As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other websites or web pages that display on your sidebar 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 add external links to your WordPress sidebar menu (e.g. a “Resources” section) using widgets.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager – excluded from WordPress after WP v.3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would have been 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 a Links item on the main menu when you log into your WP dashboard, you can add this feature via a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
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 existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From your WordPress administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will show in your sidebar menu …
(Links management menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before adding any new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your WP navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address of the link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress will assign 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 blog readers. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name 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 the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in your WP navigation menu …
(WP Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will load in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Addressand Description – Add New Link)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target fields – Add New Link page)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
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 when a visitor clicks on the link, a separate browser window will open up to display the information for that link. Your visitor can access the link information without leaving your site
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Jacob O’Malley and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all your links will still work. 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 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, enter nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
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 (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced section)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 can display 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 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, as these are not required.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making links private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all your links, select Links > All Links in your WP admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view additional information in the Links table, 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 …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Links
To modify a link, select Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your links)
Make the changes you want to the 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 view your link and check that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your link table …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove links, go to your dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all your links.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check box next to each link that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
Your links will be deleted …
(Link deletion message)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display your links on your website or blog.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load in your web browser.
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 …
(Drag & drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget includes a number of options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to create and feature links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Display 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 – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links should now be visible on your site …
(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 on widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sorting, searching, and filtering functionality.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Searching Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Find links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering your links by link categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website or blog, or if you intend 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.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to output a list of your link categories and a complete list of links with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin site.)
This plugin creates a page on your website that contains all the link categories in your Links area, and 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 so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Go here to learn more about the benefits of using this great plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to insert hyperlinks into WordPress. Go here to learn more about this:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)