As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other websites or pages that display on your sidebar menu 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 set of links using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will then display on your website once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress v.3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(Links – included in the WordPress menu until the release of WordPress version 3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager feature)
If you have used an earlier version than v3.5 and updated your installation, the Links 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 Manager 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 and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to restore the default Links menu on your WordPress dashboard, even if you update 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 to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the plugin had not been updated for a while, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use the Link Manager 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
This plugin recreates 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 on your site, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From your WP administration menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After you’ve activated the plugin, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ item in the WP sidebar menu area …
(Links menu)
Plugin Configuration
Before adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(Links – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- 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)
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories area)
The new category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change the default link category name to something that your visitors can relate to. 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 …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site needs.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in your admin menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description section)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of the link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you have already added, 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 how you want the link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a separate web browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
- _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 web 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Atharv Smith 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 your links will work just fine. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 is used to define a 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes using spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen lets you enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link screen)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- 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 stored 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 be displayed next to the links.
- 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).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential for links to work.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private lets you toggle link 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 they are no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, go to the WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser. The Links page displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To view or hide information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Links table – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Links table – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Link Information
To modify links in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu to bring up the list of links …
(WordPress Links Menu – 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 information …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the WP admin menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all your links.
To delete links individually, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(Deleted links notice)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display your links on your site.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your active widget sections and drop it wherever you would like your links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your WordPress sidebar using drag and drop)
The Links widget includes various options. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to add and display several links throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can add and display links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done setting up your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should now appear on your website …
(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 more help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about configuring widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering features.
Sort Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Finding Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Searching links function)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your website, or if you want 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 links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to publish a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links section, plus all links defined for 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 that lets your site users become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more this plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article about how to easily insert HTML hyperlinks into WordPress posts. To learn more about this go here:
***
"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now