As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a 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.”
You can manage a blogroll using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will then display on your site once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(Links was part of the WordPress admin menu until the release of WordPress v.3.5)
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, the Link Manager would be removed, unless you’ve 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 WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial will show you how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin displays the Links menu on your WordPress dashboard, even if you update 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. When we last 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 – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, do the following:
From your WordPress dashboard menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
Once the plugin is activated, a ‘Links’ item will be displayed in your sidebar menu area …
(Links menu)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, you can assign any new links 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 …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The new category will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your visitors. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list 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), then click on Update Link Category …
(Edit the default link category name)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many new link categories as your site requires.
After setting up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter your link details …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Addressand Description)
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you enter in this field displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want your link to open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information associated with the link. This lets your visitors see the link information without leaving your page
- _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 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 ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Georgia Gould and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all your links will work just fine. XFN makes your links 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, type nofollow into this field.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced section)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image 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 display next to the 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).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them when not required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all the links you have created, go to your dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To show or hide information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Links screen – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(List of links – Hide or show screen options)
Editing Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the main admin menu to bring up the links page …
(WP Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Change your link fields …
(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 check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To remove a link, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links – 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 delete all links at once.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to every item that you want removed, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display links on your site.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your dashboard navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will display in your web browser.
You will see 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 your active widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar)
The Links widget provides various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display lists of links throughout your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down 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 – Sort by options)
When you have finished setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will become visible on your sidebar menu …
(Links can be displayed on a 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. If you would like to know more here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using search, sort, and filter features.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Searching Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Find your links)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering your links by link 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 screen)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you want 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.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, 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 for your links so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more this plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a comprehensive article about how to easily insert HTML hyperlinks into WordPress posts. To learn more, go here:
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"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)