As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web 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 add a set of links using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will display on your website once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Menu – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Links – no longer displayed in the WordPress menu after WordPress v 3.5)
If your blog had the Links Manager installed, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your installation of WordPress 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 the Links item is not displayed when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This tutorial shows you how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to restore the default Links menu on your WordPress dashboard, 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 your installation in order 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 it has been installed …
After activating the plugin, the ‘Links’ functionality is restored to your WP admin menu …
(Links management menu)
Plugin Configuration
Before adding new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the main admin menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up 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.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something better suited to your business. This not only makes 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 …
(we recommend changing 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 …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the main navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page 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
The first section lets you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Addressand Description)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category name. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your 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 your new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how the link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the 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)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Roman Cooper and you link to his blog, you would probably tick 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 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 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, enter nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced fields)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: 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 your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to your links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not required.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them when not required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser. The Links table displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display or hide information in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(List of links – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Your Links
To modify a link in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the main admin menu to bring up the list of links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Edit your link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done 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 your link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete links, go to your navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkboxes next to individual links that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your links will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to make links display on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Add a links widget to your sidebar)
The Links widget includes various options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This lets you create and feature multiple lists of links sorted by categories throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can add and display links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section should show up immediately on your website …
(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 help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, filtering, and sorting functionality.
Sort Your Links
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 to search for links …
(You can easily find your links using the search function)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website or blog, or if you want to add a ‘Links’ page 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 WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus all links listed in 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 link collection that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit the plugin website to learn more about using this great plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article on inserting links into your WordPress posts and pages. To learn more about this go here:
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)