As you continue to learn more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or pages displayed 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 links on your sidebar using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Prior to the release of version 3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After v.3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(Links – part of the menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature – excluded from WordPress after WP v3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v 3.5 installed and updated your installation, then the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will remain hidden – you won’t see it displayed on your 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 Link Manager section when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete 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 menu on your WordPress dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to WordPress 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)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in WordPress Links Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow these instructions:
In your WordPress admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – 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 results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will show up in the dashboard menu area …
(Links menu)
Setting Up Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, you can assign any 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 …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page in your web browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the SEO friendly 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 a link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories screen)
Your new category will display in the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this default WordPress 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 display under the new category name …
(Consider 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 the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Special Deals’ etc).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process to add as many link categories as you need.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description fields)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target fields – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Also, 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 by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new, separate window will open up in their browser to display the content associated with the link.
- _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 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area)
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 Stephen O’Malley and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and all of 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 specifies a 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, index, start, help, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced fields – Add New Link page)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 RSS feed associated with the link will be displayed next to your 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 into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (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 the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view additional columns in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Display/hide fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide – Links page)
Editing Your Link Information
To edit links, go to your navigation menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Change your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the 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 its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table of links if it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to your WP navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all your links.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual items that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(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, it’s time to make links display on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your widget sections and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your widget bar)
The Links widget offers various configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you add and feature link lists throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category …
(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 – Sort by options)
After configuring your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show up immediately on your site …
(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 help using widgets? Go here if you want to learn more using widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, search, and sort 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 little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Find Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Search your links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter your links by link 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)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website or blog, or if you want to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin lets you display a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your website that contains a list of all of 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 links so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article about how to add HTML hyperlinks into WordPress. Go here to learn more:
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