As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or blogs displayed on your sidebar menu.
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 easily add hyperlinks to your WordPress sidebar menu (e.g. a “Top 5 Resources” section) using widgets.
Before the release of WordPress v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(Links – part of the WordPress menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 and updated your installation, then the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you have previously used it.
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 admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the default Links Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code 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 this plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WordPress administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, the ‘Links’ function is restored to your sidebar menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO friendly URL of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
The link category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when adding a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default 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 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 link category)
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 …
(Editing the link category)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Products’ etc).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category. Only use lower case letters and do not include 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 with their mouse.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Also, 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 when visitors click on your link, a new, separate browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link. This lets your visitors see the link information without leaving your site
- _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 just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Aditya Jones 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 is used to define 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’ attributes with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image 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 display next to the links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can add a rating score to the link if you want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
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 use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, choose Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To show or hide information in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Link Information
To modify links in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu to bring up your links screen …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing links)
Make changes to your link information …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove links, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
Your links will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display links on your website.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in your navigation menu …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.
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 bars in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your sidebar)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This lets you add and display link lists on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can create and display links for a specific category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
When you have finished configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should appear on your sidebar, footer or whichever widget-ready area you place the links widget in …
(An example of how 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 help with widgets? We have written a detailed article about widgets here:
Link 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 Your Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Searching Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can easily find your links using the search function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
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 blog, or if you intend 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin lets you output a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
This plugin creates a page on your site 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 so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit the plugin website for more details about using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress site.
We have written a comprehensive article on inserting HTML hyperlinks into WordPress posts & pages. To learn more, go here:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)