As you continue to discover more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or 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.”
The Links Manager lets you easily add and manage hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Menu – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve 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 you can’t see the Links feature when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the built-in Links Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WordPress administration area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – 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 activation, the ‘Links’ function will be restored to your WP admin menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of the link category. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
When finished, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
The new category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this default link category name to something better suited to your business. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display under the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(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 …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process and add as many different link categories as your site needs.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, choose Links > Add New in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type here displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug appears 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 a link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave your site and a new website 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
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 Muhammed Jenkins and you link to his blog, you would probably check 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. Defining relationships with 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 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, help, start, index, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
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 area – Add New Link)
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 image URL and make sure that the image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link will display 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain times and hide them when not required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, choose Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view additional columns in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Links table – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(List of links – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Link Information
To modify links, go to the WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your list of links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing links)
Change the link fields …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To remove a link, go to your WP admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all links at once.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check boxes next to individual links that you want to be removed, 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’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(Link deletion message)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display your links on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ screen in your 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 widget bars and drop it wherever you would like your links to display …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget offers various configurable options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display specific multiple link sections on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link 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 options – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will become visible on your site …
(An example of how 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? We have written a detailed article on widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, sort, and filter functionality.
Sort 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 triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Search Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can find links using the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter your links by 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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under 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 links on your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you display a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this WordPress plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress site.
Go here if you want to learn more adding links to WordPress:
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