As you continue to discover 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 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 links to a widgetized theme.
Before the release of v.3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After v.3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links displayed in the menu until the release of WordPress v 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links feature)
If your blog had the Links Manager installed, then it will still be available when your site upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your WP installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – 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 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, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin restores the Links Manager, even if you update WordPress to a later version 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 some time, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use the Link Manager 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
Simple Links recreates the concept of 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 administration area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “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 you have activated the plugin, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ section in the WP sidebar menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP admin menu …
(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of your link category. 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.
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories area)
Your category details will display in the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site requires.
After configuring your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the main navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ 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 details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description section)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you enter here displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug shows up 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target area – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ 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 where you want the link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave 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. 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Charlotte Silva and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. 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 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – 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 an image URL 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 be displayed next to the 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button 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, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have created, select Links > All Links in your dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – 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. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display additional options in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Links
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Change the link details …
(Edit Link page)
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 view your link and make sure that you have set up everything 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)
Removing Your Links
To remove links, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you would like removed, 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’ pulldown menu, and click the Apply button to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display your 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, choose Appearance > Widgets in your navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see 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 areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget includes various configurable options. You can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This allows you to create and display specific link lists sorted by categories on your site …
(Add a number of 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 rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
After configuring your links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section should show up immediately on your website …
(An example of how 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? To learn more about using widgets, see this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sort, filter, and search features.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Searching Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Finding links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering your links by link categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. 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 displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you would like 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from 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 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 of your link collection that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a detailed article about creating hyperlinks in WordPress posts. Go here to learn more:
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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)