As you continue to learn more about 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.”
The Links feature lets you easily add external hyperlinks to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager Feature – pre v3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer part of WordPress after WordPress v.3.5)
If your website previously used this feature, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used the Links Manager feature, however, or if your site is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed 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 dashboard 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 sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to display the default Links menu on your WordPress dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow these instructions:
In your WP administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ item on the sidebar menu screen …
(Links management menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding any new links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
When finished, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories page)
The link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when adding 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 your visitors can relate to. 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 …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
After setting up your link categories, you can start adding your links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit 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. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link 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 where you want your link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link. Your visitor will be able to access the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave your site and a new site 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. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Blake Anderson and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all 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 lets you specify 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, help, index, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting 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 you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced section)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- 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 can display next to your 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).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, choose Links > All Links in your navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser. The Links table displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To show or hide columns in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Links
To edit links in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu to bring up the table of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your 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 (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all of your links.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkboxes next to individual items that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notice)
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 website.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the main navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget provides various 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 …
(Link widget settings)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display specific link lists on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display a specific list of items …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
After setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should show up immediately on your sidebar, footer or wherever you place the links widget in …
(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? Go here to learn more about configuring widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, sort, and search functions.
Sorting Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Search Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(You can find links using the search function)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by link categories)
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 …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your site, or if you want to add a ‘Links’ page 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 links.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin 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 links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your site containing all 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 of your link collection so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about using this plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
Go here for a detailed article about adding hyperlinks into your WordPress content:
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