As you continue to discover more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or pages displayed on your sidebar menu.
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 add and manage external links to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “Top 5 Resources” section) using widgets.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v.3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Link Manager – part of the WordPress dashboard menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature is no longer part of the WordPress menu after WP v 3.5)
If you were using the Links Manager in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your WP installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed on your 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 you can’t see the Links Manager section when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
Use this plugin to restore the default Links feature on your WordPress dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to your installation in order 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow these instructions:
From the WordPress dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ item will show in your dashboard menu …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category name. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
When finished, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories screen)
Your new category will display in the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when adding a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This not only makes 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 link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the default link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Resources’ etc).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update when you’re done …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, choose Links > Add New in the main navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Addressand Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you enter in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the SEO friendly URL of the link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include 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
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target section – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category link.
Also, 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 when visitors click on the link, a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new site 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. 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Anthony Silva and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank 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 lets you specify 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 using spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced area)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is stored 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 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 the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, click on Links > All Links in your navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Table of links – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit links in the Link Manager, go to the main dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing links)
Make the changes you want to the link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to 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 from your list …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove a link, go to your admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken 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 you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the check box next to every link that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display your links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in your admin menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will display in your browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget provides a number of settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This allows you to add and display link sections on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
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 rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section should 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 help with widgets? Go here if you would like to learn more about adding widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sort, search, and filter functions.
Sort Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(You can search links using the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your 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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter 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 a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin creates a page on your web site containing 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 link collection so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit the plugin site to learn more about this great plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other sites in your WordPress sidebar menu.
If you want to learn more about how to add links into WordPress posts & pages, see this article:
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