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 websites or 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.”

The Links feature lets you add and manage a links section to your WordPress sidebar section (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using widgets.

Prior to the release of WordPress v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress version 3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …

Before …

(WordPress Links Manager Feature – pre v.3.5)

After …

(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)

If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v 3.5 and upgraded your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links Manager feature, however, or if your website is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not be displayed on the 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 Manager is not visible when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial will show you how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager Plugin)

Plugin URL

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

Description Of Plugin

The Link Manager plugin restores the 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 template code to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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/

Plugin Description

This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.

Plugin Installation

Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.

In the WordPress admin menu, go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins – 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 search results screen and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installation …

After the plugin has been activated, the ‘Links’ function will be restored to the WP navigation menu area …

(Links menu)

Plugin Setup

Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to a link category you have already created.

Link Categories

To create a new link category, choose Links > Link Categories in your WP navigation menu …

(Links – Link Categories)

This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.

Type in the following information:

• Name: What you type in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
• Slug: The slug is the web address 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.

after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save …

(Link Categories)

Your new category will now show in the list …

(Link Categories area)

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

(Default link category)

You may want to change this to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes 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 your visitors will understand)

To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …

(Quick Edit)

Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …

(Update Link Category)

In our example, we’ve replaced the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).

Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …

(You can add/edit your category description)

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

(Edit Link Category page)

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

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

Adding New Links

To create a new link, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …

(Links Menu – Add New)

You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …

(Add New Link page)

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

(Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page includes the following sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

Enter details about your link in this section …

(Add New Link – Name, Web Addressand Description section)

Type in information into the following fields:

• Name: Whatever you enter here will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
• Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of the link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include 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. (Optional)

Categories & Target

After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the link …

(Categories & Target fields)

In the Categories section, select a link category you have already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category.

Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how the link should open when a visitor clicks on it:

• _blank means that a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the content associated with the link. This allows your visitors to see the link information without leaving your page
• _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your browser window instead.
• _top opens links at the top level of the frame system if you’re using frames. Don’t worry about 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))

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 Aarna Jenkins 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 your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some websites 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, type nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, index, start, etc.

To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

Advanced

The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …

(Advanced section – Add New Link page)

The Advanced link settings section contains the following:

• 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 be displayed next to your 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).

Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not required.

When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …

(Click on Add Link to save your new link)

Note: If you select 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 or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …

(Toggle link visibility on and off)

To see all your links, click on Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …

(Links Menu – All Links)

The ‘Links’ page will load in your web browser. The Links screen displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …

(Links table)

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

(Screen Options – List of links)

Display/hide fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …

(Show/hide – List of links)

How To Edit Your Link Information

To edit links, go to the WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the list of links …

(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)

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

(Editing your links)

Edit your link information …

(Edit Link screen)

After editing the 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 everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
• Click Delete to remove the link …

(Update Link button)

How To Remove Links

To remove a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard menu …

(Links Menu – All Links)

The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.

To delete links individually, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …

(Deleting links)

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

(Delete multiple links)

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

(Bulk-delete links)

Your links will be removed …

(Deleted links notice)

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 site.

Links Widget

The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.

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

(Appearance Menu – Widgets)

The ‘Widgets’ screen will load 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 sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …

(Adding a links widget to your WordPress widget bar using drag & drop)

The Links widget provides a number of settings. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …

(Link widget - settings)

You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to add and feature link lists throughout your site …

(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)

You can select a link 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 options – Sort by options)

Once you are done setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section will now be visible on your site’s sidebar …

(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 help using widgets? Go here to learn more about widgets:

• Adding And Configuring WordPress Widgets In Your Sidebar Section

Links Manager – Additional Information

If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sorting, filtering, and searching features.

Sorting Links Function

To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …

(You can sort your links)

Search Links

You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …

(Search links)

Filter Links

You can filter links by categories …

(Filter your 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 …

(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)

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

(Links filtered by link category)

Links – Additional Options

If you plan to add a lot of links to your site, or if you want to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.

Link Library

(Link Library)

Download Plugin URL

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

Plugin Description

Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …

(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin site.)

This plugin can be used to create a page on your website containing a list of all of 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 for your links that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.

To learn more about the Link Library plugin:

• Link Library – WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to WordPress.

We have also written a comprehensive article about how to create HTML links in WordPress posts and pages here:

• Using The Internal Linking Tool In WordPress

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