This lets your visitors see the information without leaving your website
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave 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. 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 …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Diya Anderson 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 your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 defines a relationship 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 the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains 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 the image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the link’s RSS feed will be displayed next to the link.
- 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 into the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making a link private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain times and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, select Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. The table of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display or hide options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(List of links – Hide or display screen options)
How To Edit Links
To modify links, go to the dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(WP Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Change the link information …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your list …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To delete links, go to your dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkbox next to every item that you want to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your links 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 learn how to make links display on your site.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to your sidebar using drag & drop)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget settings)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebars and footers as you want. This allows you to create and feature link sections throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, 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 links will become visible 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? If you want to learn more about configuring widgets, refer to this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filtering, sorting, and searching functionality.
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 …
(Sorting your links)
Finding Links Function
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Searching your links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your site, 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, 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 of your links that lets your site users become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to WordPress.
Go here if you would like to learn more about how to add links into WordPress:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now