As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar section is sometimes 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.”
You can display links on your sidebar or footer using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager feature – no longer displayed in the dashboard menu after WP v.3.5)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve 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 a Links section on your main menu when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the built-in Link Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to your installation 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WordPress dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”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 …
After you’ve activated the plugin, the ‘Links’ functionality will be restored to your dashboard menu area …
(Links management menu)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, choose Links > Link Categories in your dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you enter here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL of the link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
When done, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories screen)
Your category details will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this default link category name to something that will make sense to your visitors. 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 …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace 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 Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site needs.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to the WP admin menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will display in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description fields)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of your link category name. Only use lower case letters without 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
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want your link to open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new, separate browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link screen – Link Relationship (XFN) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Amber Jones 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 of your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites 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 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, enter nofollow into this field. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of where the image is located 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 links.
- 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential for links to work.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link 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 …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (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 the main navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To view additional options in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Links screen – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Your Link Information
To edit links, go to the admin menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the table of links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing link information)
Change your 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 view your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the check box next to each link that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your selected links will be deleted …
(Deleted links notice)
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 links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget includes a number of options. For example, you can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to create and feature multiple link sections on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
Once you are done setting up your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will now display on your sidebar …
(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 adding widgets, see this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with search, filter, and sort functionality.
Sort Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Searching Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(Searching links)
Filtering Your Links
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 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)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, 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 links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site containing all the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about using this plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
We have also written a comprehensive article on how to easily insert HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress content here:
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