As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar 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 links to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using widgets.
Before the release of WordPress v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer part of WordPress after WordPress v 3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your website is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not display on the dashboard 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 feature is not visible when you log into your WP admin area, you can add it by installing a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to display the Links feature on your WordPress dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to restore the hidden feature. The last time we checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Plugin 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 addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
In your WP admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 installing it …
After activating the plugin, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ item on your sidebar menu screen …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding any new 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, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the web address 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. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
The new category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when adding a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to blog readers. 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 listed under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
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 …
(Edit the link category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process and add as many new link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will load in your web 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
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Addressand Description fields)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the 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 your link category description.
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where your link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks 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. 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 …
(Add New Link page – Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Sue Schwartz and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all your links will work just fine. XFN makes your links 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 a 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced fields – Add New Link)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the image URL and make sure that the 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 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 information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like the link to display during certain periods and hide it afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, select Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The Links table displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display or hide information in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Links
To modify links, go to your admin menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing link information)
Make the changes you want to the link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and make sure that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list …
(Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in your WP admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all of your links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(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 make links display on your site.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the dashboard navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress sidebar using drag and drop)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display different lists of links on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
After configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should show up immediately on your sidebar menu …
(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 more help with widgets? If you want to learn more about widgets, see this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sorting, searching, and filtering features.
Sorting Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Finding Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Finding your links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter links by link category)
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 displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, or if you want 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to output a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin site.)
This plugin creates a page on your website containing all the link categories in your Links area, 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 links that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more this great plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to WordPress.
We have written a detailed article about how to add hyperlinks into your WordPress content. For more details:
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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