As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or pages 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.”
You can add a blogroll using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will then display on your site if you have added the Links widget.
Before the release of v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v 3.5, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 installed and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would be removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your website is new, then this function will remain hidden – you won’t see it displayed on your 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 Links item is not visible when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add this feature by installing 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 WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin restores the Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WordPress dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item in your WP dashboard menu area …
(Links management menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding new 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 your navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category name. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
The link category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding 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 will make sense to blog readers. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category)
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 …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Products’ etc).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process and add as many different link categories as your site requires.
After setting up your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the WP navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Addressand Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address of the link category. 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
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target section – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their browser to display the information associated with the link. This allows your visitors to access the link information without leaving your website
- _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 the link 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Martin Jones and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some websites 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, 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 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 screen – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of where the image is located and make sure that the 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 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).
Type in your information into 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 save your new link …
(Click on Add Link 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 …
(Make your links private)
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 your links, go to the main navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display additional fields in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(List of links – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Links
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to the main navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Change your link …
(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 everything correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, go to the main navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check boxes next to individual links that you would like to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
Plugin Usage
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 site.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget includes various settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This lets you create and display multiple lists of links sorted by categories on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section should display 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 using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about widgets here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with searching, filtering, and sorting features.
Sort 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 triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Search Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can easily find your links using the search function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by category)
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 …
(searching and filtering 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 use links extensively on your site, 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)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links section, and 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 links that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
Go here for a detailed article on how to add HTML links in WordPress:
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group