As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar is often 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 display links on your site using the WordPress Link Manager plugin.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Menu – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links feature)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than v 3.5 installed and updated your installation, then 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 the Link Manager section when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin restores the Link Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to restore the hidden feature. The last time we 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WP Links Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WordPress 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 …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ section will be added to your WP admin menu area …
(WordPress links management menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL of the 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.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The new category will display in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default link category name 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 better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(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), and click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert 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 link category description field and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can being adding new links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address 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. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where the link should open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a separate browser window will open up to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your 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 ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Milo O’Malley and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all of your links will still work. 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you 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 fields)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image 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 will 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all your links, select Links > All Links in the WP navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your web browser. The Links page displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display or hide columns in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Links page – Show/hide screen options)
Editing Your Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Make the changes you want to the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and make sure that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To remove a link, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkbox next to each item that you would like to delete, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your links will be deleted …
(Deleted links notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display links on your site.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display specific a number of links throughout your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category …
(Link widget settings – 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)
When you have finished setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section should appear on your sidebar …
(An example of how 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 help with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on using widgets. For more info, see this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, sort, and filter functions.
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 …
(Sorting your links)
Find Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can search links with the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering your links by categories)
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 …
(Search and filter 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)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website, 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer 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 descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and all links defined for 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 become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about this WordPress plugin, visit this site:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on creating HTML links in your WordPress posts and pages. To learn more, go here:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)