As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar menu is sometimes referred to 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add and manage external hyperlinks to your sidebar menu (e.g. a “Top 10 Resources” section) using widgets.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you have had an earlier version than 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would have been 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 the Link Manager section when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the default Links menu on your 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 WordPress 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 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 Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WordPress admin menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 activation, the ‘Links’ function is restored to your dashboard menu …
(Links menu section)
Setting Up The Plugin
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you create 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 main dashboard menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug displays in the URL of the link category name. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can understand. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update you’re done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can start adding your links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, go to the WP admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
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 details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description area)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your link category name. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target section – Add New Link)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link 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 where your link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate browser window will open up to display the information for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your web 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 …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Minnie Schwartz and you link to her blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all of your links will still work. 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, help, start, index, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is stored 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 will be displayed next to your links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential for links to work.
When you are done adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like a link to display during certain times and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all your links, choose Links > All Links in the navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The Links screen displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional options in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Link Information
To edit links, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the links page …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your link information)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and make sure that you have set up your link’s 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 delete links from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the check box next to every link that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The links will be deleted …
(links deleted notice)
Plugin Usage
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 website.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the main dashboard menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag and drop)
The Links widget offers a number of options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display specific different link sections throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(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 options – Sort by options)
After setting up your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will show on your website’s sidebar menu …
(An example of how 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 about widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering functionality.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links function)
Find Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can find your links with the search function)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filter your links by categories)
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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you intend to add a page containing a list of links 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin lets you output a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, and all links listed in these categories. Additionally, 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 additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article about adding links into WordPress. For more details:
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