As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar is often referred to as a blogroll.
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 link section using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will then display on your blog if you have added the Links widget.
Prior to the release of WP v.3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(Links was part of the menu until the release of WordPress v.3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you’ve used an earlier version than 3.5 and updated your installation, then 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 menu section is not displayed when you log into your WP dashboard, you can add it via a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the Link Manager, even if you upgrade 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 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
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 The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, do the following:
In the WordPress administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “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, a ‘Links’ section will show on your WP navigation menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Setup
Before adding links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard menu …
(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
Your link category will display in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this default link category name to something that your visitors can understand. This will not only make it easier for visitors, 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 understand)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace 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 …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Special Deals’ etc).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to your navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will load in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter details about your link …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address, Description fields)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of the link category name. It must 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target fields – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Also, 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 visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their web browser to display the content associated with the link. Your visitor can access the information without leaving your site
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new site 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 …
(Add New Link page – Link Relationship (XFN) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Jordan Schwartz 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 still work. Defining relationships with 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 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, type nofollow into this field. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords 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 (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced area)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 link’s RSS feed will 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 ignore this section.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link 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 Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all your links, click on Links > All Links in your admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page. The Links table displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display additional options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Display/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit a link, go to your admin menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up the links table …
(Links – All Links)
Select 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 editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To remove links, select Links > All Links in the WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check boxes next to individual links that you would like to delete, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(links deleted notice)
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 or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the main 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 the active widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your widget bar)
The Links widget includes various settings. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to add and display links on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of items for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, 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. Your links should show up immediately on your site …
(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 detailed article about using widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sort, search, and filter functionality.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Find Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Find links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter links by link 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 …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you would like 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to display a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 that lets your site users become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Go here for more details about the benefits of using this useful plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
If you want to learn more about adding HTML links to WordPress posts, refer to this article:
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