As you continue to discover more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar section is sometimes 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.”
You can add a set of links using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will then display on your site once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Links Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager Feature – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature – no longer shown in the menu after WP v3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v 3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would be 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 the Links feature when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
The Link Manager plugin restores 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 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 Link Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WordPress administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ item in your navigation menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
Before you start adding any new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you enter here will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The category details will now show in the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a new 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 the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as you need.
After setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in your dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description fields – Add New Link)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of your 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target fields – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave 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. Don’t worry about 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) 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 Luke Jenkins and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all of your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with 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 a 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’ attributes using spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section 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) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is located and make sure that the image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to the 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).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(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 …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all the links you have created, go to the main admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view additional information in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Links table – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Links
To modify a link in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your WP admin menu to bring up your links page …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your links)
Make changes to the link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all of your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links you have selected will be deleted …
(Deleted links notice)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up 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 Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your dashboard menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load 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 active widget bars and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable options. 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 also add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This allows you to create and display links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
After setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should display on your 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 help with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about adding widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using search, sort, and filter functions.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Search Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Searching links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter links by link categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This displays 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 intend 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 allows you to display a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, 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 for your links that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more about the benefits of using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other sites in WordPress.
We have also created a comprehensive article about adding HTML links into WordPress posts here:
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