As you continue to learn more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external sites or web pages that display on your sidebar area.
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 manage a link section using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will display on your website if you have added the Links widget.
Before the release of WP v3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager feature – part of the menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(Links – no longer included in the WordPress admin menu after WP v 3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, the Link Manager would be 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. This tutorial explains how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
Use this plugin to display the built-in Links feature on your dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to WordPress 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)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
From your WP administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activating the plugin, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section in the navigation menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard menu …
(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of the link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
The new category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the default link category)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as you need.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the dashboard menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page 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
Enter your link details in this section …
(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Address, Description fields)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of your link category name. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how you want your link to open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a separate browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will exit your site and a new site 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 ignore this option.
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 – is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with James Larsson 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 your links will still work. 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 specifies 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, index, start, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
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 link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is located and make sure that the 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 your link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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).
Enter 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 select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, select Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page. The Links screen displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display additional columns in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Show/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(List of links – Hide or display screen options)
Editing Your Link Information
To modify links, select Links > All Links in the WP admin menu to bring up the links page …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing links)
Edit the link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to 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 if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you would like to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links you have selected will be deleted …
(links deleted notification)
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 links on your site.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget sections and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar)
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 want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and feature specific links sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category …
(Link widget settings – 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)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links will become visible on your website’s sidebar menu …
(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? We have written a detailed article on configuring widgets here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filtering, searching, and sorting functions.
Sorting Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor 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 your links)
Finding Your Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can easily search your links using the search function)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering your links by category)
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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page 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 links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin 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 that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more about using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other websites and pages in your WordPress sidebar menu.
Go here to learn more about adding links to your WordPress posts:
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