As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other sites or pages displayed on your sidebar.
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 display a links section on your sidebar or footer using the Link Manager plugin for WordPress.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WP Links Manager Feature – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v3.5 and updated your installation, then the Links Manager would be removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your WordPress site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not display on the 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 the Links Manager section when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin restores the built-in Links menu on your WordPress dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code to WordPress 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)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In the WordPress admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”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 activation, the ‘Links’ functionality is restored to the sidebar menu area …
(Links management menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main admin menu …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL 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. (Optional)
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories area)
The new category will display in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. 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 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 be listed under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change 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 the Update link Category button …
(Editing the link category)
In our example, the category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when done …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process to add as many new link categories as your site needs.
After configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add New Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link screen)
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- 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)
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how your link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the content associated with the link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your site
- _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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) section – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with William Anderson 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 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 specifies a relationship between the current document and the linked document. For example, if you don’t want search engines to follow your link, enter nofollow into this field. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced fields)
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 link’s RSS feed can be displayed next to the links.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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 in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have created, go to the WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your browser. The Links screen displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view or hide fields in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide – Links page)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit a link, select Links > All Links in the main admin menu to bring up your table of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
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 see your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in your navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all of your links at once.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the checkbox next to each link that you want to delete, 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)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Deleted links notification)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display links on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you create and display multiple link categories throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ dropdown menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
After setting up your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should become visible on your site’s sidebar menu …
(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 using widgets? If you want to learn more about configuring widgets, refer to this article:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using search, filter, and sort features.
Sort Your Links
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links function)
Finding Links Function
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ function …
(You can easily find links using the search function)
Filter Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by link categories)
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 …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you want to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates 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 link collection so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Go here to learn more about using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress sidebar.
We have written a comprehensive article about inserting hyperlinks into your WordPress content. For more details, go here:
***
"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum