As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar is sometimes 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 a featured links section on your sidebar or footer using the Link Manager plugin.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(The Link Manager – part of the menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager feature)
If you’ve had an earlier version of WordPress than v3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you have 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 Links feature when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to display the built-in Link Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress 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. 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
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 functionality.
How To Install The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activation, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ function to the navigation menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding any new links. This way, you can assign new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays 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. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories screen)
Your new category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to site visitors. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace 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), then click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Items’ etc).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the main dashboard menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description area – Add New Link)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of the link category. 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. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where you want the link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. Your visitor will be able to access the link information without leaving your site
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave your site and a new site or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens the link 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 just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Scarlet Cooper 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 your links will work just fine. 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 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, help, start, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced section)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add an image URL 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 display next to the link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section for your own internal reference.
- Rating: Add a rating score to the link if you would like 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 are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, choose Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The Links page displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To display additional options in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Hide or display – Links table)
How To Edit Links
To modify links in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing link information)
Make changes to the link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing the 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 the link’s URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table …
(Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To remove a link, select Links > All Links in the WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, 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 multiple links, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(Deleted links message)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up 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.
Links Widget
Installing 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 select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget includes various settings. For example, you can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget settings)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and display links throughout your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will now appear on your site …
(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? If you want to learn more about using widgets, see this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sorting, filtering, and searching functionality.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Searching Your Links
You can find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Searching links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter your links by categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, or if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page 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)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you display a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your web site that contains all 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 of your link collection so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more about using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to WordPress.
We have written a detailed article about how to insert links into WordPress. Go here to learn more:
***
"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now