As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar section is often referred to 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 and manage external links to your sidebar section (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using a widget.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v.3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(The Link Manager – included in the WordPress admin menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(Links – no longer shown in the admin menu after WordPress version 3.5)
If your website or blog previously displayed Link Manager, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not appear 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 Manager 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 links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to restore the Links feature on your WP dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to your installation in order to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WordPress administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After the plugin has been activated, a ‘Links’ item will show up in the navigation menu …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the URL of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
When finished, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories page)
The new category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the link category)
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 the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many link categories as you need.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in your navigation menu …
(Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: What you type here displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug appears 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already set up, 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 where the link should open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, 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 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Christopher Silva and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and 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, index, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page 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) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced area)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 will display next to your links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can 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.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all your links, click on Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your browser. The Links screen displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display or hide information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Display/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Links
To modify a link, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu to bring up the links table …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing links)
Make changes to your link information …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check 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 …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To delete links, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your web 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 and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the check box next to each item that you would like to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your links will be removed …
(links deleted message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure 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’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of the widget areas and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …
(Add a links widget to your sidebar using drag and drop)
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 would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This lets you create and feature various link lists on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Display links for a specific category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should show on your site …
(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 help with widgets? Go here if you want to learn more using widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, sort, and search functions.
Sorting 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 …
(You can sort your links)
Find Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Searching links)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering 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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your site, or if you would like 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin site.)
This plugin creates a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 using this WordPress plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other websites and pages in WordPress.
We have also created a detailed article on adding hyperlinks in WordPress here:
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum