As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar section 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 a links section to a widget-ready theme.
Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager – pre version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – no longer shown in WordPress after WordPress v.3.5)
If your site previously used Link Manager, then it will still be available when your WP installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Link Manager feature, however, or if your site 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 you can’t see a Links section on your main menu when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the default Links menu on your dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. The last time we checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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 – Link Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From your WP administration area, 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 …
Find the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ section will show in the WP navigation menu area …
(WordPress links management menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to 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, go to your admin menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your browser.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: What you enter here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part 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.
Click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will display in the list …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Change the default link category name 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)
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), and click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ etc).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many different link categories as you need.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Addressand Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL of the link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include 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.
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a separate web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the 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 the link 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) fields – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Ishaan Jenkins and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links 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 is used to define 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section includes 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 RSS feed associated with the link will be displayed next to your link.
- Notes: Add notes about the link in this section 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).
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 the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like the link to display during certain periods and hide it afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have created, click on Links > All Links in your admin menu …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser. The Links table displays a list of all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Links screen – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(List of links – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Link Information
To edit links in the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links table …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your link information)
Change the link information …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To remove a link, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all of your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to every link that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The selected links will be deleted …
(links deleted notification)
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 links on your website.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen.
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 sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget offers 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 displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to create and feature link lists sorted by categories throughout your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
After setting up your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section should show 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 help with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on configuring widgets. If you are interested in learning more about this here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, filter, and sort functions.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Find Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Finding links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter links by category)
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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots 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 a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin can be used to create a page on your website 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 that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
Go here for more information about this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other sites in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to add HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress content. To learn more, go here:
***
"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