As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a 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.”
You can display a links section on your website using the Link Manager plugin.
Prior to the release of WordPress v.3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(The Links Manager – included in the menu until the release of WordPress v 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than v3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Link 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 become invisible – it will not display 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 WP backend, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin displays the built-in Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds 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 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 – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
From your WordPress dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, 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 you have activated the plugin, WordPress adds a ‘Links’ section to your WP navigation menu …
(WordPress links menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
Before adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address of the link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
The link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. 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 ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(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 category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many link categories as you need.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in the WP navigation menu …
(Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target section – 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 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:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their browser to display the content associated with the link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your site
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave 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. Ignore this option if you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link page – Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Billie Larsson and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced fields)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add an image URL 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 can be displayed next to the link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To show or hide information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(List of links – Hide or display screen options)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit links, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Edit the link information …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and make sure that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete a link, select Links > All Links in your admin menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkboxes 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 …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to make links display on your website.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
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 areas in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag and drop)
The Links widget provides various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you create and feature links sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(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 – Sort by options)
When you have finished setting up your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should show on your website’s sidebar …
(An example of how 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 more help with widgets? To learn more about using widgets, see this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sort, filter, and search functionality.
Sort Your 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 …
(Sort links)
Searching Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(You can find your links with the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website or blog, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page 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 Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to output a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your website containing all the link categories in your Links section, plus all links listed in 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.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other websites and pages in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article on how to add HTML links into your WordPress posts. For more details, go here:
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