As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or web pages displayed 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 Manager lets you add and manage external hyperlinks to your WordPress sidebar section (e.g. a “Resources” section) using a widget.
Before the release of v.3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After v 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Link Manager feature – part of the menu until the release of WP v3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If you have used an earlier version than v3.5 and updated 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 the Links Manager section when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to restore the built-in Links feature on your WP dashboard, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to WordPress 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
From the WP administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, 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 it has been installed …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will show up in the admin menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Setting Up Link Manager
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the admin menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO friendly URL 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.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories screen)
The category details will now show in the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
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 link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the default link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the category name ‘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, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many new link categories as you need.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in your WP admin menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where the link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the content associated with the link.
- _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 web browser window instead.
- _top opens the link 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 just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with David Fields and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some websites 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 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced section – 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. To use this feature, 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 RSS feed associated with the link will display next to the links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(You can make links private by selecting the 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 the link to display during certain periods and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To display additional columns in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links table – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Link Information
To edit links, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Change your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link 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 …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To delete links, select Links > All Links in the main admin menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen 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 Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to every link that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(links deleted notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure 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
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP admin menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of the widget bars and drop it wherever you would like the links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area using drag & drop)
The Links widget includes various configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This allows you to create and feature different lists of links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
When you have finished configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show 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 more help using widgets? If you want to learn more about using widgets, see this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filtering, searching, and sorting features.
Sorting Links
To sort links, hover your mouse 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 links)
Finding Links Function
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Search your links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter your links by category)
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 …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website or blog, 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 links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your site containing all 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 link collection so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Visit this website to learn more about this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external websites and pages in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article on adding links to your WordPress content. Go here to learn more about this:
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