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 external 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 add a set of links using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will display on your sidebar or footer if you have added the Links widget.
Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After version 3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(The Link Manager displayed in the WordPress admin menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and upgraded your installation, the Links Manager would have been 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 visible when you log into your WP backend, you can add this feature via a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to restore the built-in Links menu on your dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to your installation in order 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 site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – Links Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin on your site, follow the instructions below:
From the WP admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will be displayed on the navigation menu …
(Links management menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you type here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories screen)
Your link category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a 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 that will make sense to site visitors. This not only makes 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 link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name 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 …
(Edit the link category)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Special Deals’ 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)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many new 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 your dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description fields)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of your 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target section – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link 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 the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a new browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens links 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 …
(Add New Link screen – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Elizabeth Jones and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and your links will work just fine. 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, type nofollow into this field.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 can display next to the links.
- 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 blank.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
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 add seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, select Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your browser. The Links screen displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display additional information in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Display/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Table of links – Hide or display screen options)
How To Edit Your Links
To modify a link, go to your WP navigation menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done 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 everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your link table …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove links, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all of your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on 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 at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(Deleted links notice)
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 site.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like your links to display …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget offers various configurable options. You can specify what information you would like displayed 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 as you want. This allows you to create and display specific links throughout your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of items for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section will become visible 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 more help with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on configuring widgets. To learn more, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sort, search, and filter functions.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Find Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Finding your links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by link 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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, 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.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 for your links so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to easily insert HTML links into WordPress posts & pages. If you are interested in learning more 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)