As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other 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.”
You can manage a link section using the Links menu in your WP Dashboard. These links will then display on your sidebar or footer 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 version 3.5, the Links Manager section was kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WP Links Menu – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v3.5 and updated your installation, the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your website is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not appear 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 the Links item is not displayed when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add it via a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the built-in Links Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to your installation in order 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 this plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP admin menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will show up on your WP navigation menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Setting Up The Plugin
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your dashboard menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will display in the list …
(Link Categories page)
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 is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be listed under the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the default link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when you’re done …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can being adding your links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page 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 the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter details about your link …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address& Description fields)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category. Use lowercase letters only without 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.
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve 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 how your link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new, separate web browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens links 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 …
(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 have a professional relationship with Jayden Jenkins and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will work just fine. 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 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, start, index, help, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
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 leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced area – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of your image 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 be displayed next to the link.
- 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not essential.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page. The Links screen displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Your Links
To edit a link, click on Links > All Links in the main navigation menu to bring up the table of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to the link details …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and check that you have set up the link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, select Links > All Links in the main navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check box next to every link that you would like to be removed, 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 the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
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 Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Appearance – Widgets)
This takes you to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget bars and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar using drag and drop)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable options. You can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display link categories on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should now appear on your sidebar …
(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 comprehensive article on configuring widgets here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with filter, search, and sort features.
Sort Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Find links function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering links by 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website or blog, or if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to display a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin site.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your site containing 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 link collection so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
Go here for more information about this handy plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to WordPress.
We have written a detailed article about adding hyperlinks in WordPress. Go here to learn more about this:
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group