As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links 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 links to a widgetized theme.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from the WordPress admin menu after WP v.3.5)
If you have had an earlier version than 3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve 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 Links feature when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin displays the Links feature on your WP dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to your installation 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 plugin 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
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From your WP administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After the plugin is activated, the ‘Links’ functionality is restored to the WP dashboard menu area …
(Links menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign the link to the link category 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)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your web browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the search-engine friendly 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 a link category description.
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories page)
Your category details will now show in the table …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to your visitors. This will not only make 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 …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(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), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Resources’ etc).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as you need.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can being adding new links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of the link category. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no 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 with their mouse.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how your link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave 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. Ignore 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 stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Oscar Fields and you link to his 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 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 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, start, index, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 link’s RSS feed will be displayed next to the link.
- 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 ignore this section.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button 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, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have created, click on Links > All Links in the admin menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will display in your web browser. The Links page displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To display additional columns in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(List of links – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify a link, select Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing links)
Make the changes you want to your link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your 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 (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load 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 that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check box next to every link that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select 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 removed …
(Deleted links notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display links on your site.
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 main dashboard navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget sections and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your widget bar)
The Links widget offers various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This allows you to create and display links on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show on your sidebar menu …
(An example of how 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 Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sort, search, and filter functionality.
Sort Links Function
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 your links)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Search your links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering 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 …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you intend 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your web site that contains 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 so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more this powerful plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to your WordPress site.
We have written a comprehensive article about how to add HTML links into your WordPress posts. Go here to learn more about this:
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