As you learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other websites or blogs displayed on your sidebar section.
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 easily add and manage hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
Before the release of WP v.3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Link Manager feature was part of the WordPress admin menu until the release of WP v.3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If you have had an earlier version than v.3.5 installed and upgraded your installation, the Links Manager would be removed, unless you have previously used it. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your WordPress site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – you won’t see it displayed 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 you can’t see a Links section on your main menu when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add it by installing a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
This plugin displays the default Links feature on your dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code 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 – WordPress Link Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
From the WP dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installation …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will show on your WP navigation menu screen …
(WordPress links menu section)
Configuring The Plugin
Before adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays 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.
When done, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The category details will be added to the list …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category for a new link, WordPress will assign 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 visitors, 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 category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Edit the default link category)
Replace 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)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ etc).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat this process and add as many link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(WP Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ screen will display in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL bit of your link category name. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no 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
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target – Add New Link page)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add 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 the link to open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that a separate browser window will open up to display the information for that link. Your visitor can access the information without leaving your site
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the 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. 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 …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Michael Fields and you link to his blog, you would probably tick co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and your links will work just fine. XFN makes the links defined on your site more understandable to some sites and search engines that use this information.
rel – This field specifies 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, help, index, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced area – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the image URL 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 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 would like to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these are not required.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private allows you to toggle their visibility on or off without deleting your links (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 see a list of all the links you have created, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To display or hide columns in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Links screen – Screen Options)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide – Links page)
Editing Your Link Information
To edit a link in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your admin menu to bring up the links page …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Change the link details …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To delete links, go to your WP dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ screen in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all of your links.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
All the links you have selected will be deleted …
(Deleted links 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 site.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will load in your browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your widget bars and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget offers a number of configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This allows you to add and display link lists on your site …
(You can add multiple 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 title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will become visible on your sidebar menu …
(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 comprehensive article about adding widgets. Go here to learn more:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, sort, and search functions.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links)
Finding Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Finding links function)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter links by category)
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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
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 site, 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to output a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This useful plugin creates a page on your website containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, 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 link collection so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about using this great plugin, visit the plugin website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to external sites in WordPress.
We have also created a detailed article on inserting HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress content here:
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