As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other websites or pages displayed 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 links on your blog using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature – excluded from the WordPress admin menu after WordPress version 3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and upgraded 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 you can’t see the Links feature when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin displays the built-in Link 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 template code to your installation in order to restore the hidden feature. The last time we 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 one 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/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow the instructions below:
In the WordPress admin menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select 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 installing it …
Once you’ve activated the plugin, the ‘Links’ feature will be restored to your dashboard menu area …
(WordPress links menu section)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the WP admin menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of your link category. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories area)
Your link category will display in the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your blog readers. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, 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 better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
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)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many link categories as your site requires.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description section)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: What you type in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- 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 a link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where the link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new browser window will open up to display the content for that link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your site
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new site or page will load in your web 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Kyra Smith and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and all your links will still work. XFN makes your links more understandable to some websites 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page 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) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is located 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: 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 in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, go to your admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To view or hide options in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Link Information
To edit a link, go to the navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your link information)
Change your link information …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table of links if it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To delete links, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the check box next to every link 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 …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
Your selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to make links display on your site.
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 Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will display in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget bars and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area using drag & drop)
The Links widget includes various 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 …
(Link widget - options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you create and display a number of different link lists sorted by categories on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
When you have finished configuring the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should become visible on your website …
(An example of how 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 using widgets? We have written a detailed article about adding widgets. To learn more about this go here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sort, search, and filter functions.
Sort Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links)
Finding Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can search your links with the search function)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter your links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for 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 listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you display 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 website.)
Link Library creates a page on your web site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, plus all links defined for 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 for your links that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress site.
Go here if you want to learn more adding HTML links in your WordPress content:
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