As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or blogs that display on your sidebar area.
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 blog using the Link Manager plugin.
Before the release of version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer part of the WordPress admin menu after WordPress v3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not be displayed 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 the Links feature is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains 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
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to display the Links menu on your 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 some time, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress 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.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WordPress administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “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 activation, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ section in your WP dashboard menu area …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in your WP admin menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address 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 your link category description.
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories page)
Your category details will display in the table …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can understand. This not only makes 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 your visitors will understand)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category)
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 the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many different link categories as your site needs.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, choose Links > Add New in the main dashboard menu …
(Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description section – Add New Link screen)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine friendly URL 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
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 your link should open when clicked on:
- _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. This lets your visitors see the link information without leaving your website
- _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 links 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) section – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Grace Fields and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all 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 defines a 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords using spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 can be displayed next to the 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 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 fields are not essential for links to work.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser. The Links screen displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display or hide options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Show/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide – Links page)
How To Edit Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to the main navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your links table …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your links)
Make any changes you want to the link fields …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and make sure that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To delete links, go to your dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links at once.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check box next to each link that you would like to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The selected links will be removed …
(links deleted message)
Plugin Usage
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 site.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP admin menu …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This takes you 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 your widget areas and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag & drop)
The Links widget includes a number of configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This lets you add and display specific link categories throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
When you have finished configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will become visible on your sidebar, footer or whichever widget-ready area you have added the widget to …
(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 comprehensive article about configuring widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering functionality.
Sort Links Function
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 …
(Sort links)
Finding Your Links
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Finding your links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by link 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you output a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your website that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus all links listed in 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 that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more this powerful plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to WordPress.
We have written a detailed article about adding hyperlinks in WordPress posts & pages. If you would like to learn more about this here:
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