As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.

In WordPress terminology, a list of links 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 manage a link section using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will display on your site once you add the Links widget.

Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …

Before …

(WP Links Manager Feature – pre v.3.5)

After …

(The Links Manager is no longer part of the dashboard menu after WordPress v 3.5)

If you have used an earlier version than v 3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would have been 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 a Links section on the main menu 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 and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)

Plugin URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager

Description

This plugin restores the built-in Link Manager, even if you update 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, the 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 template code.

Simple Links

(Simple Links Plugin)

Download URL

https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/

Description Of Plugin

This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.

Installing Link Manager

To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow these instructions:

From the WP dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins – Add New)

Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …

Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

Once the plugin has been activated, the ‘Links’ functionality is restored to your sidebar menu …

(Links menu)

Setting Up The Plugin

We recommend setting up link categories first before adding new links. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.

Link Categories

To create a link category, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …

(WP 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.
• Slug: The slug is the web address part 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.

after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save …

(Link Categories)

The category details will now show in the list …

(Link Categories page)

Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …

(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)

You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to your visitors. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display under the new category name …

(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)

To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …

(Editing the default link category)

Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …

(Update Link Category)

Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).

Let’s insert 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’ page and click Update …

(Edit Link Category area)

Repeat this process and add as many link categories as you need.

After setting up your link categories, you can add new links.

Adding New Links

To add a new link, go to your navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …

(WP Links – Add New)

This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your web browser …

(Add New Link page)

You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …

(Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

Enter details about your link in this section …

(Name, Web Addressand Description)

Enter information into the following fields:

• Name: Whatever you type in this field will display as the link category name.
• Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
• Description: Some themes may display your link category description.

Categories & Target

After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …

(Categories & Target – Add New Link)

In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ 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 you want the link to open when a visitor clicks on it:

• _blank means that a separate web browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link. Your visitor can see the link information without leaving your page
• _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. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then ignore this option.

Link Relationship XFN

This section provides some additional link functionality …

(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Jonathan Anderson 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. XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites 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 specifies 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.

To learn more about XFN, visit this site:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

Advanced

The last section lets you specify 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 screen)

The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:

• Image Address: 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 RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to the links.
• Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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).

Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential for links to work.

When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …

(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)

Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …

(Make your links private)

Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or 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 the WP dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …

(WordPress Links – All Links)

This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The Links table displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …

(Links table)

Tip: To view additional columns in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …

(Screen Options – List of links)

Display/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …

(Show/hide links)

How To Edit Link Information

To modify links in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu to bring up the list of links …

(Links Menu – All Links)

Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …

(Editing link information)

Change your link …

(Edit Link page)

After you’re done editing your link, you can:

• Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
• Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
• Click Delete to delete the link from your table …

(Edit Link: Update Link button)

Removing Links

To remove links from the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …

(WP Links – All Links)

This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.

To delete links individually, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …

(Delete links)

To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check box next to every link that you would like to delete, 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’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …

(Links: bulk-delete function)

All the links you have selected will be deleted …

(links deleted 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 display links on your website.

Using The Links Widget

The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.

To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …

(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)

This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ screen.

You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …

(Links widget)

Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want the links to display …

(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your WordPress widget bar)

The Links widget provides various settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …

(Link widget - options)

You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This allows you to add and display several link sections throughout your site …

(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)

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 rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …

(Link widget options – Sort by options)

Once you are done setting up your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show up immediately on your sidebar …

(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 with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about widgets here:

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Links Manager – Additional Information

If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sorting, searching, and filtering functions.

Sort Links

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 links)

Searching Links

You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …

(Searching links)

Filtering Your Links

You can filter links by link categories …

(Filtering your links by 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 brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …

(Links filtered by category)

Links – Additional Options

If you plan to use links extensively on 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 links, like Link Library.

Link Library

(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)

Plugin Download URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/

Plugin Description

This plugin gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …

(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin site.)

Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, 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 for your link collection that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.

To learn more about the benefits of using this WordPress plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Link Library – WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other websites in your WordPress sidebar menu.

We have also written a comprehensive article about how to insert HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress content here:

• Using The Internal Linking Tool In WordPress

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