As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages 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.”
You can display a links section on your blog using the WordPress Link Manager plugin.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v.3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Menu – pre version 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager feature – excluded from WordPress after WP v.3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your site 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 become invisible – it will not appear on your dashboard 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 the Links feature is not visible when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial shows you how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress 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 to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the plugin had not been updated for some time, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
In your WP dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will show up on the WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the WP admin menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your web browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the URL 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 your link category description. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories area)
Your category details will be added to the table …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your blog readers. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category)
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), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Edit the default link category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a description for this link category. 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 you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as your site needs.
After configuring your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, go to your admin menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address, Description area – Add New Link)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of the link category. 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 with their mouse.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a separate browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link. This lets your visitors see the information without leaving your website
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)
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 Adam Larsson and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all of 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 lets you specify the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute defines 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of where the image is stored 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 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 into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(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 in your Links section …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all the links you have added to the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the main navigation menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your browser. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Display/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide – Links table)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify links, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links screen …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your links)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your 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 its URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To delete a link, go to the admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the check boxes next to individual links that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion message)
Using The Link Manager 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 website.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP admin menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(WP Appearance – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your widget areas and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Drag & drop your links widget to add it to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget offers various settings. You can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you create and feature a number of link lists sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(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)
Once you are done setting up your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show on your website …
(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? Go here if you would like to learn more about adding widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sort, filter, and search functions.
Sort Links Function
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 …
(Sort links)
Finding Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can find your links using the search function)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering 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 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)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, or if you want 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 links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links area, and 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 link collection so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other websites and pages in your WordPress sidebar menu.
To learn more about how to insert HTML hyperlinks into WordPress posts, see this article:
***
"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie