As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar menu is often 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 feature lets you easily add and manage hyperlinks to your WordPress sidebar (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using a widget.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links appeared in the admin menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – excluded from the WordPress dashboard menu after WordPress v 3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version of WordPress than v 3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you have previously used it. 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 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 feature is not visible when you log into your WP 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 links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin displays the default 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 code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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 URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP dashboard area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “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 up on your WP admin menu …
(Links management menu)
Plugin Configuration
Before adding new links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the WP dashboard menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part 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.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories screen)
Your new category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change the default link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Change 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 category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process to add as many new link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, go to your WP navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(WP Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach 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 the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Addressand Description)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link page)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add 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 separate window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to see the link information without leaving your site
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new website 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) area – Add New Link page)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Anaya Jenkins and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all of your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links 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 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, help, start, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the image URL and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link will be displayed next to your 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).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making links private allows you to toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, select Links > All Links in your admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional columns in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Links table – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Links
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard 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 item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Change the link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To delete links, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the check boxes next to individual items that you want removed, 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)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The selected links will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display links on your website.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the main dashboard menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the active widget areas and drop it wherever you want your links to show up …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
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 - settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display link lists 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 title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should display on your sidebar, footer or whichever widgetized area you have placed the links widget in …
(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 with widgets? To learn more about using widgets, see this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, sort, and filter features.
Sorting Links
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Search Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can easily search your links using the search function)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter 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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you want 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your site that contains a list of all of 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 for your link collection so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Visit this site to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article on inserting HTML links into WordPress posts. Go here to learn more:
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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)