As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external sites or web pages displayed 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.”
You can manage a set of links using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will display on your blog if you have added the Links widget.
Before the release of WP v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer included in the WordPress dashboard menu after WP version 3.5)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would be 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 WordPress backend, you can add it by installing a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin restores the built-in Link Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds 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 a while, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “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 it has been installed …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will get added to your WP navigation menu …
(Links menu)
Setting Up Link Manager
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories area)
The link category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this 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 …
(Change the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(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 Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as your site needs.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Address, Description section)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the 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. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, 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 clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a new, separate web 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 leave your site and a new website 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. Ignore 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) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Atharv Larsson and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all 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 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, index, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of where the image is stored and make sure that the 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 link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: 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 ignore this section.
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 tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to add a link and then toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want the link to display during certain periods and hide it afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have added to the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the main admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will display in your browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table of links)
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 fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide – Links table)
Editing Links
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your links screen …
(WP Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Make the changes you want to your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To remove a link, choose Links > All Links in the main admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the check boxes next to individual links that you want to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the 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 the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your selected links will be deleted …
(Deleted links notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display links on your website.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the main navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of the active widget areas in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget offers various options. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebars and footers as you want. This lets you create and feature multiple links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section will show up immediately on your sidebar …
(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 using widgets? If you want to learn more about widgets, refer to this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering functions.
Sorting Links Function
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort your links)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(Searching links)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your links by link categories)
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 …
(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)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, or if you would like to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you display a list of your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, and all links defined for 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 that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this WordPress plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress sidebar.
If you want to learn more about adding HTML links in your WordPress content, refer to this article:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now