As you continue to learn more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or web pages that display on your sidebar section.
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 display a links section on your sidebar using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before the release of v 3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager – part of the WordPress menu until the release of WP v.3.5)
After …
(Links – no longer displayed in the menu after WordPress version 3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used the Link Manager feature, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not display 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 the Links feature when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to display the 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 your installation in order to restore the hidden feature. When we last 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 WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
In the WordPress administration 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 …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activation, WordPress will add a ‘Links’ section to the WP navigation menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Configuring The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
Your link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category 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 to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Change 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 …
(Edit 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), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s 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)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can being adding your links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the WP dashboard menu …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Addressand Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type here displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create 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 how you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to see the information without leaving your page
- _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. Don’t worry about 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))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Aarohi Jones and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will work just fine. XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites and search engines that use this information.
rel – This field specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute is used to define 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, help, index, start, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add an image URL 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 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not required.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(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 want the link to display during certain times and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all your links, click on Links > All Links in the main admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view or hide fields in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Table of links – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit a link, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu to bring up your table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your link information)
Change the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your link table …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to every link that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links will be removed …
(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, let’s show you how to make links display 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 the main dashboard menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen in your browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your widget bar)
The Links widget includes various settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and display multiple link categories throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display links for a specific category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should become visible 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 comprehensive article on configuring widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with searching, filtering, and sorting functionality.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Search Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can easily search links with the search function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter links by link category)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering 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 add a lot of links to your site, or if you would like to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
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 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 of your links so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more this WordPress plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress site.
We have written a comprehensive article about how to add HTML links in WordPress posts and pages. Go here to learn more about this:
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