As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web 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.”
You can display links on your sidebar using the Link Manager plugin.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre v.3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager is no longer part of WordPress after WP v 3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v.3.5 and updated your installation, the Links Manager would be 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 the Links Manager is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the built-in Link Manager, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to your installation in order 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s 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 addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, do the following:
From your WordPress administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – 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 area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After you’ve activated the plugin, the ‘Links’ functionality is restored to the dashboard menu …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in the dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the web address of the link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
When done, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The link category will display in the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when adding a new link, WordPress will automatically assign 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 the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace 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 name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(Link category description)
Add 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 setting up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Links screen – 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 Addressand Description – Add New Link screen)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave your site and a new site 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. 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) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Alice Jones and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all your links will work just fine. XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some websites 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 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, index, start, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced section)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is located 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 will be displayed next to your link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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 in 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 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 …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain periods and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to your admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will display in your browser. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display or hide information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Links
To modify a link, click on Links > All Links in the navigation menu to bring up your list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your links)
Edit the link details …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To remove a link, go to your dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkbox next to each item that you would like to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox 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 your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Deleted links notification)
Using The Plugin
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.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will display in your web browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the widget areas and drop it wherever you would like your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to your sidebar)
The Links widget includes a number of configurable options. You can specify what information you would like to display 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 create and display specific a number of lists of links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown 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 options – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links will show up immediately on your 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 on widgets here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, filter, and sort features.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Find Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Find links function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter 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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
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 lots of links to your website or blog, or if you would like 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your website containing all the link categories in your Links section, 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 become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this powerful plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other websites in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have also created a detailed article about inserting HTML links into your WordPress content here:
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group