As you continue to discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar section 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 a links section to your sidebar section (e.g. a “Recommended Resources” section) using widgets.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After version 3.5, the Links Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Menu – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Links – no longer shown in the menu after WP v3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and updated your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you have 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 menu section is not displayed when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add this feature via a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin displays the default Links Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to your installation in order 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 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/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WordPress admin menu, 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 …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After activating the plugin, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item in the navigation menu …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, choose Links > Link Categories in your dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories page)
Your link category will display in the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to site visitors. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category name)
Replace 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 …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, 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 when you’re done …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process and add as many new link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, go to the main admin menu and select Links > Add New …
(WP Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Addressand Description area – Add New Link page)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where your link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link. Your visitor can access the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens the link 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Prisha Schwartz and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all of your links will work just fine. 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 is used to define what relationship exists 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, help, index, start, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the 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 will display next to your link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the 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 or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have added, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table. The Links page displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display or hide columns in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Display/hide information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide – List of links)
Editing Link Information
To edit a link, go to the navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the links screen …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Make changes to your link details …
(Edit Link page)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table …
(Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your 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 that you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the check box next to every link that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The selected links will be deleted …
(Link deletion notice)
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 learn how to make links display on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ screen in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …
(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and feature lists of links sorted by categories throughout your site …
(You can add multiple 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 title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should show on your website or blog’s sidebar menu …
(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 using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on configuring widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with search, sort, and filter features.
Sorting Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Finding Links Function
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can easily find links with the search function)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering your links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you would like 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your site that contains a list of all of 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 links so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
For more information about the benefits of using this plugin, visit the plugin site:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a detailed article about adding hyperlinks in your WordPress posts & pages. Go here to learn more about this:
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