As you discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external sites 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 feature lets you add hyperlinks to your WordPress sidebar section (e.g. a “We Use And Recommend” section) using a widget.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was removed …
Before …
(Links was part of the WordPress menu until the release of WP v.3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v 3.5 installed and updated your installation, then the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your installation of WordPress is new, then this function will remain hidden – you will not see it on your 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 WP dashboard, you can add it via a plugin. This tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
You can use this plugin to display 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 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 the Link Manager plugin, then use the plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Installing The Plugin
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP dashboard area, 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 search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, WordPress restores the ‘Links’ functionality to the WP sidebar menu area …
(WordPress links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding new links, it’s a good idea to set up your link categories. 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, go to your admin menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of your link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
The new category will display in the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be listed under the new category name …
(Consider changing 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 …
(Editing the default link category)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Edit the link category name)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Special Deals’ etc).
Let’s create a link category description. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process and add as many new link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can start adding your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access 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 is divided into various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter in this field will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Categories & Target
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for the new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already added, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ 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 you want the link to open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a separate browser window will open up to display the content for that link. Your visitor can see the information without leaving your site
- _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 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 area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link page – Link Relationship (XFN))
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 Beckett Cooper and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can leave everything in this section blank and all 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 specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute is used to define what relationship exists 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 of the Add New Link’ screen lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section blank unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following options:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is located and make sure that your image is small (around 16×16 like a favicon).
- RSS Address: If your theme allows it, the RSS feed associated with the link will display next to your links.
- 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 in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all your links, select Links > All Links in the main navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view additional information in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Table of links – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Hide or display – List of links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up the links table …
(WP Links – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing links)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to view your link and check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your link table if it’s no longer required …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove links from the Link Manager, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or remove all your links at once.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link you want removed and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the check boxes next to individual links that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pulldown menu, and click the Apply button to remove your selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The selected links will be removed …
(links deleted notice)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to display links on your site.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ page.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the admin menu …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ screen in your web browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget bars and drop it wherever you want your links section to show up …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to your sidebar)
The Links widget provides various configurable options. You can specify what information you want displayed about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This lets you add and feature a number of different link categories on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
When you have finished configuring your Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section will become visible on your sidebar, footer or whichever widget-ready area you add the links widget to …
(An example of how 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? We have written a detailed article about widgets. Go here to learn more:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sorting, searching, and filtering functionality.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Searching Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Search links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering 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 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 category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your site, or if you would like 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to display a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your site that contains all the link categories in your Links area, plus all links listed in 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 for your links that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit the plugin website to learn more this handy plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a link section to WordPress.
To learn more about how to insert links into your WordPress content, refer to this article:
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