As you continue to discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar section is sometimes referred to 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 add a link section using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will then display on your blog if you have added the Links widget.
Before the release of version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v.3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre v.3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – no longer shown in WordPress after WordPress v3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 installed 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 the Link Manager is not visible when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin displays the built-in Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to restore the hidden feature. When we last 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WordPress dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After the plugin has been activated, a ‘Links’ item will show in your WP navigation menu area …
(WordPress links management menu)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding any new links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in your admin menu …
(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category. 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 name …
(Link Categories area)
The link category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as you need.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Addressand Description)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: What you enter here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays 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 your link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where you want the link to open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information for that link. Your visitor will be able to see the link information without leaving your site
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens links 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Anika Gould and you link to her blog, you would probably check 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 specifies 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, start, help, index, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced section)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- 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 RSS feed associated with the link will 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 ignore this section.
When you have finished 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 tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want the link to display during certain times and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all your links, choose Links > All Links in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page. The Links page displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display additional options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Links
To modify a link, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the links table …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Change your link fields …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your list …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the admin menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
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 removed and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkboxes next to individual items that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete 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 …
(links deleted 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 make links display on your site.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your dashboard navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen in your web browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag & drop)
The Links widget includes a number of options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This allows you to create and display links sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display links for a specific category …
(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)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will show up immediately on your site’s sidebar …
(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 using widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sort, filter, and search features.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort your links)
Search Links
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Searching links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter your links by 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website, 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your website containing 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 so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about the benefits of using this WordPress plugin, visit the plugin website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a comprehensive article on creating links in your WordPress content. For more info, see this article:
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum