As you continue to discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar 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 a featured links section on your website using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Prior to the release of v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress version 3.5, the Links Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from WordPress after WP v.3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would have been 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 the Links item is not displayed when you log into your WP admin area, you can add this feature via a plugin. This tutorial explains 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
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the default Link Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing 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 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/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WP dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on 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 it has been installed …
After activation, the ‘Links’ feature is restored to the dashboard menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of the link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
The link category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories page)
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 default link category name to something better suited to your business. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically appear under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the link category name)
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), then click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create 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)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many new link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, go to the WP navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address& Description area)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of your link category. It must 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
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Also, 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 a new, separate window will open up in their browser to display the information associated with the link. Your visitor will be able to access the link information without leaving your website
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new site 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Miles Anderson and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and your links will still work. XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 the 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section 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)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following:
- 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 link’s RSS feed can be displayed next to the link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: Add a rating score to the link if you want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Type in your information in 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, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want links to display during certain periods and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in your navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser. The Links screen displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view or hide options in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Display/hide information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Links page – Show/hide screen options)
Editing Link Information
To edit a link, choose Links > All Links in the WP dashboard menu to bring up the table of links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your links)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link page)
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 up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load 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 links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your selected links will be deleted …
(Deleted links message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display links on your site.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the admin menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ screen in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to your WordPress sidebar)
The Links widget offers various configurable settings. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display specific lists of links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of 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 options – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will display on your sidebar, footer or wherever you have placed the widget in …
(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 more help using widgets? Go here to learn more about adding widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering features.
Sort Links
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Find Links Function
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can find your links using the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. 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 page)
This brings up 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 intend 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your site containing a list of all of 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 link collection that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Visit this website to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have also written a detailed article about adding HTML links to WordPress here:
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