As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar area 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 display links on your website using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Links is no longer part of the WordPress menu after WP v3.5)
If your site had a previously active Link Manager section, then it will still be available when your installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your WordPress installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not appear 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 the Links item is not displayed when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add it via a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin displays the built-in Links menu on your WordPress 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 template code to WordPress 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 site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP administration area, go to 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 area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activation, the ‘Links’ function will be restored to the sidebar menu area …
(Links menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding any new links. This way, you can assign new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your web browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category name. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The new category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to readers. This not only makes 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 …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the default category 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, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Products’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site needs.
After setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, go to the WP dashboard menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address& Description fields)
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you enter here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO friendly URL 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 a link category description.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link screen)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category link.
Next, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a separate web browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new site 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Kayaan Smith and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. 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 specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute defines the 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, index, start, help, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit 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) …
(Advanced fields – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section includes 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 RSS feed associated with the link can display next to your links.
- 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 in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)
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 add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, go to the WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your browser. The table of links displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view additional columns in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide – Links table)
Editing Links
To edit links, select Links > All Links in the main admin menu to bring up the links table …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to your link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list if it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all links.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
Your selected links will be removed …
(Link deletion message)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to make links display on your site.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in your dashboard menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget sections and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides a number of settings. You can specify what information you want to display 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 and footer. This lets you create and feature specific multiple lists of links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links will show on your sidebar, footer or wherever you have added the links widget to …
(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 help using widgets? We have written a detailed article on widgets here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sort, search, and filter features.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Search Links Function
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Find links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find 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 listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin creates a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 link collection so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress sidebar.
Go here for a detailed article on creating HTML hyperlinks in your WordPress content:
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