As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or blogs displayed on your sidebar section.
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 blogroll using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will display on your sidebar if you have added the Links widget.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v 3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post v.3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
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 the Links feature, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not be displayed on your 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 a Links section on your main menu when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add it by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin displays the default 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 code to WordPress 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your site, do the following:
From the WordPress dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – 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 results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will show on the WP dashboard menu screen …
(WordPress links menu)
Setting Up Link Manager
Before you start adding new links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
When done, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories screen)
The category details will display in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change the default link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes 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 your visitors will understand)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the default link category)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Resources’ etc).
Let’s now add 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 your category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as your site requires.
After setting up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description fields)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of the link category name. Only use lower case letters without 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 typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target section)
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 link.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where you want the link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their web browser to display the information for that link. Your visitor will be able to access the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens the link 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 page – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Stella Smith and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and 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 is used to define the 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. 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’ page allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 link’s RSS feed can be displayed next to your link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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 into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
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 select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want the link to display during certain periods and hide it afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, choose Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ table. The Links table displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view or hide information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Hide or show – Links table)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify links, click on Links > All Links in the main admin menu to bring up the links screen …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Change your link …
(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 make sure that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To remove links, select Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all your links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check box next to each link that you want to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links will be removed …
(links deleted message)
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 make links display on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget areas in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag and 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 multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and feature a number of link categories on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down 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 options – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section should 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 with widgets? We have written a detailed article about using widgets. For more info, see this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with filter, sort, and search functionality.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Finding Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can search your links using the search function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering links by category)
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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you want 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to output a list of your link categories and a complete list of links with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, 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 of your link collection so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other websites and pages in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article about adding hyperlinks into your WordPress posts. Go here to learn more:
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)