As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external websites or web pages that display on your sidebar section.
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.”
You can add a set of links using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will then display on your website if you have added the Links widget.
Before the release of v3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links – included in the menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature is no longer part of WordPress after WP v 3.5)
If your site had the Link Manager installed, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used the Link Manager feature, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed 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 item is not visible when you log into your WP dashboard, you can add this feature via a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin restores the Links Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current 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 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 WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, do the following:
From your WordPress admin area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “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 installing it …
After activation, WordPress will add a ‘Links’ section to your WP admin menu area …
(Links management menu section)
Configuring Link Manager
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, choose Links > Link Categories in your dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your web browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the web address of the link category. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
When finished, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
The link category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change the default link category name to something better suited to your business. 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 your visitors will understand)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
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), and click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update when you’re done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many different link categories as your site needs.
After setting up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, choose Links > Add New in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of your 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new, separate window will open up in their browser to display the information associated with the 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 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Ruby Cooper 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 your links will still work. XFN makes your links 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 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced fields)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 will display next to the links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not required.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser. The table of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display additional options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Display/hide information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify a link in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in your admin menu to bring up your links table …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to the dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display 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 cursor over the link title you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check boxes 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 at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
Your selected links will be removed …
(Deleted links notification)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display links on your site.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in your navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your 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 areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your sidebar using drag & drop)
The Links widget includes various options. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to create and display link lists sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display links for a specific category …
(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 options – Sort by options)
After configuring the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section will become visible on your website …
(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? We have written a comprehensive article about adding widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with filtering, searching, and sorting functions.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little 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 …
(Searching your links)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering links by 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 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 use links extensively on your site, or if you would like to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add links on 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)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin lets you display a list of all 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 documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and all links listed in 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 links that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
Visit this website to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
If you want to learn more about how to insert hyperlinks into WordPress, refer to this article:
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