As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or web pages displayed on your sidebar.
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 blog 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 version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Links Manager – included in the admin menu until the release of WP v.3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than v 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would be removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your WordPress site installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – you won’t see it displayed on the dashboard 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 feature when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
The Link Manager plugin displays the Links feature on your WordPress dashboard, 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. 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow these instructions:
In the WP administration 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 …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ item on your sidebar menu screen …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, choose Links > Link Categories in your WP navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories screen)
Your new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes 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 link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the default link category)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site requires.
After configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the WP admin menu …
(Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
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 is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address& Description fields)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of your link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category link.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where you want the link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their browser to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link page)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Anthony Fields and you link to his 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 your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 specifies 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. 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)
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 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 links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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 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 Links section …
(Private link 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 afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser. The Links page displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional columns in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Links screen – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Links page – Hide or display screen options)
Editing Your Links
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up the list of links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Change the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update 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 link table if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, go to the dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkbox next to each item that you want to remove, 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)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The selected links will be removed …
(Deleted links notice)
Using The Link Manager 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 make links display on your website.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(WP Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load in your browser.
You will see 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 the active widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you create and feature specific lists of links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
After configuring the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section should now appear on your site …
(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 more help with widgets? We have written a detailed article about widgets here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with searching, sorting, and filtering functions.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Searching Your Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Search links function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 of your links that lets your site users 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 a blogroll and manage links to external websites in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a comprehensive article on adding hyperlinks into WordPress posts. Go here to learn more:
***
"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)