As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar area 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 set of links using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will display on your website if you have added the Links widget.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you’ve had an earlier version than 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, the Link Manager would be removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links Manager feature, however, or if your WordPress installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed on the 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 the Links item is not displayed when you log into your WP dashboard, you can add this feature via a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the Links 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 your installation 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
From the WordPress administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activation, the ‘Links’ function is restored to your WP sidebar menu …
(Links menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of your link category name. 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.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories page)
Your new category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when creating a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can understand. This will not only make 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 …
(Change the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access 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 Address& Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of the link category name. 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.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick 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 how your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave 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 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 Vihaan Schwartz and you link to his blog, you would probably check 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 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 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, type nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, index, start, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced area – Add New Link)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 RSS feed associated with the link will display 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 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 your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain periods and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, go to the WP admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The Links table displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view additional options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Links
To modify links, click on Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu to bring up the links screen …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your links)
Change your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To remove links, choose Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all of your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to every item that you would like to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display your links on your site.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken 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 active widget bars and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Add a links widget to your WordPress sidebar using drag and drop)
The Links widget includes various configurable settings. 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 also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and display link categories on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-down menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
After setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should show up immediately on your website …
(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 if you would like to learn more about configuring widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using filtering, searching, and sorting functionality.
Sorting Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Search Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Find links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering your links by link 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 brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your site, or if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to display a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your website that contains all the link categories in your Links area, and 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 be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about using this WordPress plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to easily add HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress content. Go here to learn more:
***
"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com