As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a 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.”
The Links Manager lets you easily add hyperlinks to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – excluded from the dashboard menu after WP v 3.5)
If your website previously used Links Manager, then it will still be available when your site upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will remain hidden – you will not see it on your dashboard menu.
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 shows you how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to restore the Link Manager, even if you update 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 WordPress 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 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)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow these instructions:
From the WP dashboard menu, select 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 activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section in your navigation menu area …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, when you create 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 navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
The link category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories screen)
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)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your blog readers. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category)
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), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the default link category)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process and add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, go to your dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Addressand Description section)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: What you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the 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 a link category description.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where you want the link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit 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. 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 page – Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Matilda Larsson 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 your links will work just fine. 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 is used to define what relationship exists 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced area – Add New Link screen)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 link’s RSS feed can be displayed next to your link.
- 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 would like 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.
When you have finished 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, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want 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 dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The Links table displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To show or hide columns in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Hide or show – Table of links)
How To Edit Links
To modify links, go to the navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Change your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table of links …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkbox next to every item that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion message)
Using The Plugin
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, go to the navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget bars and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget provides various configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget settings)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This lets you create and feature links sorted by categories on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display specific links …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section will display on your website …
(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? We have written a comprehensive article about configuring widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using searching, filtering, and sorting functions.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Find Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Search links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your links by link categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays 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 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to output a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, and 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 of your links that lets your site users 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 how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a comprehensive article on adding links into WordPress. To learn more about this go here:
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