As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar area 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.”
The Links feature lets you add external hyperlinks to your WordPress sidebar menu (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using widgets.
Prior to the release of version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of version 3.5, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature – excluded from the WordPress dashboard menu after WP v.3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than v 3.5 and upgraded your installation, 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 the Links feature is not displayed when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add it by installing a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
You can use this plugin to display the default Links feature on your WordPress dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use the Link Manager plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WordPress administration menu, 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 installation …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section in the WP dashboard menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Setting Up Link Manager
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding new links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in the admin menu …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of your link category. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will display in the list …
(Link Categories screen)
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)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to your readers. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site 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 ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the default link category)
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 Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as you need.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to the dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen 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 – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description section – Add New Link)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of the link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already added, 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 you want the link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a new web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link. Your visitor will be able to see the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will exit 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 ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Elizabeth Cooper and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and your links will still work. 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 defines the relationship 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section includes 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 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: You can add a rating score to the link if you would like to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Type in your 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 save your new link …
(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 in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have created, go to your WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page. The Links page displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view additional options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Display/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Links
To edit links, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing link information)
Make any changes you want to your link fields …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table of links if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete links, go to the admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the checkbox next to every item that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notice)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to make links display on your website or blog.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget includes various options. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you add and feature specific different link lists throughout your site …
(You can add a number of 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)
After configuring the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links should now be visible on your site …
(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 help with widgets? Go here for a detailed article on configuring widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sorting, searching, and filtering 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 little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Find Your Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Finding your links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by link categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. 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 brings up a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library creates a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 link collection so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this great plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article about how to easily add HTML links to WordPress. You can learn more about this here:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)