As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.

A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external websites or blogs 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.”

The Links feature lets you easily add external links to a widgetized theme.

Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new installations …

Before …

(WP Links Menu – pre v.3.5)

After …

(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)

If you’ve had an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would have been 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 the Links feature is not visible when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial shows you how to add and manage 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

The Link Manager plugin restores the default Links Manager, even if you upgrade 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, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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 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 Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.

Installing Link Manager

To install the Link Manager plugin on your site, do the following:

In your WP admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”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 it has been installed …

After activating the plugin, the ‘Links’ functionality is restored to the navigation menu area …

(Links management menu section)

Configuring Link Manager

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 link category, go to the WP admin menu and choose Links > Link Categories …

(Links – Link Categories)

This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your web browser.

Enter information into the following sections:

• Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
• Slug: The slug displays in the URL 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 your link category description.

after entering your information, click Add New Link Category …

(Link Categories page)

Your new category will now show in the table …

(Link Categories)

Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. 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 WordPress 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 appear under 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 item and click on the Quick Edit link …

(Quick Edit)

Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …

(Update Link Category)

Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).

Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …

(You can add/edit your category description)

Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …

(Edit Link Category screen)

Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as you need.

After setting up your link categories, you can start adding your links.

How To Add New Links

To add a new link, go to the admin menu and select Links > Add New …

(WP Links – Add New)

This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ page …

(Add New Link page)

You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …

(Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into the following sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

This section is where you enter your link details …

(Add New Link – Name, Web Addressand Description)

Enter the following information:

• Name: What you type in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
• Slug: The slug appears in the 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.

Categories & Target

Select a Category and Target for the link …

(Categories & Target – Add New Link)

In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category.

Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where you want your link to open when clicked on:

• _blank means that a new browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link. Your visitor will be able to see the information without leaving your site
• _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your 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 just ignore this option.

Link Relationship XFN

This area provides some additional link functionality …

(Link Relationship (XFN))

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Adam Silva 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 all your links will work just fine. 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 specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute defines a 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.

You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

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 ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …

(Advanced link settings)

The Advanced link settings section includes 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 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).

Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.

When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …

(Click on Add Link to save your new link)

Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …

(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)

Making a link private allows you to add a link and then toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …

(Toggle link visibility on and off)

To view all your links, go to your WP navigation menu and select Links > All Links …

(Links – All Links)

The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser. The Links table displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …

(Links screen)

Tip: To view or hide options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …

(Screen Options – Links table)

Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …

(Show/hide – Links page)

How To Edit Your Links

To edit a link, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up the links page …

(WordPress Links – All Links)

Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …

(Editing your link information)

Make changes to your link …

(Edit Link screen)

After you’re done editing your link, you can:

• Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
• Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
• Click Delete to delete the link …

(Edit Link: Update Link button)

Deleting Links

To delete a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …

(Links – All Links)

The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all your links.

To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …

(Delete your links)

To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you would like to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …

(Delete multiple links)

Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …

(Bulk-delete links)

The links you have selected will be removed …

(Deleted links notification)

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 make links display on your website.

Using The Links Widget

Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.

To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP admin menu and select Appearance > Widgets …

(Appearance Menu – Widgets)

This loads the ‘Widgets’ page 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 your active widget bars and drop it wherever you would like the links to display …

(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your widget bar)

The Links widget offers 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 options)

You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This lets you add and display specific a number of different link sections on your site …

(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)

Display a list of items for a specific category …

(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)

You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …

(Link widget settings – Sort by options)

After configuring your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links will display on your site’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 help with widgets? Go here for a detailed article about using widgets:

• Using Widgets

Link Manager – Additional Information

If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using search, filter, and sort functions.

Sorting Links

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 …

(Sorting links)

Finding Links

Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …

(Finding links)

Filter Your Links

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 search for link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …

(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)

This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …

(Links filtered by category)

Links – Additional Options

If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, or if you want 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 your links.

Link Library

(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)

Plugin Download URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/

Plugin Description

Link Library allows you to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links with notes and descriptions …

(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin site.)

Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, 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 for your link collection that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.

Visit this site to learn more about the benefits of using this handy plugin:

• Link Library

Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other websites in WordPress.

Go here for a detailed article on how to add HTML links into WordPress:

• Using The WordPress Internal Linking Tool

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