As you continue to discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or pages that display on your sidebar section 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 add a set of links using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will display on your website if you have added the Links widget.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Links Manager displayed in the dashboard menu until the release of WP v 3.5)
After …
(The Links Manager is no longer part of the menu after WP v.3.5)
If you’ve had an earlier version than 3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Links Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve 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 Links item is not visible when you log into your WordPress backend, you can add it via a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
Use this plugin to restore the built-in Links Manager, 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 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
This plugin attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
From your WP admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activation, the ‘Links’ feature will be restored to your WP sidebar menu …
(Links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
Before you start adding links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to your dashboard menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your web browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: What you type in this field displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug appears in the web address of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
The category details will be added to the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. 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 display under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
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), then click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, the link category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, click on Links > Add New in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section lets you enter your link details …
(Add New Link page – Name, Web Address, Description)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter here will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug displays in the SEO friendly URL of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how the link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link. Your visitor can see the information without leaving your website
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new site or page will load in your browser window instead.
- _top opens the link 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) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Ananya Schwartz and you link to her 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. Defining relationships with XFN makes the links defined on your site 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 specifies a relationship 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link page – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add an image URL 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 can display next to the link.
- 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).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
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 your links private)
Making a link private lets you add a link and then toggle its visibility on and off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added, choose Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen in your browser. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, relationship, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view or hide information in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Links table – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Table of links – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Link Information
To modify a link, click on Links > All Links in your dashboard menu to bring up your list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your links)
Make changes to the link details …
(Edit Link page)
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 its URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your list …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete links, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover over the link that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the check boxes next to individual items that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your selected links will be deleted …
(Link deletion notification)
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 site.
Using The 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 main navigation menu …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ screen.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of the active widget sections and drop it wherever you would like your links to display …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to your sidebar)
The Links widget includes a number of settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to display 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 to your sidebar as you want. This lets you add and feature specific link categories on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of items for a specific category …
(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 – Sort by options)
Once you are done setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. A links should appear on your sidebar …
(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 help with widgets? Go here for a detailed article on configuring widgets:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with filter, search, and sort functionality.
Sorting Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting your links)
Finding Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Find your links)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter links by categories)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to search for link categories, or click on the links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories and a complete list of all your links plus notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a blogroll to your WordPress sidebar.
Go here if you want to learn more adding hyperlinks into your WordPress content:
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