As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links displayed on your sidebar area is sometimes referred to 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.”
The Links feature lets you easily add and manage external links to a widgetized theme.
Before WordPress v.3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of v3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(Links was part of the menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If you were using the Link Manager 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 feature, however, or if your site is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed on the 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 the Links feature when you log into your WordPress admin area you will need to install a plugin. This tutorial will show you how to add, edit, delete and manage 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 Link Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to your installation 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links)
Plugin 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.
How To Install Link Manager
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these step-by-step instructions:
In your WordPress admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “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 activating the plugin, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ section in the WP sidebar menu …
(Links management menu)
Plugin Setup
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding links. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL of the link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
Click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories screen)
Your new category will display in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this default link category name to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(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 …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Partners’ etc).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on Edit under the category name …
(Link category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update finished to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site requires.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in your WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter details about your link …
(Add New Link – Name, Web Address, Description area)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL of the link category name. Use only lowercase letters without 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
After adding your link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already set up, 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 the link should open when a visitor clicks on it:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new window will open up in their browser to display the information associated with the link. This lets your visitors see the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will leave your site and a new website or page will load in your web 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 section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link screen)
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 Florence Gould and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. 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 is used to define 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 with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 the 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 would like 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 your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(You can make links private by selecting the checkbox)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on or off without deleting these (this is useful if you want links to display during certain times and hide them when not required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view a list of all the links you have created, choose Links > All Links in the WP admin menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your browser. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To display additional information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Show/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide – List of links)
Editing Link Information
To modify a link, go to your dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your links screen …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Make any changes you want to the link …
(Edit Link page)
After 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 the link’s URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table of links if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to your dashboard menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the check box next to each item that you want to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click Apply to remove all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(Link deletion notice)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to make links display 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 main admin menu …
(WordPress 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 your active widget bars and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Add a links widget to your sidebar)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to show about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - options)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to create and display several lists of links throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ drop-down menu …
(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 – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring the links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section should now be visible on your website or blog’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 more help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on widgets. To learn more, go here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using sort, filter, and search functions.
Sort Links Function
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Search Links Function
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Finding your links)
Filtering Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filter your links by link categories)
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 …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This brings up a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website or blog, or if you would like to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, 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 that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
For more details about the benefits of using this plugin, visit this website:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to external websites and pages in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article on inserting HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress content. Go here to learn more:
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