As you continue to discover more about the benefits of using 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 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.”
You can display links on your sidebar or footer using the Link Manager plugin.
Prior to the release of WordPress v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links appeared in the menu until the release of WP v3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from WordPress after WordPress version 3.5)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you have 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 you can’t see a Links item on the main menu when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add it via a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to restore the default Links Manager, even if you update 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 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, do the following:
From the WordPress administration area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will be displayed in the dashboard menu area …
(Links menu)
Plugin Configuration
Before adding any new 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 dashboard menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
When done, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
The new category will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when adding a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to visitors. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the default link category)
Replace 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)
In our example, the category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section 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 …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter your link details …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. 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.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a new, separate browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new website 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 just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Olivia Cooper and you link to her 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 work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links more understandable to some websites 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 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’ 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 leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced section)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add an 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 the link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: Add a rating score to the link if you want 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 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 Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your web browser. The Links screen displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To show or hide options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Link Information
To modify links, choose Links > All Links in the main navigation menu to bring up the table of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing link information)
Make changes to the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and 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 it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will display in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all of your links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the check box next to every link that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(Deleted links notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to make links display 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 dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to 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 your widget sections and drop it wherever you want your links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget includes various options. For example, 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 options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This lets you add and feature link sections on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display a specific list of items …
(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 settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should show up immediately on your site …
(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 detailed article about widgets here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sort, search, and filter functions.
Sort Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort your links)
Searching Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Find your links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed under 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 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.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin allows you to publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus all links defined for 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 that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about this useful plugin, visit the plugin website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to insert HTML links into your WordPress posts & pages. If you are interested in learning more here:
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