As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external websites or web pages that display 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 display a links section on your blog using the WordPress Link Manager plugin.
Before the release of WordPress version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v.3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Link Manager – part of the dashboard menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager is no longer part of the menu after WordPress v.3.5)
If you have had an earlier version than v3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would be removed, unless you’ve 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 the Links item is not displayed when you log into your WP backend, you can add it via a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin restores the built-in Links Manager, 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 template code to WordPress 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WordPress administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, 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 activation, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ item on your WP navigation menu …
(Links management menu)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding new links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page.
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 URL part 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 your link category description.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories page)
Your category details will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a 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 that your visitors can understand. 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 listed under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace 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)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as you need.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ screen in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description area)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part 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 the new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a 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 a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new site 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 just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Martin Jenkins and you link to his blog, you would probably check 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 lets you specify the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute specifies 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you specify 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 area – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- 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 will be displayed next to the links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can 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, as these are not essential.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in the main navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your web browser. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display or hide options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Links
To edit a link, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links table …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Change the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your link table …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove a link, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links at once.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link that you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to every link that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links you have selected will be deleted …
(Link deletion message)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
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.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the main navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load 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 widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget provides various options. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This allows you to add and feature specific link categories throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget options – 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)
When you have finished setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will show up immediately 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 more help with widgets? We have written a detailed article about using widgets. For more details, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using search, filter, and sort features.
Sort Links
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Search Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can search links with the search function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by categories)
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 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 lots 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you display a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library creates a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, 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 of your link collection that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this powerful plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article about inserting HTML links into your WordPress posts & pages. To learn more, go here:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)