As you continue to discover more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to other websites or web pages that display 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 Manager lets you add hyperlinks to a widgetized theme.
Before the release of v 3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Feature – pre v.3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WP Links Manager feature)
If you have used an earlier version of WordPress than v3.5 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 you can’t see the Link Manager section when you log into your WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
The Link Manager plugin restores the 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, this plugin had not been updated for some time, but it should still work fine. If you don’t want to use this plugin, then use the one below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – Link Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links recreates the same concept as 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 on your website, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
In the WordPress administration area, 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 …
Find the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after installing it …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item is added to the WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up your link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding 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 your WP navigation menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
This loads the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type here is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your link category name. Only use lower case letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories area)
The new category will display in the table …
(Link Categories page)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a link, WordPress will assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can understand. This will not only make it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically be listed under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Quick Edit)
Change 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 Update Link Category …
(Quick Edit)
In our example, we’ve replaced the link category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process and add as many new link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the main dashboard navigation menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ screen in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Links screen – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link page)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you enter in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the search-engine friendly 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.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target section)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to add a new category.
Also, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how your link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your 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. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Roman Cooper and you link to his blog, you would probably check 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 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 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, type nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, index, help, start, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced section)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, 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 RSS feed associated with the link will display next to your links.
- 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 blank, as these fields are not required.
When you are done adding information about your link, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Make your links private)
Making links private lets you add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you would like links to display during certain periods and hide them afterwards) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To view all your links, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The list of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links screen)
Tip: To show or hide information in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(List of links – Screen Options)
Enable/disable fields on your table of links by ticking/unticking their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To edit links, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard navigation menu to bring up the list of links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your links)
Change the link …
(Edit Link screen)
After editing your 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 everything correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link from your link table …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Your Links
To remove a link, click on Links > All Links in the WP dashboard menu …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will load in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all links at once.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkbox next to every link that you would like to remove, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ pull-down 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 message)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to make links display on your website or blog.
Using The Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your dashboard menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your web browser.
You will notice a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag it to one of your active widget areas and drop it wherever you want the links to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your sidebar using drag and drop)
The Links widget provides various configurable options. 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 - settings)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This allows you to create and display a number of links 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 settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link ID, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sort by options)
After configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links should 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 help with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on using widgets. To learn more about this go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using sorting, filtering, and searching functionality.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your mouse cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sort links)
Search Your Links
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Search links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering links by link category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories page. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(searching and filtering 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 add a lot of links to your website or blog, or if you want 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, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you publish a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin can be used to create a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links section, and all links defined for these categories. 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 be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit the plugin website to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in WordPress.
Go here if you would like to learn more about inserting hyperlinks into WordPress posts:
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)