As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links 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 feature lets you easily add and manage links to a widgetized theme.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager – part of the WordPress menu until the release of WordPress version 3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer part of WordPress after WP v3.5)
If you have had an earlier version than v.3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would be removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your website is new, then this function will become invisible – you won’t see it displayed on the 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 the Links item is not visible when you log into your WP admin area, you can add it via a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the built-in Links feature on your WP dashboard, even if you upgrade 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 restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the plugin had not been updated for some time, 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)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From your WordPress dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ item in the admin menu …
(Links menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before adding new links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO 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.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
The category details will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to site visitors. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace 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 …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the 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 your site needs.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to your admin menu and select Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Addressand Description – Add New Link)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: What you type here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine 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 your link category description.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category 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 by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link. This lets your visitors access the information without leaving your website
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your 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. 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Krishna Gould and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will work just fine. XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 defines 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes using spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced area – Add New Link page)
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 URL of where the image is stored and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the link’s RSS feed will be displayed next to the 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 would like 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 for links to work.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want links to display during certain times and hide them when not required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to your WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display or hide options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Table of links – Hide or display screen options)
Editing Links
To modify links in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu to bring up your table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up its URL correctly (the 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)
Removing Your Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you want to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select 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 …
(Deleted links notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display your links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP admin menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen in your web browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget provides various options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebars and footers as you want. This lets you create and display specific several link lists throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
When you have finished setting up your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links will display on your site …
(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. To learn more about this go here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with filter, sort, and search features.
Sort Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort your links)
Find Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can search links using the search function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your links by 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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter 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 if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your website containing all the link categories in your Links area, plus all links defined for these categories. 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 links so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article on how to easily insert links into WordPress posts. To learn more about this go here:
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum