As you discover 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 web pages 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.”
You can manage a link section using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will then display on your website if you have added the Links widget.
Prior to the release of v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress version 3.5, the Link Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager feature displayed in the menu until the release of WordPress v 3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer part of WordPress after WP v3.5)
If your website had the Link Manager installed, then it will still be available when your site upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not appear 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 admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial shows you how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin restores the built-in Link Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress 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. 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 this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
In the WP dashboard menu, go to 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 search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, WordPress adds a ‘Links’ section to the WP dashboard menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Configuring Link Manager
Before adding any new links, we recommend setting 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, select Links > Link Categories in the main navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part 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.
Click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
The category details will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to blog readers. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process and add as many different link categories as you need.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description section)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Also, 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 new browser window will open up to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to see the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks 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 just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Matilda Cooper and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all of your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with 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 is used to define 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.
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 (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 be displayed 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 in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view a list of all the links you have created, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To show or hide columns in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links screen – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Table of links – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Your Links
To edit a link, select Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu to bring up the links page …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing link information)
Change your link information …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your link table …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To remove links, go to the dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the check box next to every link that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
Your selected links will be deleted …
(Deleted links notice)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to make links display on your website or blog.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the WP navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget offers various settings. You can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget settings)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This allows you to create and feature a number of different lists of links on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
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 rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will appear on your site …
(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 with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on configuring widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filtering, searching, and sorting functions.
Sorting 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 easily sort your links)
Finding Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Find links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link 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 page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, or if you intend 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your web site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, and 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 that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article on adding links into WordPress posts. Learn more here:
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)