As you continue to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or web pages that display on your sidebar.
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 feature lets you add external links to a widgetized theme.
Before the release of WP v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from WordPress after WP v.3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would be removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your WordPress installation is new, then this function will become invisible – 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 Link Manager section when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to restore the built-in Link Manager, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to your installation in order 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 site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will show up in your dashboard menu …
(Links management menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding any new links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the WP admin menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your web browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
When done, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
Your link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. 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 better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name 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 Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site needs.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, choose Links > Add New in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Addressand Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only and do not include 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Next, 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 clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new site or page will load in your web 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 ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link screen – Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Gulliver Larsson 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 your links will still work. Defining relationships with 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 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you 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 – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 can display next to the links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all your links, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser. The Links page displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links screen – Screen Options)
Display/hide fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide – Links table)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit a link, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu to bring up the links page …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing link information)
Change 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 see your link and make sure that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove links, go to the WP navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkbox next to every item that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
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, let’s show you how to make links display on your site.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ screen in your web browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget offers various configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebars and footers as you want. This lets you add and feature specific link lists on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
After configuring the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should show up immediately on your site’s sidebar …
(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 with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about using widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using searching, filtering, and sorting features.
Sorting Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Search Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can easily find your links using the search function)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering links by link categories)
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 …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
This brings up a list of all links listed under 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 would like to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 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 benefits of using this WordPress plugin, visit the plugin site:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress site.
Go here if you want to learn more how to add HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress content:
***
"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