As you continue to discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites 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 and manage hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
Prior to the release of v.3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Post version 3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would be removed, unless you have 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 you can’t see a Links item on the main menu when you log into your WP backend, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
This plugin displays the default Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP admin menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, 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 activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ section is added to the WP dashboard menu area …
(Links menu)
Setting Up Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding any new links. This way, you can assign new links to a link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ screen will display in your browser.
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of the link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
When done, click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories screen)
The link category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when adding a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can relate to. 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 …
(Change the default link category name to something your visitors will relate to)
To change 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 category ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many different link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(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 fields)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL of the link category name. Only use lower case 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 link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you have already added, 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 where you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a separate web browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new site 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. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link screen)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you work with Hugo Jenkins 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 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, type nofollow into this field. Separate multiple ‘rel’ attributes using spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Advanced section – Add New Link)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image 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 will be displayed 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 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 required.
When you are done 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 tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to toggle link visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to the dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view additional fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links table – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit links, select Links > All Links in your admin menu to bring up your links screen …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing link information)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link screen)
After you’re done editing the 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 its URL correctly (the link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Your Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your WP admin menu …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover over the link that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkbox next to every item that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click the Apply button to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
Using The 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 Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, click on Appearance > Widgets in the main dashboard menu …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links section to display …
(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to your WordPress sidebar)
The Links widget provides a number of configurable settings. For example, you can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar and footer. This lets you add and display a number of different links on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pull-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 – Sorting options)
After configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section will display on your website’s sidebar menu …
(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 with widgets? We have written a detailed article about adding widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with sorting, filtering, and searching features.
Sort Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort your links)
Search Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Searching links)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering links by 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 …
(searching and filtering links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links listed under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website, 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer your links.
Link Library
(Link Library WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to output a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your web site that contains 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 for your link collection so that your site users can become aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in WordPress.
We have also created a comprehensive article about adding HTML hyperlinks into WordPress here:
***
"Your training is the best in the world! It is simple, yet detailed, direct, understandable, memorable, and complete." Andrea Adams, FinancialJourney.org