As you continue to discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external sites or web 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 Manager lets you easily add and manage a links section to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using widgets.
Prior to the release of v3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer included in the WordPress admin menu after WordPress version 3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v.3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would have been 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 you can’t see a Links section on the main menu when you log into your WP admin area, you can add it by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
This plugin restores the 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 template code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the plugin had not been updated for some time, 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 Plugin)
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 removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, do the following:
From your WP admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”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 activation, a ‘Links’ section will be added to your WP navigation menu area …
(WordPress links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the main navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of the link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
When done, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
The link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . 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 default WordPress link category name to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Products’ etc).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many different link categories as your site needs.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter details about your link …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address, Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the SEO friendly URL of the link category. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate 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 site 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. 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Samantha Silva and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all your links will work just fine. 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 defines the relationship 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced section)
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 will display 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain periods and hide it afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table. The Links screen displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display additional information in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide – Links screen)
How To Edit Link Information
To modify links, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links to bring up the table of links …
(WP Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view 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 …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkbox next to every link that you would like 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 remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your links will be deleted …
(Link deletion notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to make links display on your website.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in your WP admin menu …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will notice 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 page and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …
(Add a links widget to your WordPress widget bar using drag and drop)
The Links widget provides various options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This lets you create and feature link sections on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display a specific list of items …
(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 options – Sort by options)
After configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links will show up immediately on your site’s 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 with widgets? Go here if you would like to learn more about adding widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sort, search, and filter functions.
Sorting Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Search Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Searching your links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by link category)
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 screen)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under 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 intend to add a ‘Links’ page 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.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin lets you publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your website that contains all 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 any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to WordPress.
We have written a detailed article on inserting hyperlinks into WordPress. For more details:
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