As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or pages displayed 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.”
You can manage a blogroll using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will then display on your blog if you have added the Links widget.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from WordPress after WordPress v3.5)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v 3.5 and updated your installation, the Link 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 you can’t see a Links item on your main menu when you log into your WP backend, you can add it by installing a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin displays the Link Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
From the WordPress dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 activation, WordPress adds a ‘Links’ section to the WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Setting Up Link Manager
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up 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 a link category description.
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will be added to the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to readers. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the link category)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ etc).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site needs.
After configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, go to your admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ 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
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address& Description – Add New Link)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address 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 your link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where the link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the content associated with the link. This allows your visitors to access the 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 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 ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Brandon Larsson and you link to his 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 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 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords using spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 display 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain times and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all your links, select Links > All Links in your WP admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To display additional columns in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Links screen – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Links
To edit links, select Links > All Links in your dashboard menu to bring up the table of links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your link information)
Change your link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check boxes next to individual items that you want to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links will be removed …
(links deleted message)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display links on your site.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in your WP admin menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will see 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 widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Adding a links widget to your sidebar using drag and drop)
The Links widget includes various configurable options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget settings)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display different link categories on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category to display specific links …
(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 – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should display on your site …
(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 widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sorting, filtering, and searching features.
Sort Links
You can sort links by hovering your 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)
Find Your Links
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Search links function)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering links by 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 screen)
This displays a list of all links listed 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 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
Visit this site to learn more about the benefits of using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on inserting HTML links into WordPress posts & pages. To learn more about this go here:
***
"I love the way your email series "Infinite Web Content Creation Training Series" is documented and presented. It is very absorbing and captivating. The links and tutorials are interesting and educational. This has motivated me to rewrite my content following the concepts I am learning from the email series." - Mani Raju, www.fortuneinewaste.com