As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external websites or web pages displayed on your sidebar.
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 set of links using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will then display on your website if you have added the Links widget.
Before the release of WP v.3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v.3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager feature was part of the dashboard menu until the release of WordPress v.3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you were using the Links Manager in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your WordPress site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – you will not see it on your dashboard 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 you can’t see a Links item on the main menu when you log into your WP backend, you can add it via a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the default Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to WordPress 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 the Link Manager 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
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
In your WordPress admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ feature to the WP admin menu area …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding any new links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the dashboard menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
When finished, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories area)
The link category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. 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 listed under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change 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 …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process and add as many link categories as you need.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your 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 page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Addressand Description)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Categories & Target
After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where 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 web browser to display the information for that link. This lets your visitors 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 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Aditi Larsson 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 websites 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, type nofollow into this field.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced section)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the 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 can be displayed 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private allows you to toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to your dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The Links page displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Hide or show – Table of links)
How To Edit Links
To modify links in the Link Manager, go to your WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and make sure 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 if it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the main admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all your links.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check box next to each item that you would like to delete, 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 the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The links will be removed …
(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 make links display on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your admin menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget sections and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area using drag and drop)
The Links widget includes various configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to add and feature specific different link sections on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Display links for a specific category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will become visible on your site’s sidebar menu …
(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 about adding widgets. For more details, go here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering functions.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links function)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Searching links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering your links by 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)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you want 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin lets you output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your web site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, 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 of your links that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
Go here to learn more about adding links in WordPress:
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