As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or pages that display on your sidebar menu.
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 a featured links section on your website using the WordPress Link Manager plugin.
Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager – included in the admin menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – no longer displayed in WordPress after WP v 3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and updated your installation, the Links Manager would be 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 section on your main menu when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add this feature via a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to restore the built-in Links menu on your WP dashboard, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
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 addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WordPress dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – 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 results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After you’ve activated the plugin, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item in your WP navigation menu …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your link category name. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
The new category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. 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 ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(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), then click on Update Link Category …
(Edit the default link category name)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site needs.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to the main dashboard menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter your link details …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Addressand Description)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of your 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link screen)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a separate window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Flannery Anderson and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and 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 lets you specify the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute is used to define the relationship 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, index, help, start, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image 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 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 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 are not essential for links to work.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(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 links private allows you to toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want links to display during certain times and hide them when they are no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have added, choose Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To show or hide columns in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Display/hide information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(List of links – Hide or display screen options)
Editing Your Link Information
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the links table …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your link information)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (the 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 Your Links
To delete a link, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check boxes next to individual links that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
Your links will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
Plugin Usage
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.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
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 active widget areas and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your widget bar)
The Links widget provides a number of options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebars and footers as you want. This allows you to add and feature specific lists of links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should show on your sidebar menu …
(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? To learn more about using widgets, refer to this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with searching, filtering, and sorting functionality.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Searching Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Search links function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering 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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
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 use links extensively on your site, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to output a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your site that contains all 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 that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other websites in WordPress.
Go here if you want to learn more how to easily create HTML links in WordPress posts:
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