As you continue to discover more about 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 Manager lets you add and manage external hyperlinks to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “Resources” section) using widgets.
Prior to the release of version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Feature – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your WP installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be 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 feature when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
You can use this plugin to restore the built-in Link Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code 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 this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow these instructions:
From your WordPress dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – 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 screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activation, the ‘Links’ feature is restored to the dashboard menu area …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before adding links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your admin menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your web browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category. 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 area)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the 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 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 edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the link category)
Replace 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 a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, choose Links > Add New in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Addressand Description area – Add New Link page)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create 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 visitors click on your link, a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens links 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 ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Abigail O’Malley and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites 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 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, type nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, index, help, start, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link page)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of your image 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 can display next to your link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: 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.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to add a link and then toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added to the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ table. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display or hide fields in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Links table – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Links
To modify links, choose Links > All Links in your WP admin menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to your link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to the main dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser.
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 …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check box next to every item that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
Your links will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
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 display your links on your website.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable settings. 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 …
(Link widget settings)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and feature a number of link categories throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category to display links for a specific category …
(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 options – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links should now be visible on your website …
(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 on widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, sort, and search features.
Sort 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 …
(You can easily sort links)
Finding Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Find links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter links by 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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your website that contains all the link categories in your Links section, 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 for your link collection that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a comprehensive article about adding links into WordPress. Go here to learn more about this:
***
"I love the way your email series "Infinite Web Content Creation Training Series" is documented and presented. It is very absorbing and captivating. The links and tutorials are interesting and educational. This has motivated me to rewrite my content following the concepts I am learning from the email series." - Mani Raju, www.fortuneinewaste.com