As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to external websites or pages that display 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.”
The Links Manager lets you easily add and manage external links to your WordPress sidebar section (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using widgets.
Before WordPress v 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager Feature – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager feature – excluded from the admin menu after WordPress v.3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v 3.5 installed 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 feature is not visible when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
Use this plugin to restore the built-in Link Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website, follow the instructions below:
From the WordPress dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
Once you’ve activated the plugin, a ‘Links’ item will show up in your dashboard menu area …
(Links menu)
Setting Up Link Manager
Before adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main admin menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: What you enter here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only without 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)
The category details will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to your blog readers. This not only makes it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the link category name)
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 …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as you need.
After setting up your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the main navigation menu …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ screen 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 screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Addressand Description – Add New Link)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of the link category. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link page – Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where your link should open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a new web browser window will open up to display the information for that link. Your visitor can access the information without leaving your website
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will exit 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. 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN) area)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Matilda Silva 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 still work. XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites 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 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 this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced area)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the image URL 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 can display next to your 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).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential for links to work.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view a list of all the links you have added to the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your web browser. The Links table displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display or hide columns in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Links page – Hide or display screen options)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit a link, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links screen …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Make the changes you want to the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkboxes next to individual links that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click Apply to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links will be deleted …
(Link deletion notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display your links on your site.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will display 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 active widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Add a links widget to your sidebar using drag & drop)
The Links widget offers various options. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebar as you want. This lets you add and display specific a number of different lists of links on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-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 – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up your links widget, click Save to update your settings. A link section will appear on your sidebar menu …
(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 would like to learn more about using widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using 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 little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Search Links Function
Find links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Searching links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by link category)
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 listed 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 intend to add a page containing a list of links to your site (i.e. not just add links on 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 WordPress 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 with a complete list of links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links section, 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 of your link collection that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress site.
We have written a comprehensive article about creating HTML hyperlinks in WordPress posts and pages. Go here to learn more about this:
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)