As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or blogs displayed 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 Manager lets you add external links to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “Resources” section) using a widget.
Prior to the release of v.3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Menu – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v 3.5 and updated your installation, then the Link 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 displayed when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add this feature via a plugin. This tutorial shows you how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to display the built-in Link Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code 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 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
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in WordPress Links Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
In your WP admin area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
Once you have activated the plugin, a ‘Links’ section will be displayed in your dashboard menu …
(Links menu section)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, you can assign new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you enter here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part 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 a link category description.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories page)
The link category will now show in the list …
(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)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, 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 edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
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 the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Addressand Description section)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you enter here displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your link category name. Only use lower case letters without 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 …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link. Your visitor can access the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave 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. 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link screen – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Suzanne Cooper and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. 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 defines 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’ attributes using spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you enter 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 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 RSS feed associated with the link can display next to the links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can add a rating score to the link if you want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain periods and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have created, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links screen – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(List of links – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Link Information
To modify a link, select Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu to bring up your links screen …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your link information)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To delete links, select Links > All Links in the navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all your links at once.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link title you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check box next to every item that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links will be deleted …
(Link deletion notification)
Using The Plugin
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.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget bars and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your sidebar)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and display specific link lists sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category to display a specific list of items …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
After configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links will become visible on your website or blog’s sidebar menu …
(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? If you want to learn more about adding widgets, see this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with search, filter, and sort functionality.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse 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)
Find Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Find links)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter 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 …
(searching and filtering 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 add lots of links to your site, or if you want to add a ‘Links’ page 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you display a list of your link categories and a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, 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 links that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Visit the plugin website to learn more about using this great plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to add HTML links to WordPress posts. Go here to learn more:
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