As you continue to discover more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.

WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other websites or pages that display on your sidebar 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 Manager lets you easily add links to your sidebar (e.g. a “Top 5 Resources” section) using widgets.

Prior to the release of version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …

Before …

(WordPress Links Menu – pre version 3.5)

After …

(The Links Manager feature – excluded from the menu after WordPress v3.5)

If you’ve had an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it.

 

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 the main menu when you log into your WP admin area, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager)

Download URL

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

Description

You can use this plugin to restore the built-in 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. 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 this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.

Simple Links

(Simple Links Plugin)

Plugin URL

https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/

Plugin Description

This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.

How To Install Link Manager

To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow these step-by-step instructions:

In your WP administration area, select 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 results screen and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installation …

After activation, a ‘Links’ section will be displayed on the WP admin menu …

(Links management menu section)

Configuring The Plugin

Before you start adding any new links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.

Link Categories

To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the WP dashboard menu …

(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)

The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.

Type in information into the following sections:

• Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
• Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of the link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
• Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)

When finished, click the Add New Link Category button to save …

(Link Categories)

The link category will be added to the table …

(Link Categories area)

Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …

(Default link category name)

You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that your visitors can understand. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …

(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)

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

(Editing 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), then click on the Update link Category button …

(Editing the default link category)

In our example, the category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section 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 …

(Link category description)

Add your link category description field and click Update …

(Edit Link Category screen)

Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site requires.

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

How To Add Links

To add a new link, go to the main dashboard menu and click on Links > Add New …

(WordPress Links – Add New)

This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ page …

(Add New Link screen)

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

(Add New Link button)

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

Name, Web Address & Description

Enter your link details in this section …

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

Type in information into the following sections:

• Name: Enter the category name here.
• Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of your link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no 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 with their mouse.

Categories & Target

After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for your link …

(Categories & Target – Add New Link)

In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category link.

Also, 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 your link to open when a visitor clicks on it:

• _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a separate window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. This lets your visitors see the information without leaving your page
• _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave your site and a new site 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 area provides some additional link functionality …

(Link Relationship (XFN) fields)

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Sai O’Malley and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.

XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and all of your links will work just fine. XFN makes your links 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 is used to define a 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, index, start, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.

To learn more about XFN, visit this site:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

Advanced

The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …

(Advanced fields – Add New Link screen)

The Advanced section contain the following fields:

• Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is located and make sure that the image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
• RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link will be displayed next to the 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 would like to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).

Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential for links to work.

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

(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)

Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Links section …

(Private link checkbox)

Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …

(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)

To view all your links, click on Links > All Links in your admin menu …

(Links – All Links)

This brings up the ‘Links’ table. The Links page displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …

(Links screen)

Tip: To display additional options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …

(Links screen – Screen Options)

Enable/disable information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …

(Show/hide – Links screen)

How To Edit Your Links

To edit links in the Link Manager, go to your navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up the list of links …

(Links – All Links)

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

(Editing your link information)

Change your link fields …

(Edit Link screen)

After editing the link, you can:

• Click on Update Link to save your link details,
• Click on Visit Link to view your link and make sure that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
• Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …

(Edit Link: Update Link button)

How To Delete Your Links

To delete a link, choose Links > All Links in your navigation menu …

(WordPress Links – All Links)

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

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.

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

(Delete your links)

To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …

(Delete multiple links)

Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …

(Links: bulk-delete function)

The links you have selected will be removed …

(Link deletion message)

Using The Plugin

Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to make links display on your site.

Using The Links Widget

Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.

To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP dashboard menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …

(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)

You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.

You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …

(Links widget)

To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want the links to display …

(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to your widget bar)

The Links widget provides various configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …

(Link widget - configurable options)

You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This allows you to create and feature different lists of links on your site …

(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)

Display a list of items for a specific category …

(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)

You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …

(Link widget options – Sort by options)

When you have finished setting up your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section will appear on your site …

(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 with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on using widgets. If you would like to learn more about this here:

• How To Add And Configure WordPress Widgets In The Sidebar Navigation Menu

Link Manager – Additional Information

If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filter, search, and sort functions.

Sorting Links Function

You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …

(Sort links)

Searching Links

Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …

(You can easily search links with the search function)

Filtering Your Links

You can filter links by categories …

(Filter your links by category)

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 …

(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)

This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …

(Links filtered by category)

Links – Additional Options

If you plan to add lots of links to your website, or if you intend 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer links.

Link Library

(Link Library)

Plugin Download URL

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

Plugin Description

This plugin allows you to display a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links with descriptions and notes …

(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin website.)

Link Library creates a page on your website that contains all the link categories in your Links area, and 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 link collection so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.

To learn more about Link Library:

• Link Library – WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external websites and pages in WordPress.

We have written a detailed article about how to easily add links in WordPress posts and pages. To learn more, go here:

• How To Use The WordPress Internal Linking Tool

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