As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or pages that display on your sidebar area 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.”
You can display a links section on your website using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v 3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v3.5 and updated your installation, then the Links 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 you can’t see the Links feature when you log into your WP admin area 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)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin restores the Link Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to your installation 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)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – 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 area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item in your dashboard menu …
(WordPress links menu section)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the admin menu …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your web browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the SEO 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. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The category details will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . 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 the default link category name to something that will make sense to site visitors. 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 …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the default link category)
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), and click on Update Link Category …
(Editing the link category name)
In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many new link categories as your site needs.
After setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to your admin menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: What you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. Only use lower case letters without 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 with their mouse. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create 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 where the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens links at the top level of the frame system if you’re using frames. Ignore 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 …
(Add New Link screen – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Jayden Smith and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all your links will still work. 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 the relationship 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced fields – Add New Link screen)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of where the image is stored 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 can 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)
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 see a list of all the links you have added, go to your navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Show/hide fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Hide or show – Links screen)
How To Edit Link Information
To edit a link, choose Links > All Links in your dashboard menu to bring up your links table …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your link table if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete links, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you would like 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)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
Your selected links will be removed …
(links deleted notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display your links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the dashboard navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget bars and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Add a links widget to your WordPress sidebar)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable options. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget settings)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This lets you create and display different lists of links on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-down menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
When you have finished configuring your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section will display on your site …
(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 help using widgets? We have written a detailed article about adding widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering functions.
Sorting Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Searching Your Links
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Finding your links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter your links by link categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed for 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)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your website that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 for your link collection that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more about using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in WordPress.
Go here to learn more about adding HTML links into your WordPress posts & pages:
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group