As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external sites or blogs displayed on your sidebar menu.
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 a links section on your sidebar using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Post v.3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would be removed, unless you have previously used it.
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 feature is not visible when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin restores the default Links feature on your WordPress dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
In the WordPress administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – 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 area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, the ‘Links’ feature is restored to the sidebar menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding any new links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter here will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part 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.
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The category details will display in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the default link category name to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(Consider changing 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 …
(Editing the link category)
Replace 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 Update Link Category …
(Editing the link category)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Products’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many different link categories as your site needs.
After setting up your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding New Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in the navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address, Description)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: What you enter here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target section – Add New Link page)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add 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 visitors click on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a new, separate browser window will open up to display the content 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 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Alexander Jones and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and all your links will still work. 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 is used to define the relationship 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, index, help, start, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen 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 area)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 link’s RSS feed will display next to your 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).
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 the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all the links you have added to the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ page. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To display additional options in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide – List of links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify links, go to your dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up the list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing links)
Make changes to the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove links, go to the main admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the check box next to every item that you would like to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display links on your website or blog.
Links Widget
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 WP admin menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to show up …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar)
The Links widget provides various settings. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you create and display specific various link sections on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget options – 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)
When you have finished configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section should show up immediately on your site’s sidebar menu …
(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 comprehensive article on widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, search, and sort functions.
Sort Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort your links)
Finding Your Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(Searching links)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter 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 brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, or if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page 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 links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin lets you publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 of your links so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about using this plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress sidebar.
We have also written a comprehensive article about how to easily insert links into WordPress posts and pages here:
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