As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar section 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.”
You can display a links section on your site using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Link Manager feature – part of the admin menu until the release of WordPress version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – no longer shown in WordPress after WordPress version 3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your installation updates to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not appear 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 feature when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to display the default Links 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 WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – Link Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow the instructions below:
In your WP administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select 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, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ item in the admin menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding new links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the main dashboard menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter in this field will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your 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)
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will now show in the list …
(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 name)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to 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 appear under the new category name …
(Consider 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 Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
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 …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site needs.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, choose Links > Add New in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add 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 how the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new, separate browser window will open up to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens the link 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 screen – Link Relationship (XFN) section)
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 Shaurya Gould 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 all your links will work just fine. XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 the relationship 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, help, index, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the image URL and make sure that the 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: 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 in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished 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 select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want links to display during certain periods and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, select Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser. The Links screen displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view additional columns in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Links
To edit a link in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the WP admin menu to bring up your links screen …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Make any changes you want to the link fields …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to your admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all your links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check box next to each link that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links will be removed …
(Deleted links 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 make links display on your website.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen in your 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 your widget areas and drop it wherever you want your links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress sidebar using drag and drop)
The Links widget includes various configurable options. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you add and feature link lists sorted by categories throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-down menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
After configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section will display 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 using widgets? We have written a detailed article on configuring widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering features.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your 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)
Finding Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Search your links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filter links by link category)
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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website or blog, 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your website containing all the link categories in your Links area, and all links defined for 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 that lets your site users become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
For more details about using this WordPress plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
If you want to learn more about adding hyperlinks into WordPress posts and pages, see this article:
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