As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar area 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.”
The Links Manager lets you easily add a links section to a widgetized theme.
Prior to the release of WordPress version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After v 3.5, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(Links – included in the WordPress admin menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager is no longer part of WordPress after WP v 3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version than v3.5 and upgraded your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your WordPress site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not appear on the 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 menu section is not visible when you log into your WP backend, you can add it by installing a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to restore 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 code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From the WordPress admin area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After the plugin is activated, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item on the admin menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Configuring The Plugin
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- 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 your link category description. (Optional)
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories page)
The link category will display in the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change the default link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing 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 Quick Edit …
(Edit the default link category)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site requires.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the dashboard menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your 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)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add 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 your link should open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a separate web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new website 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 …
(Add New Link page – Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Hazel Fields and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all of 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 defines what relationship exists 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of your image 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 the links.
- 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.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
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 your links private)
Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, go to the admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen. The Links page displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view or hide columns in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit links, select Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu to bring up your links page …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your links)
Change the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkbox next to each item that you would like to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links will be deleted …
(Link deletion notice)
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 or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the WP navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your browser.
You will notice 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 your widget sections and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Add a links widget to your sidebar)
The Links widget offers various settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This lets you add and feature specific several link categories on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget options – 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 your links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will display on your website or blog’s 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 more help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about configuring widgets. To learn more, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filtering, sorting, and searching features.
Sort Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor 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 links)
Finding Links Function
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Finding your links)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by 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 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 link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on 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.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your website containing all the link categories in your Links area, and all links listed in 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 any additions made to to your link library.
Go here to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article about creating links in WordPress posts. To learn more, go here:
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)