As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external sites or pages that display on your sidebar section.
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 feature lets you add a links section to your WordPress sidebar area (e.g. a “Resources” section) using widgets.
Before the release of WP v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v.3.5, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v 3.5 and upgraded your installation, the Links 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 feature is not visible when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial shows you how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to display the default Links Manager, 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 your installation in order to restore the hidden feature. The last time we 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)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WordPress admin menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After activation, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ section on your WP sidebar menu screen …
(Links menu)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine 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 a link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories screen)
Your new category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can relate to. 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 better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name (remember to keep the slug in lowercase letters and replace all spaces with a hyphen), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the link category)
In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many link categories as you need.
After setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in the main navigation menu …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Addressand Description area – Add New Link)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of your link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no 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 with their mouse.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where your link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information for that link. This lets your visitors see the link information without leaving your website
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Aditya Gould 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 all of your links will still work. XFN makes the links defined on your site 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, enter nofollow into this field.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link screen)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 be displayed next to the link.
- 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).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have created, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display or hide information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Show/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Links
To modify a link in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the WP admin menu to bring up the links page …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your links)
Change your link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to the main dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all links.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check box next to every item that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links will be deleted …
(Link deletion notification)
Using The Plugin
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, click on Appearance > Widgets in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will display in your web browser.
You will notice 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 active widget bars in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your widget bar using drag & drop)
The Links widget offers various options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and feature link sections throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category to display specific links …
(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 options – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links will appear on your sidebar …
(Links can be displayed on a 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 with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on widgets. For more info, see this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, sort, and search functionality.
Sort Links
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links)
Searching Links Function
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(You can search your links using the search function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering your 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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
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 add lots of links to your website or blog, 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
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, and 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 of your links so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
For more details about using this handy plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress sidebar.
Go here if you want to learn more inserting HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress posts:
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