As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar section 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.”
The Links feature lets you add hyperlinks to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Feature – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used the Link Manager feature, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will become invisible – you will not 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 a Links section on the main menu when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add it by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
You can use this plugin to display the default 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 template code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your site, follow these step-by-step instructions:
In the WP dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – 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 screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After you’ve activated the plugin, a ‘Links’ section will be added to your WP sidebar menu …
(Links menu)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding new links, it’s a good idea to set 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, choose Links > Link Categories in your WP admin menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
When done, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories screen)
The link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for 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 better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to 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 item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process and add as many new link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to your WP navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Links page – 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 …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of the link category. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add 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 the link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link. This allows your visitors to see the link information without leaving your website
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your web 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Kian Smith 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 all of your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with 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, enter 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 the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced fields)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 your 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).
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 the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want links to display during certain periods and hide them afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view a list of all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display or hide information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Links page – Hide or display screen options)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit links in the Link Manager, go to the admin menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Change your link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To delete links, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all of your links.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to every item that you would like to delete, 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)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display links on your site.
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 the navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will display in your web browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget sections and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …
(Drag & drop your links widget to add it to your sidebar)
The Links widget offers a number of settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you create and display links throughout your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down 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 settings – Sorting options)
After configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show on your website or blog’s sidebar menu …
(An example of how 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 using widgets? If you want to learn more about widgets, see this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, filter, and sort features.
Sort Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor 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)
Search Your Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Search links function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering 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 page)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your web site that contains 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 link collection that lets your site users be made aware of additions 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 in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article about how to easily add HTML hyperlinks into WordPress. Go here to learn more about this:
***
"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum