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

WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar 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 add a blogroll using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will display on your blog if you have added the Links widget.

Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …

Before …

(WordPress Links Feature – pre version 3.5)

After …

(The Links Manager feature – no longer included in WordPress after WP v 3.5)

If you’ve used an earlier version than v 3.5 and updated your installation, then the Link 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 menu section is not visible when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add this feature via a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager Plugin)

Plugin URL

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

Description

The Link Manager plugin displays the built-in Links feature on your dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.

Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.

Simple Links

(Simple Links Plugin)

Download URL

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

Plugin Description

Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.

Installing The Plugin

Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.

In the WordPress admin 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 …

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

Activate the plugin after installing it …

After activation, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ feature to the dashboard menu area …

(Links management menu section)

Plugin Configuration

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 new link category, select Links > Link Categories in your dashboard navigation menu …

(Links – Link Categories)

The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your browser.

Enter information into the following fields:

• Name: Enter the link category name.
• Slug: The slug shows up in the URL 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 your link category description.

Click the Add New Link Category button …

(Link Categories screen)

Your category details will now show in the table …

(Link Categories page)

Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress will 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 your site visitors. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …

(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)

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

(Quick Edit)

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

(Quick Edit)

In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).

Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …

(Link category description)

Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …

(Edit Link Category area)

Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site needs.

After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add your links.

How To Add New Links

To create a new link, go to your admin menu and choose Links > Add New …

(Links Menu – Add New)

The ‘Add New Link’ page will display in your browser …

(Add New Link page)

You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …

(Links – Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page includes various sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

This section lets you enter details about your link …

(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Address, Description area)

Enter the following information:

• Name: Enter the link category name here.
• Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
• Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)

Categories & Target

Select a Category and Target for your new link …

(Add New Link – Categories & Target)

In the Categories section, select a link category you have already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category link.

Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where you want your link to open when clicked on:

• _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the content for that link. Your visitor will be able to see the link information without leaving your site
• _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new site or page will load in your web browser window instead.
• _top opens links 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 area provides some additional link functionality …

(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) section)

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Spencer Jenkins and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.

XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links 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 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.

You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:

• 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 fields)

The Advanced section contain the following fields:

• Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 link’s RSS feed 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).

Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.

When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …

(Click on Add Link to save your new link)

Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …

(Make your links private)

Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …

(Toggle link visibility on and off)

To see a list of all your links, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …

(Links – All Links)

This brings up the ‘Links’ screen. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …

(Links table)

Tip: To display additional columns in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …

(Screen Options – Table of links)

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

(Hide or display – List of links)

How To Edit Link Information

To modify a link, select Links > All Links in the main dashboard navigation menu to bring up the links page …

(Links – All Links)

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

(Editing your links)

Make changes to the link fields …

(Edit Link page)

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

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

(Edit Link: Update Link button)

Removing Your Links

To remove a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …

(WordPress Links – All Links)

The ‘Links’ table will display in your web browser.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all of your links at once.

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

(Delete links)

To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to each link that you would like to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …

(Delete multiple links)

Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …

(Links: bulk-deletion function)

The links you have selected 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, let’s show you how to make links display on your website or blog.

Using The Links Widget

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

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

(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)

The ‘Widgets’ page will display in your browser.

You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …

(Links widget)

Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …

(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area using drag & drop)

The Links widget provides various options. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …

(Link widget - configurable settings)

You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to add and feature link lists throughout your site …

(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)

You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …

(Link widget settings – 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 the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should show on your sidebar menu …

(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 more help using widgets? We have written a detailed article about widgets. Go here to learn more:

• Adding WordPress Widgets To The Sidebar

Links Manager – Additional Information

If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sorting, searching, and filtering features.

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 triangle displayed next to the column title …

(You can easily sort links)

Search Links

Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …

(Searching links)

Filtering Links

You can filter links by categories …

(Filtering links by 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 category 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.

Link Library

(Link Library)

Download Plugin URL

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

Plugin Description

Link Library allows you to output a list of your link categories with a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …

(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)

This plugin creates a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 link collection that lets your site users become aware of any additions made to to your link library.

To learn more this WordPress plugin, visit this site:

• Link Library Plugin For WordPress

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress sidebar.

We have written a detailed article on inserting links into your WordPress posts & pages. Go here to learn more:

• How To Use The WordPress Internal Linking Tool

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