As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external websites or blogs displayed 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 external hyperlinks to your sidebar (e.g. a “Top 10 Resources” section) using a widget.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from WordPress after WordPress v3.5)
If you have used an earlier version than 3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would be removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used the Link Manager feature, however, or if your WordPress installation is new, then this function will become invisible – you will not see it displayed on the 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 Link Manager 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 site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the Links feature on your dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WP administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After the plugin has been activated, a ‘Links’ item will show up in your WP admin menu area …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. 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 link category, go to the navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your 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. (Optional)
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to your site 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 listed under the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the default link category name)
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 the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Resources’ etc).
Let’s add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in your dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target fields – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the information 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Otis Gould and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. 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 specifies 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, index, start, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page 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) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced section)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 display next to the link.
- 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 for links to work.
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 save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to use seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your browser. The Links page displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display or hide information in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Table of links – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Links
To modify links in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the dashboard menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing link information)
Change the link information …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove a link, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkboxes next to individual items that you would like to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main 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 all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your selected links will be deleted …
(links deleted 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 Links 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 Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your browser.
You will notice 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 widget bars and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget provides a number of settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you create and display link lists on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display specific links …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links should now display on your site …
(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. To learn more about this go here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sorting, filtering, and searching features.
Sort Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Finding Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can search links with the search function)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. 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 category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to output a list of your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 for your links so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
Go here for more details about this great plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to WordPress.
We have also created a comprehensive article on creating HTML links in WordPress posts & pages here:
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum