As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites 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 add a link section using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will then display on your sidebar or footer if you have added the Links widget.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WP Links Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Post v.3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager)
If you have had an earlier version than v.3.5 installed and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would have been 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 WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the built-in Links feature on your dashboard, even if you upgrade 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 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin on your site, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From your WordPress admin area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, 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 installation …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will show on the WP dashboard menu screen …
(WordPress links management menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your WP navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you enter here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of your 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 Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories page)
Your link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when adding a new link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to site visitors. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name 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), and click on Update Link Category …
(Editing the link category name)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).
Let’s add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when you’re done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process and add as many link categories as you need.
After setting up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > Add New …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will load in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link screen)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of your link category name. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how your link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link. This allows your visitors to access the link information without leaving your website
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave your site and a new site 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 …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Saanvi Anderson and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all of your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links more understandable to some websites 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 specifies 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, index, help, start, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced fields)
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 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 RSS feed associated with the link 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 would like to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, go to your dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display or hide columns in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Link Information
To edit links in the Link Manager, go to your dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up the links page …
(WP Links – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your links)
Change the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link that you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you want to delete, 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)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your selected links will be deleted …
(links deleted notification)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display your links on your website.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in your admin menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your widget bars in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want the links section to show up …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable settings. You can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to create and display a number of different links throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
You can select a link category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link rating, Link title, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links should display on your site’s sidebar …
(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? Go here if you want to learn more using widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, sort, and search functionality.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(Searching your links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering 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 page)
This brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website or blog, 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)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you output a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, and 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 for your links so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this great plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to add HTML links to WordPress. Go here to learn more:
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