As you continue to discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or web pages displayed on your sidebar menu.
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 display on your blog once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from WordPress after WP v3.5)
If your website or blog the Links Manager was previously active on your website or blog, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – you will not see it displayed on the dashboard 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 section on your main menu when you log into your WP dashboard, you can add it by installing a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
This plugin restores the default Links feature on your dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to your installation in order to restore the hidden feature. The last time we checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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 Of Plugin
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP dashboard area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on 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, a ‘Links’ section will get added to your WP navigation menu area …
(WordPress links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding any new 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 link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of your 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.
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
Your category details will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something better suited to your business. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display 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 list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the admin menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ screen …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Addressand Description section)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no 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 with their mouse. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select a link category 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 the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link. Your visitor can see the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit your site and a new website 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Ayan Gould and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all of your links will still work. XFN makes the links defined on your site 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
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 leave these fields blank unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced area)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of your image and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to the 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 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.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (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, choose Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ screen. The Links table displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links table – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit links, go to the dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up the table of links …
(WP Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to your link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save 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 remove the link from your table of links if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to your admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link title you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkboxes next to individual links that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(Link deletion message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to make links display on your site.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, select Appearance > Widgets in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget bars in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to your widget bar)
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 to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to add and feature various link categories on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
After setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will appear 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 with widgets? If you want to learn more about adding widgets, refer to this article:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with search, filter, and sort functions.
Sorting Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Finding Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(Finding your links)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. 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 category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page 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.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin lets you publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about using this plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article about inserting hyperlinks into your WordPress content. To learn more, go here:
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