As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.

In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar menu 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 hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.

Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …

Before …

(The Links Manager feature was part of the menu until the release of WordPress version 3.5)

After …

(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links Manager)

If your website the Links Manager was previously active on your website or blog, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your website is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not be displayed on the 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 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 sidebar using plugins.

Link Manager

(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)

Download URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager

Description

Use this plugin to restore the Link Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.

Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to WordPress 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.

Simple Links

(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)

Plugin Download URL

https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/

Description Of Plugin

Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.

How To Install Link Manager

To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow these instructions:

From the WordPress admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins – Add New)

Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …

Locate the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installing it …

After activation, the ‘Links’ function will be restored to your dashboard menu …

(WordPress links management menu section)

Plugin Configuration

We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding any new links. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.

Link Categories

To create a new link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the WP dashboard navigation menu …

(Links Menu – Link Categories)

This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.

Type in the following information:

• Name: Enter the category name.
• Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category. Only use lower case letters without 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 area)

Your new category will be added to the table …

(Link Categories area)

Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …

(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)

You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be listed under the new category name …

(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)

To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …

(Quick Edit)

Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …

(Editing the link category name)

Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Products’ etc).

Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …

(Link category description)

Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update you’re done to save your settings …

(Edit Link Category screen)

Repeat this process to add as many different link categories as your site needs.

After configuring your link categories, you can add your links.

Adding New Links

To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the main navigation menu …

(Links – Add New)

The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your web browser …

(Add New Link page)

You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …

(Add New Link button)

The ‘Add New Links’ page has several sections:

Name, Web Address & Description

This section lets you enter details about your link …

(Name, Web Address, Description section)

Type in information into the following sections:

• Name: What you enter in this field will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
• Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of your 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. (Optional)

Categories & Target

Select a Category and Target for your link …

(Categories & Target area – Add New Link screen)

In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link 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:

• _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new window will open up in their browser to display the content associated with the link.
• _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave your site and a new site or page will load in your web 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 ignore this option.

Link Relationship XFN

This section provides some additional link functionality …

(Link Relationship (XFN))

Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Milo Smith 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 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 defines a relationship 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes with spaces.

You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:

• WordPress Codex: Defining Relationships With XFN

Advanced

The last section lets you enter 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 section)

The Advanced link settings section includes the following:

• Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of your image 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 can be displayed 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).

Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.

When you have finished adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …

(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)

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 lets you 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 view all your links, choose Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu …

(Links Menu – All Links)

The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser. The Links table displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …

(Table of links)

Tip: To view additional options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …

(Links screen – Screen Options)

Enable/disable information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …

(Show/hide links)

How To Edit Links

To modify a link in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your admin menu to bring up your links screen …

(WP Links – All Links)

Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …

(Editing links)

Change your link details …

(Edit Link page)

After you’re done editing the 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 the link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
• Click Delete to remove the link if it’s no longer required …

(Update Link button)

Removing Links

To remove links from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu …

(Links Menu – All Links)

This takes you to the ‘Links’ table.

You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.

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 a number of links at once, either click on the checkbox next to every item that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …

(Deleting multiple links)

Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …

(Bulk-deletion of links)

All the links you have selected will be removed …

(Link deletion notice)

Using The Plugin

Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display links on your website.

Links Widget

The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.

To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the dashboard menu and select Appearance > Widgets …

(Appearance – Widgets)

The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.

You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …

(Links widget)

Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …

(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to your widget bar)

The Links widget offers a number of configurable options. You can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …

(Link widget settings)

You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This lets you add and feature specific link lists on your site …

(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)

Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …

(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 settings – Sorting options)

When you have finished configuring your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will show up immediately on your sidebar menu …

(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 more help with widgets? Go here for a detailed article about adding widgets:

• Adding WordPress Widgets To The Blog

Link Manager – Additional Information

If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filter, search, and sort functions.

Sort Links Function

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 …

(Sort links function)

Searching Links

You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …

(Finding your links)

Filtering Links

You can filter links by categories …

(Filter your links by 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 category 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 use links extensively on 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 links on your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.

Link Library

(Link Library WordPress Plugin)

Download Plugin URL

http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/

Plugin Description

The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus notes and descriptions …

(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)

This plugin creates a page on your site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus all links defined for 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 so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.

To learn more this plugin, go here:

• Link Library WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress site.

We have written a comprehensive article on inserting HTML links into WordPress posts. For more details:

• How To Use The Internal Linking Tool In WordPress

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