As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external sites or blogs that display on your sidebar area.
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 Dashboard. These links will then display on your website if you have added the Links widget.
Before the release of v3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager Feature – pre v3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WP Links Manager)
If you’ve had an earlier version than 3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, then the Link Manager would be removed, unless you have 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 Link Manager is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard you will need to install 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
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to restore the Links menu on your dashboard, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add 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 this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your 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 WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
From the WP dashboard area, go to 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 screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will get added to the WP sidebar menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ page in your web browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you enter here will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit 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 the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to readers. This will not only make 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 ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Links’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as you need.
Once you have set up 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 navigation menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you enter here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name.
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create 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 where your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on your link, a separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information associated with the link. This allows your visitors to see the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit your site and a new site 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. Ignore 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 page)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Kian Smith and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and your links will still work. XFN makes your links more understandable to some sites 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, enter nofollow into this field.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link screen – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 link’s RSS feed will 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 would like 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.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making a link private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like your link to display during certain periods and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have created, select Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This takes you to the ‘Links’ table. The Links page displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Display/hide fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Links screen – Show/hide screen options)
Editing Your Link Information
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to your WP dashboard menu and select Links > All Links to bring up the list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Make any changes you want to your link fields …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to 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 if it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To remove links, select Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all your links.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to every link that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your links will be removed …
(links deleted notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display links on your website or blog.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in your dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load in your web browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you would like your links section to display …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget offers various options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display different link lists on your site …
(Add multiple 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 title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
After configuring your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links will become visible on your website’s sidebar …
(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? Go here if you want to learn more widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering functions.
Sort 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)
Finding Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Search links function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering links by link categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. 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 screen)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, or if you want 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 links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image source: Link Library plugin website.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, and 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 be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to external websites in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article about adding HTML hyperlinks to WordPress. Go here to learn more about this:
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