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 menu 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.”
The Links Manager lets you easily add and manage links to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Feature – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post v.3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it.
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 will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the default Links Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to WordPress 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow these step-by-step instructions:
In your WP administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – 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 it has been installed …
After activation, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ feature to the WP dashboard menu area …
(WordPress links menu)
Setting Up Link Manager
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you enter here displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
When done, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories page)
Your link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to readers. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, 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 relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the 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), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the default link category name)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Items’ etc).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, go to the WP admin menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to 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 page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Addressand Description area)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part 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 a link category description.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target area – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already added, 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 how you want your link to open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit 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. 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) – 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 Kian O’Malley and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links more understandable to some sites 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section 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 page – Advanced area)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to the links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: Add a rating score to the link if you would like to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want your link to display during certain times and hide it afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all your links, go to your dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To view additional fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide – List of links)
Editing Links
To modify links, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu to bring up your links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To remove links, go to the dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the checkbox next to every link that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
Your links will be deleted …
(links deleted notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display your links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in your WP navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget provides various configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you create and display specific links sorted by categories on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
After setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will display on your sidebar, footer or wherever you have placed the widget in …
(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 more help with widgets? We have written a detailed article about adding widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with searching, sorting, and filtering functions.
Sort Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links function)
Find Your Links
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Finding links)
Filter Your 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 search for link categories, or click on the links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
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 site, 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, 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 for your links so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit the plugin site to learn more about the benefits of using this useful plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress site.
Go here if you would like to learn more about creating HTML links in your WordPress posts:
***
"Learning WordPress has been a huge stumbling block for me. I've been looking for something that covers absolutely everything but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Thank you so much ... you have just provided me with what I have been looking for! Truly appreciated!" - Tanya