As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other websites or pages that display on your sidebar section 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add and manage external links to a widget-ready theme.
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 kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager feature – no longer included in the WordPress menu after WP v.3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your website is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not display on the 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 displayed when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add this feature via a plugin. This tutorial shows you how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the Link Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to your installation in order 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WordPress admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 installation …
Once you have activated the plugin, a ‘Links’ section will be displayed in the WP sidebar menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the navigation menu …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit 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.
Click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories area)
Your new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to visitors. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Change 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), then click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site needs.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays in the web address of the link category. Use lowercase letters only 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
Select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where your link should open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a new, separate browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave 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. 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)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Christopher Fields and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section 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 specifies a 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to enter 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 fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the image URL 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 display next to your links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can add a rating score to the link if you want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want the link to display during certain times and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to your WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will display in your browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To view or hide fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Links
To modify links in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu to bring up the list of links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your list …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check box next to each link that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(links deleted notice)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to make links display on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in your dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links to display …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget provides a number of settings. You can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to create and display specific link categories throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …
(Link widget settings – 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)
When you have finished setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section should become visible on your sidebar, footer or wherever you place the widget in …
(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? Go here if you want to learn more adding widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering functionality.
Sorting Your 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 …
(Sort links function)
Searching Your Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Searching links)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter 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 displays a list of all links grouped 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 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 WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download 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 with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site containing a list of all of 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 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 the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have also written a comprehensive article about how to easily add HTML links into WordPress here:
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