As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external websites or pages displayed on your sidebar menu.
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 easily add external links to your sidebar section (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using a widget.
Before the release of WordPress v 3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from the WordPress admin menu after WP version 3.5)
If your website or blog had the Link Manager installed, then it will still be available when your installation updates to a newer version. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will remain hidden – you will not see it on your 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 menu section is not displayed when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add it by installing a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
You can use this plugin to display the built-in Link Manager, even if you upgrade 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 your installation to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, this 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)
Plugin 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 feature.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
From the WP dashboard area, 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 …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
Once you have activated the plugin, a ‘Links’ item will show up in the dashboard menu area …
(Links management menu)
Configuring The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the admin menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category name. 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. (Optional)
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
The link category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the link category name)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, go to your dashboard menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description – Add New Link screen)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL 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 a link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target section – Add New Link screen)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Next, 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:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their web browser to display the content for that link. Your visitor can access the link information without leaving your site
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave your site and a new website 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. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link screen – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Riya Anderson and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will still work. XFN makes the links defined on your site 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, type nofollow into this field. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes using spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced area – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of your image 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 be displayed next to the link.
- 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.
When you have finished 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 tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want a link to display during certain periods and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to your navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ screen. The Links table displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display or hide information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Link Information
To modify a link, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links to bring up the links table …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Change the link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To delete links, select Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table.
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 that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the check boxes next to individual items that you want to remove, 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’ drop-down menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(links deleted message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to make links display on your site.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up 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 in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget offers various options. For example, you can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to create and display specific lists of links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will appear on your website’s sidebar …
(Links can be displayed on a 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 using widgets? To learn more about configuring widgets, see this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using search, sort, and filter features.
Sort Links Function
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 links)
Search Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Finding links function)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by 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 category 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)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website or blog, or if you would like 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 your 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 display a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, and all links defined for 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 of your links so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Go here for more information about this useful plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other sites in WordPress.
To learn more about how to easily add links into WordPress, refer to this article:
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