As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or web pages that display on your sidebar area.
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 add a link section using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will display on your sidebar if you have added the Links widget.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v 3.5, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(Links – part of the menu until the release of WP v3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager – excluded from the admin menu after WP v3.5)
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 WordPress site installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – you won’t see it 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 can add this feature by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to restore 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 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 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
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WP dashboard area, go to 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 search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will show up in the WP sidebar menu area …
(Links management menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of the link category name. 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. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
Your link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the default link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the default 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, the category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, choose Links > Add New in your navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen 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 includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of the link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Categories & Target
After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for your 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.
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 clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link. This lets your visitors see the link information without leaving your site
- _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. Ignore 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Ishaan Schwartz and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with 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, enter nofollow into this field. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add an image URL and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link can display next to the links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: 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 into 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, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, select Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display additional options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(List of links – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Links
To edit a link in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Change the link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the 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 the link’s URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title that you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the check boxes next to individual items that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion notice)
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 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, select Appearance > Widgets in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load in your web browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links to display …
(Drag & drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget includes a number of settings. You can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and display specific different link lists throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
After configuring your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links will become visible on your site’s sidebar menu …
(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? We have written a detailed article about widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with searching, filtering, and sorting functionality.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Searching Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can search links using the search function)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter your links by link categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, or if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 of your links so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article on how to easily add links to WordPress. Go here to learn more:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now