As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar area.
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 site using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and updated your installation, then the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not be displayed on your 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 item on your main menu when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add it by installing a plugin. This tutorial will show you how to add 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
You can use this plugin to display the default Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing 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 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
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From your WordPress admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
Once the plugin has been activated, a ‘Links’ section will show on the navigation menu …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the main navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories page)
Your link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when adding a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your visitors. 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 be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
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), then click on the Update link Category button …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Products’ etc).
Let’s add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, 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 when finished …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to the main navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will load in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the SEO friendly URL of the link category. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want the link to open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will leave your site and a new site or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens links 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) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Harry Smith and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, start, index, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(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. To use this feature, 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 can be displayed next to the 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 would like 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 information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (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 created, go to your WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WP Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen. The table of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display additional options in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Show/hide information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Links
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your links screen …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
Select the link you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing links)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update 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 from your link table if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To remove links, choose Links > All Links in the navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, 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 links in bulk, either click on the checkbox next to each link that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links you have selected will be deleted …
(links deleted notice)
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
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the dashboard navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your 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 the widget bars in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget includes a number of options. You can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and display lists of links on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link ID, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
After configuring your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show on your website …
(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 using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on configuring widgets. For more details:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using search, filter, and sort functions.
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 black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links function)
Find Your Links
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(You can easily search your links using the search function)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your links by category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find link categories, or click on the links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your site, or if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page 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.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Download 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 with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus all links defined for 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 link collection so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more about the benefits of using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
Go here if you would like to learn more about adding HTML links in WordPress posts and pages:
***
"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)