As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.

A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or web pages that display on your sidebar.

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 or footer using the WordPress Link Manager plugin.

Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …

Before …

(Links – part of the admin menu until the release of WordPress v3.5)

After …

(The Link Manager – excluded from the WordPress menu after WP version 3.5)

If you’ve had an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 installed and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would be removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your website is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not appear 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 you can’t see a Links section on the main menu when you log into your WP dashboard, 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 sidebar using WordPress plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager Plugin)

Download URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager

Description

Use this plugin to display the default Links menu on your WordPress dashboard, 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 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 Plugin)

Download URL

https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/

Description

Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.

Plugin Installation

To install the Link Manager plugin on your site, follow these instructions:

In the WP dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …

Locate the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installation …

After activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ section will show up in the WP navigation menu area …

(WordPress links menu)

Configuring The Plugin

We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.

Link Categories

To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard menu …

(Links – Link Categories)

This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.

Enter the following information:

• Name: Enter the category name.
• Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
• Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)

after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category name …

(Link Categories)

The new category will now show in the table …

(Link Categories)

Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress will automatically assign 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 not only makes 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 ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)

To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …

(Quick Edit)

Replace 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 …

(Editing the default link category name)

Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).

Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …

(You can add/edit your category description)

Enter your link category description field and click Update finished to save your settings …

(Edit Link Category page)

Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site needs.

Once you have configured your link categories, you can add new links.

How To Add New Links

To add a new link, select Links > Add New in your navigation menu …

(Links – Add New)

This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ page …

(Add New Link screen)

You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …

(Links – Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

Enter your link details in this section …

(Add New Link – Name, Web Address& Description section)

Enter information into the following fields:

• Name: What you type in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
• Slug: The slug is the URL bit 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 your link category description. (Optional)

Categories & Target

After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …

(Categories & Target fields – Add New Link screen)

In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.

Also, 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 visitors click on it:

• _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
• _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will exit your site and a new site or page will load in your 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) – Add New Link page)

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Ali Gould and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.

XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all of your links will work just fine. XFN makes your links more understandable to some sites 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 is used to define the relationship 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, help, start, etc.

You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

Advanced

The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …

(Advanced link settings)

The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:

• Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the 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 can display 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 would like 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 fields are not required.

When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …

(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)

Note: If you select Keep this link private, your 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 or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …

(Toggle link visibility on and off)

To see all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to the main navigation menu and select Links > All Links …

(Links Menu – All Links)

The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …

(List of links)

Tip: To show or hide information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …

(Links page – Screen Options)

Show/hide fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …

(Show/hide links)

How To Edit Your Link Information

To edit links in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu to bring up your table of links …

(WordPress Links – All Links)

Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …

(Editing your link information)

Edit your link information …

(Edit Link page)

After editing your link, you can:

• Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
• Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
• Click Delete to delete the link from your link table if you no longer require it …

(Edit Link: Update Link button)

Deleting Your Links

To remove links, select Links > All Links in the main navigation menu …

(WP Links Menu – All Links)

The ‘Links’ table will display in your browser.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all links at once.

To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove and click Delete …

(Deleting your links)

To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you want deleted, 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’ drop-down menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …

(Bulk-deletion of links)

All the links you have selected will be removed …

(Deleted links message)

Plugin Usage

Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to make links display on your website.

Links Widget

Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.

To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the main navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …

(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 your active widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …

(Drag & drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)

The Links widget offers various settings. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …

(Link widget options)

You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and feature links throughout your site …

(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)

You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown 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 – Sorting options)

After setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links should 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 more help using widgets? To learn more about using widgets, refer to this article:

• Adding Widgets To Your WordPress Sidebar Menu

Link Manager – Additional Information

If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with search, sort, and filter functions.

Sorting Links Function

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 Links Function

Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …

(Finding links)

Filter Links

You can filter links by link categories …

(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 links in the ‘Links’ column …

(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)

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 if you would like 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 links, like Link Library.

Link Library

(Link Library)

Plugin URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/

Plugin Description

The Link Library plugin allows you to publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links with descriptions and notes …

(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)

Link Library creates a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 for your link collection that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.

For more details about this powerful plugin, go here:

• Link Library Plugin For WordPress

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress site.

We have written a detailed article on how to easily add links into WordPress posts and pages. Go here to learn more:

• How To Use The Internal Linking Tool In WordPress

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