As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of links pointing to other sites or web pages that display on your sidebar area 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 Manager lets you easily add and manage hyperlinks to your sidebar area (e.g. a “Top 5 Resources” section) using widgets.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From v3.5 onwards, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(Links was part of the WordPress menu until the release of WordPress v.3.5)
After …
(Post v 3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If your website or blog previously used Link Manager, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Link Manager, however, or if your WordPress site installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not be displayed on your 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 WP admin area you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add, edit, delete and manage links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to display the Links Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code to WordPress 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)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in WP Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WordPress admin menu, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – 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 area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin after it has been installed …
After activation, a ‘Links’ section will show on the dashboard menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding any new links. This way, when you add a new link, you can assign your link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to your dashboard menu and choose Links > Link Categories …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page in your browser.
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you type here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the web address 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. (Optional)
When finished, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories)
The category details will display in the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when adding a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this default WordPress 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 be assigned to the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the link category name)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, and click on Update Link Category …
(Update Link Category)
In our example, the category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s now add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update done to save your settings …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site requires.
Once you have configured your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add Links
To create a new link, go to your navigation menu and click on Links > Add New …
(Links Menu – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will load in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Addressand Description section)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: What you type here displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category. 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 with their mouse. (Optional)
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target area)
In the Categories section, tick a link category you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Also, select a target frame for your link in the Target section by choosing one of the radio buttons. This lets you specify where the link should open when clicked on:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. This lets your visitors access the link information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new website 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. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN))
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 Bessie Gould and you link to her 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 work just fine. XFN makes your links 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 a 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
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 screen – Advanced fields)
The Advanced section fields are as follows:
- Image Address: 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 RSS feed associated with the link can be displayed next to the link.
- 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you are done adding information about your link, 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, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Make your links private)
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 to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view a list of all your links, go to the dashboard navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your browser. The Links screen displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view or hide fields in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Show/hide fields on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Links table – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Link Information
To edit links, select Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu to bring up your list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing your link information)
Make changes to your link details …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to check that you have set up your link’s URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Delete Links
To remove a link, choose Links > All Links in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ page in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor 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 checkboxes next to individual items that you want to be removed, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop-down menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your links will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
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, select Appearance > Widgets in your WP dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Appearance Menu – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of the widget areas and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized menu using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides a number of settings. You can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you want displayed on your sidebar …
(Link widget options)
You can also add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and feature specific various lists of links on your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Display a list of links for a specific category …
(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)
When you have finished setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section should appear 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 using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article on using 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 search, filter, and sort functionality.
Sort Links
To sort links, hover your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can sort links)
Searching Links Function
Search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Search links)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link categories …
(Filtering links by category)
You can also search and filter links in the Link Categories screen. Use the ‘Search Link Categories’ button to find link categories, or click on the category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories page)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your site, or if you want 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 your links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you publish a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, and all links listed in 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 any additions made to to your link library.
Go here to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to your WordPress sidebar.
Go here for a detailed article about how to insert HTML hyperlinks into WordPress posts:
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