As you continue to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar section 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.”
The Links Manager lets you easily add and manage hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
Before the release of v.3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Links Manager feature displayed in the WordPress menu until the release of WordPress v 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager is no longer included in WordPress after WordPress v.3.5)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and updated your installation, then the Links 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 feature when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
You can use this plugin to display the default Link Manager, 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 template code to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WordPress admin area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
Once you have activated the plugin, WordPress restores the ‘Links’ functionality to the admin menu area …
(Links management menu)
Configuring Link Manager
Before you start adding new links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type here will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address 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.
When done, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories)
Your link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your readers. 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 …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Products’ etc).
Let’s add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in your WP navigation menu …
(WP Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Addressand Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the SEO friendly URL of the link category. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a 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
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category link.
Next, 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 a visitor clicks on the link, a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens links 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) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Edna Cooper 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 still work. XFN makes your links 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you 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 your links.
- 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 in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to your dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen. The Links screen displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Show/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Links table – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Link Information
To modify links in the Link Manager, go to the WP navigation menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links screen …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and make sure that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load 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 that you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to each item that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links you have selected will be deleted …
(links deleted notice)
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 display your links on your website.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP dashboard menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ screen 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 widget areas and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress sidebar using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides a number of options. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This allows you to add and feature specific links sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
You can create and display a list of items for a specific category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should show on your sidebar, footer or whichever widgetized area you place the widget in …
(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 with widgets? Go here for a detailed article on widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, filter, and sort features.
Sort 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 …
(Sort your links)
Searching Your Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Searching links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering links by category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, or if you would like to add a page containing a list of links 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to output a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, 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 link collection that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about this powerful plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article on adding hyperlinks in your WordPress posts. You can learn more here:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)