As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar menu 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.”
You can add a link section using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will display on your website once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(Links displayed in the menu until the release of WordPress v.3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer part of the WordPress admin menu after WordPress v.3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than v 3.5 and updated your installation, then the Links Manager would be 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 Link Manager section when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin 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 current 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 WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow these instructions:
In your WordPress administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
Once the plugin is activated, the ‘Links’ functionality will be restored to your navigation menu …
(WordPress links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding new links. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of your link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The category details will now show in 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 is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to 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 appear under the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site requires.
After setting up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will display in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description fields)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of your link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add 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 a visitor clicks on your link, a new browser window will open up to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your 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))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Grace Smith and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all of your links will still work. XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 specifies a 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 lets you 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 link settings)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- 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: 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 Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to the dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The Links page displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view additional information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit links in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the admin menu to bring up your links table …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Make any changes you want to the link information …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table of links …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete a link, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all links at once.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to each item that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The selected links will be deleted …
(links deleted notification)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
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.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the main admin menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of the active widget areas in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to your sidebar)
The Links widget provides a number of settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display specific links sorted by categories on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Display links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links should display on your sidebar …
(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? To learn more about widgets, see this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using search, filter, and sort functionality.
Sort Your Links
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)
Searching Links Function
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Find links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(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 screen)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your site, or if you intend 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to output a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site containing all the link categories in your Links section, 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 link collection that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about this great plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other websites in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to add hyperlinks in your WordPress content. To learn more, go here:
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