As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar section 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 Manager lets you easily add and manage hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
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 removed …
Before …
(Links was part of the admin menu until the release of WordPress v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – no longer shown in the WordPress menu after WordPress version 3.5)
If your website or blog previously used Link Manager, then it will still be available when your WordPress installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your WP installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not appear 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 the Links feature is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin restores the built-in 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 restore the hidden feature. The last time we 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)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WordPress dashboard 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 …
Locate the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, the ‘Links’ feature is restored to the WP dashboard menu …
(Links management menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the URL 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.
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this 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 the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
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, then click on Update Link Category …
(Editing the default link category)
In our example, the category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as your site requires.
After setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description section – Add New Link)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: What you type here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug shows up 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
Select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create 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 the link to open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a new web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link. This allows your visitors to see the information without leaving your website
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens links 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) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Kayaan Larsson and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all your links will still work. Defining relationships with 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 a 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, index, help, start, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced area)
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 image URL and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link will be displayed next to the links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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 in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link 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, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making links private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in your admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view additional fields in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Link Information
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to your WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links table …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Edit the link information …
(Edit Link page)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table of links …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard navigation 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, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to every link that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links you have selected 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, let’s show you how to display links on your website.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard menu …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like your links section to show up …
(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This lets you create and feature several lists of links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links will display on your sidebar menu …
(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 using widgets? We have written a detailed article about configuring widgets. If you would like to learn more here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sort, filter, and search features.
Sort Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Find Links Function
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Find links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your 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 brings up a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links area, and all links defined for 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 of your links so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about this handy plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
We have also written a comprehensive article on inserting HTML links into WordPress posts here:
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