As you continue to discover more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar area is sometimes referred to 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 add and manage a links section to your WordPress sidebar section (e.g. a “Resources” section) using widgets.
Prior to the release of v.3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(Links was part of the menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than v3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, the Links Manager would be removed, unless you have 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 the Links feature when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the built-in Links feature on your WordPress dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add 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 URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while removing 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, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
Once you’ve activated the plugin, the ‘Links’ function is restored to your navigation menu …
(Links menu)
Plugin Setup
Before adding new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP admin menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays 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 your link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will display in the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name 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 …
(Consider 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 the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …
(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 description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, go to your WP dashboard menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address& Description area)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you enter in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine friendly URL 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new 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 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) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Lisa Cooper and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all of your links will work just fine. 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, help, start, index, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen 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) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
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 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 links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can add a rating score to the link if you want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want 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 see a list of all your links, choose Links > All Links in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To view additional information in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Display/hide fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide – List of links)
Editing Your Links
To modify links, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your link information)
Change the link information …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done 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 delete the link if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the checkboxes next to individual items that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box 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 delete all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to make links display on your site.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen 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 your widget sections and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget offers various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to add and feature various link categories throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display a specific list of items …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will display on your sidebar menu …
(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? If you want to learn more about widgets, see this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering functionality.
Sorting Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Searching Links Function
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Search links)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. 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 under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of links with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your web site containing all the link categories in your Links area, and 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 of your link collection so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit this website to learn more this handy plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on adding HTML hyperlinks to your WordPress content. Go here to learn more:
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