As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar as a blogroll.
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 WordPress Dashboard. These links will then display on your sidebar if you have added the Links widget.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(The Link Manager displayed in the WordPress menu until the release of WordPress v.3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WP Links feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 and updated your installation, then the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links Manager feature, however, or if your WordPress site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed 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 item on your main menu when you log into your WP admin area, you can add it via a plugin. This tutorial will show you how to add and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the Links 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 code to WordPress to restore the hidden feature. The last time we checked, this 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 site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Plugin Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
From your WP admin area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ section in your navigation menu …
(WordPress links management menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you type here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of the link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category …
(Link Categories area)
The new category will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change the default WordPress link category name to something that will make sense to your readers. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the default link category name)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to your navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this page by clicking on ’Add New’ in the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter details about your link …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you enter here will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug displays in the web address of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only and do not include 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link page)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already set up, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category link.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify how your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link. Your visitor can see the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) fields)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Theo Gould and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords using spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 can display next to your link.
- 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).
Enter information into 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 the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle its 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) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all your links, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. The Links page displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display additional options in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links page)
Show/hide fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Hide or show – Links screen)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify links, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(WP Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Edit your 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 view your link and make sure that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all links.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the check box next to each link that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox 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 the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
Your selected links will be removed …
(links deleted notice)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to make links display on your website.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the WP admin menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your widget sections in the Widgets screen and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized area using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides various settings. 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 menu …
(Link widget settings)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to create and display a number of different lists of links on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Display links for a specific category …
(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 settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done setting up the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should appear on your website …
(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 more help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with searching, sorting, and filtering functions.
Sort Links Function
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)
Searching Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ feature …
(Finding links function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter links by 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 links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website or blog, or if you want to add a page containing a list of links 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin creates a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more this plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article on adding HTML links in your WordPress content. To learn more, go here:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)