As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or pages that display on your sidebar area 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 manage 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 WordPress v3.5 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 WordPress installations …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from the WordPress menu 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 Link Manager is not visible when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin restores the default 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 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WP admin menu, select 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 activation, WordPress restores the ‘Links’ feature to the admin menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding new 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 navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the 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 a link category description.
Click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
Your link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress will 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 users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be listed under the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many new link categories as you need.
After setting up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, choose Links > Add New in the admin menu …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will display in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description section)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you enter here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add 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 where the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new, separate window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to access the link information without leaving your website
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit 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) area – Add New Link page)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Shanaya Fields and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and all of your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with 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 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 allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- 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 the image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the link’s RSS feed can be displayed next to your link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can add a rating score to the link if you would like to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential for links to work.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
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 …
(Make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in your admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser. The Links screen displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view or hide columns in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Show/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu to bring up the table of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to the link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to 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 …
(Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To remove links, go to your dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to every 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)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(Link deletion message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to make links display on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the main admin menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(WP Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will display in your web browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the widget bars and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar)
The Links widget includes various settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebars and footers as you want. This allows you to create and feature various link sections throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of items 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 options – Sorting options)
When you have finished configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section will show up immediately on your site’s sidebar …
(An example of how 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 detailed article on adding widgets here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sort, search, and filter functions.
Sort Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can search links using the search function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter your links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. 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 page)
This brings up a list of all links listed 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 ‘Links’ page 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 links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to output a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 of your links that lets your site users become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Visit this site to learn more about this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
To learn more about inserting HTML links into your WordPress posts, see this article:
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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