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 websites or blogs displayed 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add a links section to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Links Manager displayed in the WordPress menu until the release of WP v.3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, 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 your dashboard 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 a Links item on your main menu when you log into your WP dashboard, you can add it via a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin displays the built-in Links feature on your WP dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the plugin 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/
Plugin Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WordPress dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
Once you have activated the plugin, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item on the navigation menu …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: What you type in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of your 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.
Click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories page)
Your new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this default link category name to something that will make sense to site visitors. 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 assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Products’ etc).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many link categories as your site needs.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in your dashboard menu …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ screen in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
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 includes the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address& Description area)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of the 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)
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target section – Add New Link)
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.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new window will open up in their web browser to display the content associated with the link. This lets your visitors access the link information without leaving your site
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will exit your site and a new website 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. 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Aadhya Larsson and you link to her 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 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 specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute specifies 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced fields – Add New Link screen)
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 image URL 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 can display next to the link.
- 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential for links to work.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have added, choose Links > All Links in the admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser. The Links screen displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display additional options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Hide or display – List of links)
Editing Link Information
To modify a link in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the WP admin menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all your links.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkbox next to each link that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The selected links will be deleted …
(links deleted notice)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display your links on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the active widget bars in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you would like the links to display …
(Adding a links widget to your widget bar)
The Links widget provides a number of options. For example, you can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you create and feature different link categories on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of items for a specific category …
(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 – Sort by options)
When you have finished setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will show up immediately on your sidebar menu …
(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? If you want to learn more about using widgets, refer to this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, filtering, and sorting features.
Sorting Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links)
Finding Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Searching your links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering links by categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you want 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 links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus all links listed in 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 so that your site users can 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 your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have also written a detailed article on how to easily insert links into WordPress posts & pages here:
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