As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external websites or blogs displayed on your sidebar area.
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 links to your sidebar area (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using widgets.
Prior to the release of version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WP Links Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – no longer shown in WordPress after WordPress v3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your WP installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – 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 the Links feature is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add it by installing a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
Use this plugin to restore the default Links feature on your dashboard, even if you update 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 WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last 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 – Links Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activation, the ‘Links’ functionality is restored to the navigation menu area …
(Links management menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of your link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories area)
The link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when adding 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 that your visitors can relate to. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process and add as many new link categories as your site requires.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description fields – Add New Link)
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you enter in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include 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)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already added, 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 where you want your link to open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a separate browser window will open up 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 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields – 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 have a professional relationship with Scarlet Smith and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all of your links will work just fine. XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites 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 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, type 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 ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced area)
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 where the image is stored 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 will be displayed next to the link.
- 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 blank, as these fields are not essential for links to work.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want a link to display during certain times and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ page. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display or hide fields in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links table)
Show/hide fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to your dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(WP Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing link information)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done 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 your link’s URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To remove a link, go to your admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all your links at once.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkbox next to every link that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your links will be deleted …
(Deleted links notification)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display your links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will display in your browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar)
The Links widget provides various configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This allows you to create and feature link sections on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done setting up your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will show up immediately on your sidebar menu …
(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 using widgets? We have written a detailed article on widgets. To learn more about this go here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using filter, sort, and search functions.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Finding Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(You can search links with the search function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter your links by 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 for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your site, or if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add links on 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 Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of links with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your website that contains 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 for your link collection so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about using this plugin, visit this site:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to easily insert hyperlinks into WordPress. Go here to learn more:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now