As you continue to learn more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar area 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 display a links section on your sidebar or footer using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v.3.5, the Links Manager section was kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre v.3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager – excluded from the menu after WP v 3.5)
If you have used an earlier version than 3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would be removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not be displayed 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 feature is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin restores the default Links feature on your dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds 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 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 WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow these instructions:
From your WP administration area, 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 screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will show up on the WP navigation menu …
(Links menu section)
Setting Up Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding new 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 main dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your link category. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this default link category name to something that will make sense to your site visitors. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site needs.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description fields – Add New Link)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of your link category. Use lowercase letters only 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. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
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 clicked on:
- _blank means that a new browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the 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. 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) fields – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Miles Silva and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all your links will still work. XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 is used to define a relationship 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – 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 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 can display next to the link.
- 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make links private by selecting the checkbox)
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 have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, go to your dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Hide or show – Links table)
Editing Your Link Information
To modify links in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu to bring up your table of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Change the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove a link, go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkbox next to every item that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(links deleted notification)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display your links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the main dashboard menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page 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 bars and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Drag & drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget includes various configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display specific a number of different lists of links sorted by categories on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(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 – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links should show up immediately on your sidebar menu …
(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 help with widgets? To learn more about widgets, refer to this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filter, sort, and search functionality.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Finding Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Search your links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering links by 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 screen)
This brings up a list of all links listed 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 a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your web site containing all the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 for your link collection that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Visit the plugin website to learn more about this handy plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress sidebar.
We have also created a comprehensive article on how to add links in WordPress posts and pages here:
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com