As you discover more about 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 section.
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 featured links section on your website using the WordPress Link Manager plugin.
Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Link Manager feature – part of the WordPress menu until the release of WordPress v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager is no longer part of the dashboard menu after WordPress v 3.5)
If you were using the Link Manager in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your installation updates to a newer version. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will remain hidden – 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 feature when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the default Link Manager, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to WordPress 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/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, do the following:
From your 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 …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activating the plugin, the ‘Links’ functionality will be restored to the WP sidebar menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Plugin Setup
Before adding any new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter here will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug appears in the search-engine friendly 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 done, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories area)
The link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
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 your site 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 ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list 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 the Update link Category button …
(Editing the default link category name)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ etc).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. 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 page)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site needs.
After configuring your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
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 the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter your link details …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address& Description section)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, tick 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 where your link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a new web browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will exit your site and a new site or page will load in your web 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) area – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Blake Jones and you link to his blog, you would probably check 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. Defining relationships with 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 defines 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, help, index, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of your image and make sure that the 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 link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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 are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have created, go to the dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser. The table of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view or hide columns in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(List of links – Show/hide screen options)
Editing Links
To edit links, choose Links > All Links in your navigation menu to bring up your links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your link information)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To delete a link, select Links > All Links in your dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all your links.
To delete links individually, hover over the link you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check boxes next to individual items that you want to delete, 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 your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links you have selected will be deleted …
(Link deletion notice)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display links on your website or blog.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the admin menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …
(Add a links widget to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget includes a number of configurable options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and feature different lists of links on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category to display specific links …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
After setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links should display on your website’s sidebar menu …
(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 more help with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on adding widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sort, filter, and search features.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Search Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can easily search your links with the search function)
Filter 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 search for link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you want 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to output a list of your link categories and a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, 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 for your link collection so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about using this plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other sites in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to add HTML hyperlinks to your WordPress posts & pages. For more info, see this article:
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