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 pages that display on your sidebar menu 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 manage a link section using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will then display on your sidebar or footer once you add the Links widget.
Before the release of v 3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links displayed in the dashboard menu until the release of WP v3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager feature)
If your blog had the Links Manager installed, then it will still be available when your site upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed 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 WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to restore the Link Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to your installation 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 this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WordPress administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
Once you have activated the plugin, the ‘Links’ function will be restored to your WP admin menu …
(Links management menu section)
Setting Up Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. 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, click on Links > Link Categories in your admin menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you type here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
When done, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories page)
The link category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to site visitors. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, 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 create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this 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, choose Links > Add New in the admin menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description fields – Add New Link)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address of the link category name. Use only lowercase 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. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ 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 the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their web browser 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 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 – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Dhruv Larsson and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section 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 specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute defines 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, index, start, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify 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 section – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 link’s RSS feed can display next to the links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain times and hide it afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, click on Links > All Links in your WP admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser. The table of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display or hide information in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide – Links page)
Editing Your Links
To modify a link, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your list of links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your link information)
Edit the link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save 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 in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in your navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all your links at once.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link title that you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkbox next to every link that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
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 display links on your site.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the main dashboard menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress sidebar)
The Links widget includes various options. You can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you create and display specific a number of different link categories on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of items for a specific category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
After setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will become visible on your site …
(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 help using widgets? We have written a detailed article on using widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sort, filter, and search functionality.
Sorting 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 …
(You can sort your links)
Search Your Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can easily search your links with the search function)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by link categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering 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 if you would like 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your web site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, 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 so that your site users can become 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 in WordPress.
Go here if you would like to learn more about how to easily add hyperlinks to WordPress posts:
***
"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)