As you continue to discover more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.

WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other sites or pages that display on your sidebar menu 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.”

You can display links on your sidebar or footer using the Link Manager plugin.

Before the release of version 3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …

Before …

(WordPress Links Manager – pre version 3.5)

After …

(The Link Manager feature is no longer part of the admin menu after WP v3.5)

If you’ve had an earlier version than v3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Links Manager would be 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 the Links Manager is not visible when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install 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 Plugin)

Plugin Download URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager

Description Of Plugin

This plugin restores the built-in Links Manager, 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 WordPress 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 template code.

Simple Links

(Simple Links Plugin)

Plugin URL

https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/

Plugin Description

Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.

How To Install Link Manager

To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow the step-by-step instructions below:

From the WP dashboard area, select 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 activating the plugin, the ‘Links’ function will be restored to the navigation menu area …

(Links management menu)

Configuring The Plugin

Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.

Link Categories

To create a new link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the WP admin menu …

(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)

This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ page.

Enter the following information:

• Name: What you enter here displays as the link category name.
• Slug: The slug displays in the web address 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 a link category description. (Optional)

after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save …

(Link Categories screen)

The category details will now show in the table …

(Link Categories)

Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …

(Default link category name)

You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your readers. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be listed under the new category name …

(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)

To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …

(Edit the default link category name)

Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …

(Edit the link category)

In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).

Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …

(You can add/edit the category description)

Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …

(Edit Link Category screen)

Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.

Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.

Adding New Links

To add a new link, go to your dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …

(Links – Add New)

You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …

(Add New Link screen)

You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …

(Links screen – Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

The first section lets you enter your link details …

(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Addressand Description)

Enter information into the following fields:

• Name: Enter the category name.
• Slug: The slug shows up in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
• Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)

Categories & Target

Select a Category and Target for your new link …

(Categories & Target section)

In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.

Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how your link should open when clicked on by visitors:

• _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a separate browser window will open up to display the information for that link.
• _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your 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 …

(Link Relationship (XFN) section)

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Alexander Cooper and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.

XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and all your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links more understandable to some websites and search engines that use this information.

rel – This field specifies 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, type nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, index, start, help, etc.

You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

Advanced

The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …

(Advanced section)

The Advanced section contain the following fields:

• 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 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: You can 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 in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.

When you have finished adding information about your link, 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, your link will not be visible in your Links section …

(Make your links private)

Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want the 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 view a list of all your links, select Links > All Links in your navigation menu …

(WP Links – All Links)

This takes you to the ‘Links’ screen. The Links screen displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …

(Table of links)

Tip: To show or hide columns in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …

(Links page – Screen Options)

Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …

(Show/hide links)

Editing Your Link Information

To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to the navigation menu and select Links > All Links to bring up the table of links …

(WP Links Menu – All Links)

Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …

(Editing your links)

Make the changes you want to your link fields …

(Edit Link screen)

After editing the link, you can:

• Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
• Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open in a new window),
• Click Delete to delete the link from your list if it’s no longer required …

(Edit Link: Update Link button)

Removing Your Links

To remove links, go to the navigation menu and select Links > All Links …

(Links – All Links)

You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links.

To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …

(Delete your links)

To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to each item that you would like deleted, 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)

Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …

(Bulk-delete links)

The links will be deleted …

(links deleted message)

Plugin Usage

Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display your links on your site.

Links Widget

Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.

To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …

(WP Appearance – Widgets)

The ‘Widgets’ screen will display in your browser.

You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …

(Links widget)

To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your widget areas and drop it wherever you would like your links to display …

(Add a links widget to your WordPress widget bar using drag and drop)

The Links widget includes various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …

(Link widget - configurable settings)

You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and feature various links sorted by categories throughout your site …

(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)

Display links for a specific category …

(Link widget options – Select Link Category)

You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …

(Link widget options – Sort by options)

When you have finished configuring your links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section should display on your sidebar, footer or any widgetized area you have added the widget to …

(An example of how 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 help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about widgets. Go here to learn more about this:

• Adding WordPress Widgets To Your Blog

Link Manager – Additional Information

If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sorting, searching, and filtering features.

Sorting 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 …

(Sorting your links)

Finding Links

Find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …

(Searching links)

Filter Your Links

You can filter links by categories …

(Filtering links by category)

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 listed for a specific link category …

(Links filtered by category)

Links – Additional Options

If you plan to add lots of links to your site, 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.

Link Library

(Link Library WordPress Plugin)

Download Plugin URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/

Plugin Description

This plugin allows you to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …

(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)

Link Library can be used to create a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, 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 so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.

Go here to learn more this plugin:

• Link Library Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress sidebar.

We have written a comprehensive article about how to add HTML hyperlinks to your WordPress posts & pages. For more info, see this article:

• Using The Internal Linking Tool In WordPress

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