As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external sites or web pages that display on your sidebar section.
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 add and manage external hyperlinks to your WordPress sidebar menu (e.g. a “Top 5 Resources” section) using a widget.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(Links – part of the WordPress dashboard menu until the release of WordPress v3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If your website or blog this feature was previously active on your blog, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your WP installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not display 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 feature is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add this feature via a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to restore the Links Manager, even if you update 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. 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 this plugin, then use the one 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 Of Plugin
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
To install the Link Manager plugin on your site, do the following:
From your WordPress dashboard area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
Once the plugin is activated, a ‘Links’ section will be displayed on your admin menu screen …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of the link category. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no 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 your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
The new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when adding a 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 your visitors. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ 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 name)
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 …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, choose Links > Add New in the dashboard menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category link.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how your link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that a new browser window will open up to display the content for that 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. Ignore this option if you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Joshua 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 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 is used to define 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 the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced section)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is stored and make sure that the image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to the links.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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, as these fields are not essential.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display additional information in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links table)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Links page – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Your Links
To modify a link, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard menu to bring up your table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete links, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all of your links.
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 your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the check boxes next to individual items that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
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 display your links on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the WP navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the widget sections and drop it wherever you want the links to display …
(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget includes a number of configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to create and display link sections throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-down menu …
(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 – Sorting options)
After configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should now be visible 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 more help using widgets? We have written a detailed article about configuring widgets. For more details, go here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sorting, filtering, and searching functions.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Search Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Find your links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you would like 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you output a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your website containing a list of all of 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 link collection that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress site.
We have also written a detailed article about how to add hyperlinks in WordPress posts & pages here:
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