As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.

A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external sites or pages that display on your sidebar menu.

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.”

You can manage a link section using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will display on your sidebar or footer if you have added the Links widget.

Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v 3.5, the Links Manager section was removed …

Before …

(The Links Manager feature displayed in the WordPress menu until the release of WP v3.5)

After …

(The Link Manager feature – no longer displayed in WordPress after WordPress v3.5)

If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will become invisible – you will not see it on the 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 the Links Manager section when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)

Download URL

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

Description

Use this plugin to restore the default Links feature on your WordPress dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress 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. 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 site’s template code.

Simple Links

(Simple Links)

Download URL

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

Plugin Description

This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.

Plugin Installation

Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.

In your WordPress dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …

Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

After activation, a ‘Links’ item will be displayed in your WP admin menu …

(WordPress links management menu section)

Configuring The Plugin

Before you start adding new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.

Link Categories

To create a link category, go to your navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …

(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)

This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.

Type in information into the following sections:

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

after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category name …

(Link Categories page)

The category details will be added to the list …

(Link Categories screen)

Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for 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 will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …

(we recommend changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)

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

(Editing the default link category)

Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …

(Quick Edit)

Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ etc).

Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …

(Link category description)

Enter your link category description field and click Update when you’re done …

(Edit Link Category area)

Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site requires.

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

Adding New Links

To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the main admin menu …

(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 screen …

(Links – Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

Enter details about your link in this section …

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

Type in the following information:

• Name: Enter the link category name here.
• Slug: The slug appears in the web address of the link category. 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)

Categories & Target

After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …

(Categories & Target – Add New Link)

In the Categories section, select a link category you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.

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 the link to open when visitors click on it:

• _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information associated with the link. This lets your visitors access the information without leaving your website
• _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit 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. 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 …

(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Pradesh 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 still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links more understandable to some websites and search engines that use this information.

rel – This field specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute defines 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, help, start, index, etc.

You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

Advanced

The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …

(Advanced area)

The Advanced section contain the following fields:

• Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add an 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 be displayed 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 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 the Add Link button to update your link settings)

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

(Make links private by checking the box)

Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like your link to display during certain times and hide it afterwards) …

(Toggle link visibility on and off)

To see all the links you have added, choose Links > All Links in your dashboard menu …

(Links Menu – All Links)

You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …

(Links screen)

Tip: To display additional options in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen Options – Table of links)

Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …

(Show/hide links)

Editing Links

To edit links, select Links > All Links in the admin menu to bring up the table of links …

(Links – All Links)

Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …

(Editing link information)

Make changes to your link information …

(Edit Link page)

After editing your link, you can:

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

(Update Link button)

How To Delete Links

To remove links, click on Links > All Links in the WP admin menu …

(Links Menu – All Links)

This loads the ‘Links’ table in your web browser.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links.

To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …

(Deleting links)

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

(Delete multiple links)

Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown 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 notice)

Plugin Usage

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.

Using The Links Widget

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

To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …

(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)

You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.

You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …

(Links widget)

Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …

(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu)

The Links widget includes a number of configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …

(Link widget - settings)

You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This lets you add and display a number of different link categories throughout your site …

(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)

You can add and display links for a specific category …

(Link widget options – Select Link Category)

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

(Link widget settings – Sorting options)

After setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section should show on your sidebar …

(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 help with widgets? We have written a detailed article on using widgets. Go here to learn more:

• How To Add And Configure WordPress Widgets In The Blog

Link Manager – Additional Information

If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with searching, filtering, and sorting functionality.

Sorting Links

To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …

(Sorting your links)

Finding Your Links

Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …

(You can easily search links with the search function)

Filtering Links Function

You can filter links by link category …

(Filter links by link 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …

(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)

This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …

(Links filtered by link category)

Links – Additional Options

If you plan to use links extensively on your website or blog, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.

Link Library

(Link Library)

Download Plugin URL

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

Plugin Description

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

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

This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your site containing a list of all of 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 of your link collection that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.

Visit this website to learn more this plugin:

• Link Library Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to WordPress.

Go here if you would like to learn more about how to easily insert HTML links into WordPress:

• How To Use The WordPress Internal Linking Tool

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