As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or blogs that display on your sidebar menu.
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 sidebar menu (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using widgets.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager Feature – pre v 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature – no longer displayed in the menu after WordPress v3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used the Links Manager feature, however, or if your website is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not appear on your dashboard 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 a Links section on your main menu when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the Links feature on your dashboard, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to your installation in order 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 this plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – Link Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in WordPress Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
From the WP dashboard area, select 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 area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After the plugin has been activated, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section in the navigation menu …
(Links management menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the WP admin menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will load in your web browser.
Type in 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 is the web address part of your link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
When done, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
The link category will be added to the list …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to blog readers. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Edit the default link category)
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 the Update link Category button …
(Edit the default link category name)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category 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)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat this process to add as many new link categories as your site needs.
After setting up your link categories, you can start adding new links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, select Links > Add New in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address, Description area)
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type here will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the search-engine friendly URL of the link category. 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 with their mouse.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link page)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category.
Next, 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 your link to open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new web browser window will open up to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will exit your site and a new website or page will load in your web 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) – Add New Link page)
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 Matthew Anderson 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 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 defines the 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced section)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add an image URL 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 will 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 are not essential.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make links private by checking the box)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want links to display during certain times and hide them afterwards) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, go to the WP dashboard menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The Links page displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To show or hide fields in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Table of links – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Link Information
To edit links, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing links)
Make any changes you want to the link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done 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 (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To delete links, go to the admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(WP Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser.
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 you want removed and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkboxes next to individual links that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
Your links will be removed …
(Link deletion notice)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display links on your website.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of the widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Add a links widget to your sidebar)
The Links widget provides various configurable settings. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display specific multiple link categories throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-down 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 settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should show up immediately on your site’s sidebar menu …
(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 using widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using search, filter, and sort features.
Sorting Links Function
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort your links)
Finding Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can easily search links with the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter 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 …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website, 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your website that contains 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 so that your site users can be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article on how to easily add links into WordPress posts. Learn more about this here:
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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)