As you continue to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar 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.”
You can add a set of links using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will display on your site once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Menu – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Post v.3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and updated your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your installation of WordPress 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 Links Manager section when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the default Links Manager, even if you update 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. When we last 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WordPress Links Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WP admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After you’ve activated the plugin, the ‘Links’ function will be restored to your WP admin menu area …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in the dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your web browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays in the web address 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.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
The link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a 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 the default link category name to something that will make sense to readers. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be listed under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace 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 name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(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 Links
To create a new link, go to your dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already set up, 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 you want the link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new site or page will load in your 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 just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link screen – Link Relationship (XFN))
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 Rufus Anderson and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all of your links will still work. XFN makes your links more understandable to some sites 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 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, start, index, help, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page 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) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link screen)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- 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 RSS feed associated with the link can display next to the links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes for your own internal reference.
- Rating: You can 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.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
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 …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have created, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser. The Links table displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
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 check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu to bring up the links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your links)
Edit the link information …
(Edit Link page)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to your navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all your links.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link that you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check box next to every item that you want removed, 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’ menu, and click Apply to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your links will be removed …
(links deleted notification)
Using The 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 make links display on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of the active widget bars in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget includes various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This lets you create and display links on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
You can add and display links for a specific category …
(Link widget options – 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)
After setting up your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links should show on your sidebar …
(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 with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about using widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering features.
Sort Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links)
Finding Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(You can easily find your links with the search function)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter links by categories)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed under 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 want 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 Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from 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, and all links listed in 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.
Go here to learn more this useful plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on inserting HTML links into WordPress posts & pages. Go here to learn more:
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