As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or pages displayed 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 manage a link section using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will then display on your blog once you add the Links widget.
Prior to the release of v.3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(WP Links Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If you have had an earlier version than v3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, the Link 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 you can’t see a Links item on the main menu when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
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 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 restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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/
Plugin Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From the WP dashboard area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item in the WP navigation menu …
(Links menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address of the link category. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a new 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 blog 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 …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something your visitors will understand)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the default 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), then click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the default link category name)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many different link categories as your site needs.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in your WP admin menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links page …
(Links – 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 – Add New Link)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine friendly 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category link.
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 clicked on:
- _blank means that a separate browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave 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. 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) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Peter Gould and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and your links will work just fine. XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites and search engines that use this information.
rel – This field specifies 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords using spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page 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 – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you 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: Add notes about the link in this section 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential for links to work.
When you have finished 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 select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. The table of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To view additional fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Display/hide fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Links screen – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit a link, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the links table …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Make the changes you want to your link details …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and make sure that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table of links …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all links.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the checkboxes next to individual items that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notice)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
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 site.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your widget bars in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides various configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to add and display links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can add and display a list of items for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
After configuring your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will show on your sidebar, footer or wherever you add 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 with widgets? We have written a detailed article about adding widgets. To learn more about this go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filter, search, and sort functions.
Sorting 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 little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Search Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(Search links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter your links by link 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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots 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)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin lets you output a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your website containing all 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 for your link collection so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
Go here to learn more about the benefits of using this handy plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to external websites in WordPress.
To learn more about adding hyperlinks into your WordPress content, refer to this article:
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