As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.

WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar section as a blogroll.

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 add a set of links using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will then display on your blog if you have added the Links widget.

Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After v 3.5, the Links Manager section was removed …

Before …

(WordPress Links Feature – pre version 3.5)

After …

(The Links Manager – no longer displayed in WordPress after WordPress v 3.5)

If you have used an earlier version than v.3.5 and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would be 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 item is not visible when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add this feature via a plugin. This tutorial will show you how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager)

Plugin URL

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

Description Of Plugin

You can use this plugin to display the Links menu on your dashboard, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.

Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.

Simple Links

(Simple Links)

Download URL

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

Description Of Plugin

Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.

How To Install Link Manager

To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:

From the WP administration area, go to 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 activating the plugin, WordPress restores the ‘Links’ function to your dashboard menu …

(WordPress links menu)

Plugin Setup

We recommend setting up your link categories first before 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 WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …

(WP Links – Link Categories)

This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.

Type in the following information:

• Name: Enter the link category name here.
• Slug: The slug shows up in the web address 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)

Click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …

(Link Categories screen)

The category details will display in the table …

(Link Categories)

Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …

(Default link category)

You may want to change the default link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. 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 …

(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)

To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, 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)

Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).

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

(Link category description)

Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update when finished …

(Edit Link Category area)

Repeat this process to add as many link categories as you need.

Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can start adding your links.

How To Add Links

To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in your WP dashboard navigation menu …

(Links Menu – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …

(Add New Link page)

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

(Links – Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

This section is where you enter your link details …

(Name, Web Address, Description)

Type in the following information:

• Name: Enter the link category name.
• Slug: The slug is the web address part of your 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 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 …

(Add New Link – Categories & Target area)

In the Categories section, select a link category you have already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create 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 the link to open when visitors click on it:

• _blank means that a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information for that link. This lets your visitors see the information without leaving your site
• _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new website 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 area provides some additional link functionality …

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

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

XFN relationships are optional. 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 what relationship exists 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes with spaces.

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 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) …

(Add New Link page – 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 the URL of your image and make sure that the image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
• RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the link’s RSS feed will be displayed next to the link.
• 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 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 update your link settings)

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 toggle link visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …

(Toggle link visibility on and off)

To see all your links, go to the WP dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …

(Links Menu – All Links)

This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …

(Table of links)

Tip: To view or hide fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen Options – Table of links)

Enable/disable information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …

(Show/hide links)

Editing Links

To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to the navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …

(Links Menu – All Links)

Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …

(Editing link information)

Edit the link details …

(Edit Link page)

After editing the link, you can:

• Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
• Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
• Click Delete to remove the link from your link table …

(Update Link button)

How To Delete Your Links

To remove links from the Link Manager, go to the admin menu and select Links > All Links …

(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)

This takes you to the ‘Links’ page.

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

To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …

(Delete your links)

To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to each item that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …

(Deleting multiple links)

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

(Bulk-deletion of links)

Your selected links will be removed …

(Link deletion 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 make links display on your site.

Using The Links Widget

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

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

(Appearance – Widgets)

The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your browser.

You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …

(Links widget)

To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget bars in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want your links to show up …

(Add a links widget to your sidebar using drag & drop)

The Links widget includes various options. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …

(Link widget - configurable options)

You can add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you add and display link sections throughout your site …

(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)

Select a link category to display a specific list of items …

(Link widget settings – 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 setting up the links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links will show up immediately on your site …

(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 with widgets? We have written a detailed article on adding widgets. Go here to learn more about this:

• Adding And Configuring WordPress Widgets In Your Sidebar

Links Manager – Additional Information

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

(You can easily sort links)

Find Your Links

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

(Find your links)

Filter Links

You can filter links by link categories …

(Filtering links by categories)

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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …

(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)

This brings up a list of all links listed under a specific link category …

(Links filtered by link category)

Additional Link Options

If you plan to use links extensively on your site, 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)

Download Plugin URL

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

Plugin Description

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

(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)

This useful plugin creates a page on your website 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 of your links that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.

Go here to learn more this plugin:

• Link Library Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to your WordPress sidebar.

We have written a comprehensive article about adding HTML hyperlinks to your WordPress content. For more details:

• Using The Internal Linking Tool In WordPress

***