As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites 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.”
The Links feature lets you easily add and manage hyperlinks to your sidebar section (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using widgets.
Prior to the release of WordPress v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Link Manager appeared in the WordPress dashboard menu until the release of WP v3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would be 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 the Links item is not visible when you log into your WP backend, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin displays 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 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the plugin 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 attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WordPress dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After the plugin has been activated, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ feature to the sidebar menu area …
(WordPress links menu)
Setting Up Link Manager
Before you start adding new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign your link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you enter in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your link category name. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your readers. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section 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 name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Change 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, we’ve replaced the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
After setting up your link categories, you can start adding your links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description section)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of your 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 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 …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target)
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.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to access the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new site or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens the link at the top level of the frame system if you’re using frames. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Zayn Silva and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all 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 specifies 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, type nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, index, help, start, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the image URL and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link will display next to your 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, as these fields are not essential.
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, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all your links, select Links > All Links in your admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser. The Links screen displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view additional options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(List of links – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Link Information
To modify a link in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu to bring up the links page …
(WP Links – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your links)
Make any changes you want to the link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (your 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)
How To Remove Your Links
To delete a link, go to your WP admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual items that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
All the links you have selected 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 display links 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 your admin menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you would like your links to display …
(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget offers a number of settings. You can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This lets you create and feature a number of different links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-down menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
After setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should become 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 more help using widgets? We have written a detailed article on adding widgets. To learn more, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with filter, search, and sort features.
Sorting Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Find Links Function
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can search links using the search function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by 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 search for link categories, or click on the category 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)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you output a list of your link categories and a complete list of links with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your site that contains 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 of your links so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more about the benefits of using this handy plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
Go here if you would like to learn more about how to add HTML hyperlinks in WordPress posts:
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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)