As you continue to learn more about 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add and manage external links to a widget-ready theme.
Prior to the release of WP 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 installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager – part of the menu until the release of WordPress version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature – excluded from WordPress after WP v.3.5)
If you have used an earlier version than 3.5 and updated your installation, 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 the Links Manager is not visible when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the default Link 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 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, do the following:
In your WP administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”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 installing it …
After activating the plugin, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ function to your navigation menu area …
(Links menu)
Configuring The Plugin
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding any new links. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: What you enter in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category. Only use lower case 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 …
(Link Categories)
The link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns 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 users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the default link category)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Resources’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description area)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays in the URL of the link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target fields)
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 you want your link to open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that a separate browser window will open up to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new site 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. 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) – Add New Link page)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Romy Smith and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 is used to define what relationship exists 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, index, start, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page 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 fields)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you 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 display 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 into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like your link to display during certain times and hide it afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. The Links table displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view additional options in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(List of links – Show/hide screen options)
Editing Links
To modify a link, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu to bring up the list of links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing link information)
Make changes to your link fields …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table of links if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to each item that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notice)
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 display your links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in your dashboard menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will display 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 it to one of the widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget includes various configurable options. You can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to add and feature lists of links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can create and display links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section will show up immediately on your site …
(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 widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering features.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your cursor 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 Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(Searching links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter your links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find 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 listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website or blog, 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)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of all 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 website.)
Link Library creates a page on your website containing all the link categories in your Links section, 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 links so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit this website to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to your WordPress sidebar.
Go here for a detailed article on adding HTML links in your WordPress posts and pages:
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum