As you become more familiar with 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.
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 featured links section on your website using the WordPress Link Manager plugin.
Before the release of v.3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(Links – included in the dashboard menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager feature – no longer included in the dashboard menu after WordPress version 3.5)
If your website or blog previously displayed this feature, then it will still be available when your WP installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your website is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed on your 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 the Link Manager is not visible when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the built-in Links menu on your dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to your installation 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
In your WordPress administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 installation …
After activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ section will show up in the WP navigation menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Configuring The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding any new links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the main dashboard menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
When done, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories page)
Your link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress will automatically 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 your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, 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, then click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can being adding your links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in your navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Address& Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you enter in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category. 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.
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link 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 how the link should open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link. This lets your visitors access the link information without leaving your page
- _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 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 – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Ethan Smith and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. 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 specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute defines 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, start, help, index, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced fields)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the image URL 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 will be displayed next to the link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: Add a rating score to the link if you would like 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 are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
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 the links you have created, go to the dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser. The Links page displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To show or hide columns in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Links table – Screen Options)
Show/hide information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Links table – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Link Information
To edit a link, select Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu to bring up the table of links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing links)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to your admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all links at once.
To delete links individually, hover over the link you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The selected links will be removed …
(links deleted message)
Plugin Usage
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 or blog.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will display in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your widget areas and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag & drop)
The Links widget includes a number of configurable options. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and feature various link sections on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can add and display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links should now appear on your website …
(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? We have written a comprehensive article on widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, search, and sort functions.
Sorting Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Searching Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Finding links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link 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 brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your site, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 of your links that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in WordPress.
Go here if you would like to learn more about how to insert HTML hyperlinks into WordPress posts and pages:
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