As you continue to learn more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or blogs that display on your sidebar area.
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 easily add external links to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of version 3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WP Links Feature – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you have used an earlier version than v.3.5 and upgraded your installation, the Link 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 Manager is not visible when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
This plugin displays the Links 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 this plugin, then use the one 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 recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
From the WP administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – 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 screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After the plugin is activated, a ‘Links’ section will show in your WP sidebar menu …
(Links management menu)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: What you enter here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of the link category name. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories screen)
The link category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can understand. 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 …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the default 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), then click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many different link categories as your site needs.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no 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 with their mouse. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new web browser window will open up to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to access the link information without leaving your site
- _none means that when visitors click 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. 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 page – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Lucy Gould and you link to her 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 work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites 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 specifies the relationship 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced fields)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add an image URL 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 display next to the link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to add a link and then toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain periods and hide it afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your browser. The Links table displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view or hide information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Links screen – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Links
To modify a link in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu to bring up the links table …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Change the link …
(Edit Link page)
After 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 its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table of links …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, go to the main navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkbox next to each item that you want to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display links on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in your dashboard menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page 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 active widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget provides a number of settings. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and display links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display a specific list of items …
(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 options – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section should show up immediately on your sidebar, footer or wherever you add the links widget to …
(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 with widgets? We have written a detailed article on using widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sorting, filtering, and searching functions.
Sort Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Finding Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Finding links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering links by 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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
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 use links extensively on your site, 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you output 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: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus all links defined for 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 the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress site.
We have written a comprehensive article on inserting HTML hyperlinks into WordPress posts. For more details, go here:
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