As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks 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.”
The Links feature lets you add and manage external hyperlinks to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v.3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(The Link Manager was part of the WordPress menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links feature)
If your blog had a previously active Links Manager section, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will become invisible – you won’t see it on the 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 you can’t see the Links feature when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to restore 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 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 this plugin, then use the plugin 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 Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin, do the following:
From your WP admin menu, go to 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 installing it …
After activation, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ section in your WP navigation menu area …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your dashboard menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL 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.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
The link category will display in the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to readers. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link 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 (remember to keep the slug in lowercase letters and replace all spaces with a hyphen), and click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many new link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, choose Links > Add New in the navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the SEO friendly URL 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target fields – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve 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 a separate window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new site 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. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)
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 Kayaan Larsson and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 what relationship exists 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced section)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: 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 links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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 into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up the list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your links)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete links, select Links > All Links in the WP admin menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the check box next to every link that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The selected links will be deleted …
(Deleted links notification)
Using The Plugin
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’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will notice 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 your widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag and drop)
The Links widget includes various options. For example, you can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This lets you add and feature link lists on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links will become visible on your site …
(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 using widgets? We have written a detailed article on widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering functions.
Sort Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Finding Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(You can find your links with the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter your links by link 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 displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots 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 WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin creates a page on your website that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus all links defined for these categories. 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 that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this great plugin, visit this site:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
We have written a detailed article on creating links in 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)