As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or web pages that display on your sidebar 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 manage a link section using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will display on your sidebar or footer once you add the Links widget.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. After the release of WordPress version 3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links displayed in the WordPress menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(Links – no longer included in the WordPress menu after WordPress v.3.5)
If you have had an earlier version of WordPress than 3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Links Manager would be 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 Manager is not visible when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to restore the default Links menu on your dashboard, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to your installation in order to restore the hidden feature. The last time we checked, this plugin had not been updated for some time, 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 template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow these instructions:
From your WordPress admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Find the plugin in the search results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ section is added to the admin menu …
(WordPress links menu section)
Setting Up Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will load in your web browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you enter here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of the link category. Use only lowercase letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category …
(Link Categories)
The category details will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify the category when creating a link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically appear under the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Resources’ etc).
Let’s insert a description for this link category. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process and add as many link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can start adding your links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, go to your dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links Menu – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access 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 is divided into the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link screen)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: What you type in this field displays as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the web address of the link category. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new, separate window will open up in their web browser to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new site 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) area)
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 Shanaya Smith and you link to her 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 still work. 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 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, help, index, start, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section includes the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is stored and make sure that your 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: 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).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done 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 tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you toggle link visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them when they are no longer 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 your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ page. The list of links displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view or hide fields in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links table)
Show/hide fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Links screen – Hide or show screen options)
How To Edit Links
To edit a link in the Link Manager, choose Links > All Links in the main admin menu to bring up the table of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing your links)
Edit the link …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your table of links …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To remove a link from the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all links at once.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete links in bulk, either click on the checkbox next to every item that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The selected links will be removed …
(Deleted links notification)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to configure link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to display your links on your website or blog.
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 your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance – 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 it to one of your widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links to display …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget provides various options. You can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable settings)
You can add as many link widgets to your sidebars and footers as you want. This lets you create and display a number of different link lists throughout your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of items for a specific category …
(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 configuring the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links should show up immediately on your site …
(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 with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about widgets. For more details, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, search, and sort functionality.
Sort Your Links
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 …
(Sorting links)
Find Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(You can easily search your links using the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by categories …
(Filter 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 displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, or if you want to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to consider using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your web site containing all 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 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 link section to WordPress.
Go here to learn more about inserting links into your WordPress content:
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