As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other websites or web pages that display on your sidebar.
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 add a blogroll using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will then display on your sidebar once you add the Links widget.
Before the release of v 3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links was part of the menu until the release of WordPress v3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your WordPress installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your WordPress site installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not be displayed on the 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 feature 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 and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin restores the Links menu on your WP dashboard, 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 restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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)
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 removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WP dashboard area, 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 …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will show in your WP admin menu area …
(WordPress links management menu)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to first 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 dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the URL of the link category. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
When finished, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories page)
Your link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to your site visitors. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Special Deals’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when you’re done …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as you need.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – 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 ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address, Description section)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: What you type in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of your 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) section – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Savannah Cooper 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 all of 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, start, help, index, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add an image URL 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 can be displayed next to your links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: 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 the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(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 to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, choose Links > All Links in the navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. 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 options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Links page – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Make the changes you want to your link details …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save 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 remove the link from your table of links …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the check boxes next to individual items that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The links you have selected will be deleted …
(Deleted links notification)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display your links on your site.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your dashboard menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will display in your web 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 the active widget bars and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your sidebar)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to add and feature link sections sorted by categories throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should appear on your website’s sidebar …
(An example of how 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 more help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about configuring widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, filtering, and sorting functionality.
Sorting Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Searching Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can easily find your links using the search function)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your site, or if you intend 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to display a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your web site containing all the link categories in your Links area, 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 link collection that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Visit this website to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to WordPress.
If you want to learn more about adding HTML hyperlinks into WordPress posts, refer to this article:
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