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

A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or web pages displayed 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.”

The Links feature lets you add and manage a links section to your WordPress sidebar (e.g. a “Top 5 Resources” section) using widgets.

Prior to the release of WP v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After v.3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …

Before …

(The Link Manager – included in the WordPress dashboard menu until the release of WP v3.5)

After …

(Post v 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)

If you were using the Link Manager in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your site updates to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Links Manager feature, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – you won’t see it 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 the Links Manager section when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager)

Download URL

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

Description

Use this plugin to restore the built-in Link Manager, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.

Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to WordPress 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 WordPress Plugin)

Download URL

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

Description

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

How To Install Link Manager

Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.

From your WP administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins – Add New)

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

Find the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

After you’ve activated the plugin, a ‘Links’ item will be added to the sidebar menu area …

(Links management menu)

Configuring Link Manager

We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding any new 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 link category, choose Links > Link Categories in your admin menu …

(Links – Link Categories)

The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.

Type in the following information:

• Name: What you type in this field will display as the link category name.
• Slug: The slug is the web address 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.

When finished, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …

(Link Categories screen)

Your new category will be added to the table …

(Link Categories)

Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …

(Default link category name)

You may want to change this to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be listed under the new category name …

(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)

To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …

(Editing 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), then click on Update Link Category …

(Update Link Category)

In our example, the category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).

Let’s add a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …

(You can add/edit the category description)

Add your link category description field and click Update when done …

(Edit Link Category screen)

Repeat the above process and add as many link categories as your site needs.

After configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.

How To Add Links

To add a new link, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > Add New …

(Links – Add New)

The ‘Add New Link’ screen will load in your browser …

(Add New Link page)

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

(Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into a number of sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

Enter your link details in this section …

(Add New Link – Name, Web Addressand Description fields)

Type in the following information:

• Name: What you type in this field displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
• Slug: The slug is the URL bit 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.

Categories & Target

Select a Category and Target for your new link …

(Categories & Target – Add New Link screen)

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

Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how your link should open when a visitor clicks on it:

• _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a new window will open up in their web browser to display the content for that link.
• _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave 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. Ignore 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 …

(Add New Link screen – Link Relationship (XFN))

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Oscar Anderson and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.

XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all your links will still work. Defining relationships with 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 specifies 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, index, start, etc.

To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

Advanced

The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …

(Advanced link settings)

The Advanced section contain the following fields:

• Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 RSS feed associated with the link can 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 ignore this section.

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 save your new link)

Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …

(Make your links private)

Making a link private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like your link to display during certain times and hide it after it’s no longer required) …

(Toggle link visibility on and off)

To view all the links you have added to the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the admin menu …

(WordPress Links – All Links)

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

(Links page)

Tip: To display additional options in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …

(Links screen – Screen Options)

Display/hide fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …

(Show/hide links)

Editing Links

To modify a link, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up the 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 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 see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open in a new window),
• Click Delete to delete the link …

(Edit Link: Update Link button)

Removing Your Links

To remove links, choose Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu …

(WP Links – All Links)

This takes you to the ‘Links’ screen.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all of your links at once.

To delete links individually, hover over the link you want removed and click Delete …

(Deleting links)

To delete links in bulk, either tick the checkbox next to each link that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …

(Deleting multiple links)

Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …

(Links: bulk-delete function)

Your selected links will be deleted …

(links deleted notice)

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 learn how to display your links on your website.

Using The Links Widget

The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.

To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the WP dashboard menu …

(WP Appearance – Widgets)

This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen.

You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to 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 the links to show up …

(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area using drag and drop)

The Links widget provides a number of options. 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 …

(Link widget - settings)

You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you create and feature different links throughout your site …

(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)

Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-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 options – Sorting options)

When you have finished setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will appear on your sidebar menu …

(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 with widgets? If you want to learn more about using widgets, see this article:

• How To Add And Configure WordPress Widgets In Your Blog

Links Manager – Additional Information

If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, filtering, and sorting functions.

Sorting Links

To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …

(Sorting links function)

Searching Your Links

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

(You can find links using the search function)

Filtering Links

You can filter links by categories …

(Filter your links by link categories)

You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …

(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)

This displays a list of all links listed for 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 would like 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 URL

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

Plugin Description

Link Library allows you to display a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …

(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)

Link Library creates a page on your website that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus all links defined for 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 additions to your link library.

To learn more this WordPress plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Link Library – WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to external websites and pages in your WordPress sidebar menu.

We have written a comprehensive article about how to easily insert hyperlinks into your WordPress posts and pages. For more info, see this article:

• Using The WordPress Internal Linking Tool

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