As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or pages displayed on your sidebar area.
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 Link Manager plugin.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Post v.3.5 – no WP Links feature)
If you have had an earlier version than v 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your WP installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not appear on your menu.
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 feature is not visible when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial shows you how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin displays the Link Manager, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to your installation in order 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 this plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WP dashboard area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on 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 activating the plugin, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ functionality to the WP admin menu area …
(WordPress links management menu)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your admin menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type here will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part 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 your link category description.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes it easier for visitors, 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 your visitors will understand)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the link category)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced 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 …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process to add as many different link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create 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 you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new window will open up in their browser to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new site 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. 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) section – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Michael Fields 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 your links will still work. 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 is used to define the relationship between the current document and the linked document. For example, if you don’t want search engines to follow your link, enter nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced link settings)
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 the 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 the 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential for links to work.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(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 when links are displayed on your site …
(Make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to 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 the main dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page. The Links screen displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display additional fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Link Information
To modify links in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu to bring up your list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing links)
Make any changes you want to your link details …
(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 make sure 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 if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual items that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The selected links will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display links on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(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 active widget sections and drop it wherever you would like your links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget provides various options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and feature different link sections throughout your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring your links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section will display on your sidebar, footer or wherever you add the links widget to …
(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 more help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about adding widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using search, sort, and filter functions.
Sorting 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 black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Find Your Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Searching your links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filter links by link categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, 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 links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your website that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 link collection so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this WordPress plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to insert hyperlinks into WordPress. To learn more about this go here:
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