As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar section 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add external links to a widget-ready theme.
Before the release of WordPress version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Link Manager feature – part of the admin menu until the release of WordPress version 3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If your website had the Links Manager installed, then it will still be available when your WP installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your WordPress installation is new, then this function will become invisible – 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 you can’t see a Links section on the main menu when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
The Link Manager plugin displays the built-in Links menu on your dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WordPress admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, 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 …
Once the plugin has been activated, WordPress will add a ‘Links’ section to the WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Configuring The Plugin
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you enter here displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of the link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will be added to the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can relate to. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
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 …
(Editing the link category)
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 link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many link categories as you need.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, choose Links > Add New in your WP navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address, Description fields – Add New Link page)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of the link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your web browser window instead.
- _top opens links at the top level of the frame system if you’re using frames. Don’t worry about 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) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Pari Larsson and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and your links will work just fine. 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 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, type nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, start, index, 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 (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the 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 be displayed next to your 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
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 save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to your navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The Links page displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view additional fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Change your link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done 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 its URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To delete links, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the check boxes next to individual links that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your links will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to make links display on your website.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in your WP navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress sidebar)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This lets you create and display links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(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)
Once you are done configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section should appear on your sidebar menu …
(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? We have written a comprehensive article on widgets. For more details:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filtering, sorting, and searching features.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort your links)
Find Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Searching your links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter your links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays 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 intend to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add a links section to 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)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin allows you to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, 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 this handy plugin, visit the plugin site:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
Go here if you want to learn more how to easily insert HTML hyperlinks into WordPress:
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