As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other websites or blogs displayed 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 links section on your website using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before the release of v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After v 3.5, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager was part of the menu until the release of WordPress version 3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If you have had an earlier version than v.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 section on your main menu when you log into your WP dashboard, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to restore the Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WP administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “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 installation …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section on the WP admin menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories area)
Your new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating 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 will not only make 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 …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, 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 this process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can being adding new links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, choose Links > Add New in the main admin menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit 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. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
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 a visitor clicks on your link, a separate window will open up in their browser to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave your site and a new site or page will load in your 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))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Ramona Jones 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. XFN makes your links 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 specifies 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of where the image is stored and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the link’s RSS feed can display next to your 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 in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have added, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The Links table displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To show or hide columns in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Show/hide information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Links screen – Hide or display screen options)
Editing Your Links
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links screen …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Change the link …
(Edit Link screen)
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 everything correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your link table …
(Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to your WP admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all of your links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the check box next to each item that you would like to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
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 Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the main navigation menu …
(WP Appearance – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget areas and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …
(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget includes a number of settings. You can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to create and feature link sections on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, 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 link section will appear on your website or blog’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? We have written a comprehensive article about adding widgets here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, sort, and search functionality.
Sorting Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links)
Searching Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Find links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
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 a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you intend to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin creates a page on your web site containing all the link categories in your Links area, 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 of your link collection that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more about using this handy plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress site.
We have also created a comprehensive article on adding HTML links into WordPress here:
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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