As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external websites or blogs that display on your sidebar.
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 your sidebar area (e.g. a “Recommended Resources” section) using a widget.
Before the release of WP v3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v3.5, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – excluded from WordPress after WP v3.5)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would be removed, unless you have 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 Link Manager section when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin restores the Links menu on your dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to WordPress 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 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
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, do the following:
In the WP admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – 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 it has been installed …
After activation, the ‘Links’ function is restored to the WP admin menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding new links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, choose Links > Link Categories in your WP navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your 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 Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories area)
Your category details will now show in the table …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the default link category name to something that will make sense to site visitors. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the 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), then click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to the main navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target area – Add New Link page)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the 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. 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) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Hugo Jones 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 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 is used to define 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 can be displayed next to the links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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 in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want your link to display during certain periods and hide it afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, go to the dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view additional options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Display/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit a link in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in your navigation menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your link information)
Change your link fields …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkbox next to each item that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(links deleted notification)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to make links display on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the dashboard menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will display 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 sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like your links to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area using drag and drop)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you add and display link lists throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
After configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section should display on your sidebar …
(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 using widgets? Go here for a detailed article about adding widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with filtering, searching, and sorting functionality.
Sorting Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your cursor 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 sort links)
Finding Your Links
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Searching links)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering 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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you want 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 links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your website that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, 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 of your link collection that lets your site users become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress site.
We have also written a comprehensive article on inserting hyperlinks into WordPress posts here:
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