As you continue to learn more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links 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 display links on your blog using the Link Manager plugin.
Before the release of WP v 3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After version 3.5, the Link Manager section was removed …
Before …
(The Link Manager – included in the dashboard menu until the release of WordPress v 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links Manager feature)
If you’ve had an earlier version than v3.5 installed and updated your installation, the Link Manager would have been 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 the Links feature is not displayed when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add it via a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
You can use this plugin to display the built-in Links menu on your WordPress dashboard, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links attempts to recreate the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WP administration menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 installing it …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will get added to the dashboard menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Configuring Link Manager
Before you start adding any new links, it’s a good idea to first set up your link categories. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit of the link category. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
When done, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories area)
The new category will display in 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 the default WordPress link category name 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 be listed under the new category name …
(we recommend changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(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 …
(Editing the default link category)
Replace the link category ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Products’ etc).
Let’s insert a link category description. To add a link category description, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as you need.
After configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in your WP dashboard menu …
(Links – Add New)
This takes you to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links page – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section lets you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Addressand Description – Add New Link page)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: What you enter in this field will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your 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 in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in 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 have already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ to create a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify where the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that when visitors click on the link, a new browser window will open up to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your site
- _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))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) is a way to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Austin Anderson 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 still work. 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, type nofollow into this field.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced area)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the URL of where the image is located 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 will be displayed next to your link.
- Notes: This section lets you add notes 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).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on Add Link to save your new link …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you select the checkbox next to Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private lets you toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to add seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see a list of all your links, go to your WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your browser. The Links page displays a list of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view or hide fields in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Display/hide information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Links screen – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Links
To modify a link, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu to bring up the links table …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your links)
Make the changes you want to your link details …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update 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 table if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To delete links, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will load in your web 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 you want removed and click on Delete …
(Delete your links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkboxes next to individual items that you would like removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The links you have selected will be removed …
(links deleted notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display your links on your site.
Links Widget
Installing the Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP dashboard navigation menu and select Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ screen will load in your browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget areas and drop it wherever you would like your links to show up …
(Drag and drop your links widget to add it to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget provides various configurable settings. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This lets you create and feature different links throughout your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display links 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 options – Sorting options)
After configuring the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will show on your website …
(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 more help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on using widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with sort, filter, and search functions.
Sorting Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort your links)
Finding Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(You can search your links with the search function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter your links by category)
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 …
(searching and filtering 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 use links extensively on 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link Library Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin allows you to output a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your site containing all the link categories in your Links area, plus 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 for your link collection that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more this plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other websites in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on how to easily add links to WordPress. If you would like to learn more here:
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group