As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites 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 and manage external hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre v.3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature – no longer shown in the WordPress dashboard menu after WP v.3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v 3.5 and updated your installation, the Links Manager would be removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links Manager feature, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will become invisible – you will not see it displayed on your 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 the main menu when you log into your WP backend, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin restores the default Links menu on your dashboard, 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 WordPress 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/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP admin area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
Once you’ve activated the plugin, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section in the WP dashboard menu area …
(Links menu)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding new links. This way, you can assign new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP admin menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: What you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category name. 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 your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
The category details will be added to the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name to something better suited to your business. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be listed under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category name)
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 link category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as you need.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to your navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address& Description – Add New Link)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine 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 a link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new, separate window will open up in their browser to display the information associated with the link. Your visitor will be able to access the link information without leaving your site
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit 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. 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) – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Ethan Jones and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and your links will work just fine. 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 specifies 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to 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 link settings – Add New Link)
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 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 will display next to your links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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 are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain times and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The Links screen displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display or hide fields in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Links page – Show/hide screen options)
Editing Your Links
To edit a link, select Links > All Links in your WP admin menu to bring up the list of links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your links)
Change your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all your links at once.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick 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 …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
Your selected links will be deleted …
(Link deletion message)
Plugin Usage
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 site.
Links Widget
Installing 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’ 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 the widget bars and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget provides various configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and feature a number of links on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should show up immediately 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 more help using widgets? Go here for a detailed article about adding widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with searching, filtering, and sorting functions.
Sort Links
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 …
(Sorting your links)
Find Your Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Search your links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. 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 page)
This brings up a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website or blog, or if you would like 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 Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, 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 links so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
For more details about this plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other websites and pages in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article about adding HTML links in WordPress posts. For more details, go here:
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)