As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar area is sometimes 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 blogroll using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will then display on your site once you add the Links widget.
Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v 3.5, the Links Manager section was removed …
Before …
(The Link Manager appeared in the WordPress dashboard menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you have had an earlier version than v.3.5 installed and updated your installation, then the Links Manager would be 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 the Links feature is not visible when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to restore the hidden feature. The last time we checked, this 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WordPress dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After you’ve activated the plugin, a ‘Links’ item will show in the WP dashboard menu area …
(WordPress links menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the dashboard menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address of the 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.
Click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories page)
The link category will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this 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 display under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category name)
Change 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 …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the main admin menu and click on Links > Add New …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description section – Add New Link screen)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of the link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include 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
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category.
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 your link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their browser to display the content associated with the link. Your visitor can access the information without leaving your website
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens links at the top level of the frame system if you’re using frames. Ignore this option if you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Ruby Jenkins and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all your links will work just fine. XFN makes your links 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 defines 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image 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 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).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential for links to work.
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 save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your web browser. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Table of links – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Link Information
To edit links in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in your admin menu to bring up your links page …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing links)
Make changes to the link …
(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 see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link that you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to each link that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to set up 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
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP dashboard menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
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 page and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Add a links widget to your WordPress sidebar using drag and drop)
The Links widget offers a number of options. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you create and feature specific a number of links on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, 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 link section should display on your sidebar menu …
(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? We have written a detailed article about configuring widgets. If you are interested in learning more about this here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering functions.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse 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)
Find Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Searching your links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering your links by category)
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 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 link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you want 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.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you output a list of your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 links so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to WordPress.
Go here if you want to learn more adding hyperlinks to WordPress:
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group