As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external websites or blogs that display on your sidebar area.
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 Manager lets you easily add a links section to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using a widget.
Prior to the release of WordPress v3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links displayed in the menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from WordPress after WP v.3.5)
If you were using the Links Manager in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not display 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 you can’t see a Links item on your main menu when you log into your WP admin area, you can add this feature via 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 For WordPress)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
You can use this plugin to display the default Link Manager, even if you upgrade 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 your installation 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 WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow these instructions:
In your WP admin menu, go to 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 …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ functionality to the WP dashboard menu area …
(Links management menu section)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in your admin menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your 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.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can understand. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
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), then click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many new link categories as your site needs.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to your admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Addressand Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you type in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the SEO friendly URL 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a separate web browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit 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. 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) section)
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 David O’Malley 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 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 specifies 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, index, help, start, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section 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 options:
- 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 the link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: 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 blank.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want links to display during certain periods and hide them afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, choose Links > All Links in your navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your web browser. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Show/hide fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Links
To modify links, go to the WP dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your links table …
(WP Links – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing link information)
Make changes to your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To remove links, select Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkboxes next to individual items that you would like deleted, 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’ dropdown menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The selected links will be removed …
(links deleted notification)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure 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 Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP admin menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen in your browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your widget areas and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar)
The Links widget includes a number of options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This lets you add and feature specific link lists sorted by categories throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
When you have finished configuring your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section will now appear on your website …
(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 help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about configuring widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sort, filter, and search functionality.
Sorting Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Search Links
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Searching links function)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your site, 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, 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 for your links so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Go here to learn more about this powerful plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a detailed article on how to add links into WordPress posts. To learn more about this go here:
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"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)