As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or blogs 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add and manage hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
Before the release of v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v 3.5, the Links Manager section was removed …
Before …
(The Links Manager appeared in the menu until the release of WordPress v3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from WordPress after WordPress v 3.5)
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 the Link Manager feature, however, or if your WP installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed 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 you can’t see the Link Manager section 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 and manage blogroll links on your site’s 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 to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to your installation 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)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin on your site, do the following:
In your WP dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After activating the plugin, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ section in the WP sidebar menu …
(Links management menu)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address 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 a link category description.
Click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories screen)
Your new category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this default WordPress link category name 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 assigned to the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update when you’re done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in your WP admin menu …
(Links – Add New)
This loads 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 …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address& Description area)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category name. 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already added, 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 how your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit 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. 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) – Add New Link page)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Logan Gould and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and 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 specifies 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, start, index, help, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
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 leave these fields blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced area)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the image URL 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 your links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: Add a rating score to the link if you want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to the dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To view additional fields in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Link Information
To edit a link, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard menu to bring up your links page …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing link information)
Change your link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove links, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual items that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links will be deleted …
(Link deletion message)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
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 or blog.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your admin menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress widget bar)
The Links widget provides various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you add and feature links sorted by categories throughout your site …
(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 ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section will show on your sidebar, footer or wherever you have placed the links widget in …
(An example of how 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 more help with widgets? To learn more about using widgets, see this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using search, filter, and sort features.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Find Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Search your links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering your links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
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 add a lot of links to your website, 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, and all links listed in 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 link collection so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
For more details about the benefits of using this WordPress plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to easily add hyperlinks to WordPress. To learn more, go here:
***
"Learning WordPress has been a huge stumbling block for me. I've been looking for something that covers absolutely everything but doesn't cost an arm and a leg. Thank you so much ... you have just provided me with what I have been looking for! Truly appreciated!" - Tanya