As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to 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 easily add external links to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “Resources” section) using a widget.
Prior to the release of WordPress v 3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
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 Links Manager, however, or if your website is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not be displayed on the 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 you can’t see the Links feature when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to display the default Links menu on your WP dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress 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 some time, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as 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, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select 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 activation, WordPress will add a ‘Links’ section to the WP dashboard menu area …
(Links menu section)
Setting Up Link Manager
Before adding new links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of the 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. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories)
The link category will display in the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that your visitors can understand. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the default link category name)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site needs.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to your admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen 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 …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Addressand Description fields)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you enter here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears 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 your link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target fields – Add New Link screen)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create 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 your link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new site 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. 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) area – Add New Link page)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Jennifer Gould 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 still work. 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 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add an 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 display next to your link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can 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 are not essential.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, select Links > All Links in the admin menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your web browser. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To show or hide options in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Links screen – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Hide or show – Links screen)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit links, go to the main navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(WP Links – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your link information)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table of links …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to your WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all of your links.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(Link deletion notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display links on your website or blog.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in your WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen.
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 the widget bars and drop it wherever you would like your links to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget offers various configurable options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This lets you add and display different links sorted by categories throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
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 options – Sorting options)
When you have finished configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should show up immediately on your sidebar …
(An example of how 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 using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about configuring widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sorting, filtering, and searching functions.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Searching Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Find your links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by category)
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 page)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you intend 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 links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your website that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus all links listed in 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 links that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
To learn more about inserting HTML links into WordPress posts, refer to this article:
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group