As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other sites or pages that display on your sidebar section 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add links to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After v 3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre v.3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – excluded from WordPress after WordPress v.3.5)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Links 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 you can’t see a Links item on your main menu when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add it by installing a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to restore the built-in Links Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to WordPress 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 this plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, do the following:
In your WP dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item in the WP admin menu area …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, you can assign new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: What you enter here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit of your link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
When finished, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories area)
The category details will be added to the table …
(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 the default link category name to something that will make sense to your visitors. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category)
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), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the default link category name)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
After configuring your link categories, you can start adding new links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, choose Links > Add New in your WP admin menu …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address& Description section)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate web browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link. This lets your visitors access the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit 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. Ignore 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Aiden Schwartz and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will still work. XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites and search engines that use this information.
rel – This field specifies 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to 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) …
(Advanced area – Add New Link)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to your link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
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 Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your web browser. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display or hide fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Hide or display – Table of links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit links, choose Links > All Links in your admin menu to bring up the links table …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your link information)
Change your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your list if it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all links.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkbox next to each link that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
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 website or blog.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the main dashboard menu …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will display in your browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you would like your links to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag and drop)
The Links widget offers various configurable options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This allows you to create and feature link categories on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(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)
Once you are done setting up the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will now appear on your site’s sidebar …
(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 help with widgets? If you want to learn more about using widgets, refer to this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with searching, sorting, and filtering features.
Sort Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your 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 links)
Search Your Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Find links function)
Filtering Links Function
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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your site, or if you would like 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 links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
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 section, plus all links listed in 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 links so that your site users can become 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 and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article on how to easily add hyperlinks into WordPress. Go here to learn more:
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