As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external sites or blogs 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 Manager lets you add links to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “Resources” section) using a widget.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager feature displayed in the admin menu until the release of WordPress version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – excluded from WordPress after WP v3.5)
If you were using the Links Manager in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not appear on your 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 you can’t see the Links feature when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial will show you 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
Description
The Link Manager plugin displays the Links menu on your dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to your installation to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, this 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WP dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activating the plugin, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section in your dashboard menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Setting Up Link Manager
Before adding any new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
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 be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(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), then click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site requires.
After configuring your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to the navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description – Add New Link)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new site or page will load in your 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 …
(Add New Link page – Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Diya Schwartz and you link to her 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. 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 is used to define 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, help, start, index, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced fields)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 can be displayed next to the links.
- 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).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, go to your dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen. The Links table displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display or hide columns in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide – Links table)
How To Edit Links
To modify links in the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Change your link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button 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 you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To remove links, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will display in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkboxes next to individual items that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
Your links will be removed …
(Link deletion 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 learn how to display links on your website or blog.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides a number of settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display various links throughout your site …
(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 ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links should show on your website …
(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 using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about adding widgets. For more details, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using search, sort, and filter functionality.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Search Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Search your links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(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 …
(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 add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you want 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin site.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, 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 become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress sidebar.
Go here to learn more about how to add HTML hyperlinks into WordPress:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now