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 websites or pages that display on your sidebar section 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 add and manage hyperlinks to a widget-ready theme.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, 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 …
(WP Links Manager – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Links – excluded from the WordPress admin menu after WP v3.5)
If you were using the Links feature in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your WP installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your website is new, then this function will become invisible – you will not see it on the 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 the Links feature is not visible 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 and manage links on your site’s sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
You can use this plugin to display the built-in Links Manager, even if you update 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. The last time we checked, this plugin had not been updated for a while, 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 Plugin)
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 functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From your WordPress administration area, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the results area and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress displays a ‘Links’ section on the WP sidebar menu screen …
(WordPress links menu section)
Plugin Setup
Before adding new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the main dashboard navigation menu …
(WP Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address part of the link category. Use only lowercase letters and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description.
When done, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories area)
The category details will now show in the list …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change the 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 your visitors will understand)
To change the ‘Blogroll’ link name, hover your mouse over the category name and click on the Quick Edit link …
(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 …
(Editing the default link category)
In our example, we’ve replaced the category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > Add New …
(Links – 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 screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page is divided into a number of sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Address& Description fields)
Enter the following information:
- Name: Whatever you type here will display as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the URL bit of your link category name. It must all be in lowercase letters and contain no 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
Select a Category and Target for your link …
(Add New Link screen – 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.
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 when a visitor clicks on your link, a new window will open up in their web browser to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your link, they will exit your site and a new site 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. 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) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Paige Gould and you link to her blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can leave everything in this section blank and all of your links will still work. Defining relationships with XFN makes your links 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 specifies what relationship exists 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, index, start, etc. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
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 fields – Add New Link)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image 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 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).
Type in your information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick the Keep this link private checkbox, the link will not be visible when links are displayed on your site …
(Make your links private)
Making a link private allows you to 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 view all the links you have added to the Link Manager, go to the WP admin menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your web browser. The table of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To view additional information in the list of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Display/hide information on your table of links by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Link Information
To modify a link, go to the WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your list of links …
(Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link information …
(Editing your links)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update 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 delete the link from your table of links if you no longer require it …
(Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To delete a link from the Link Manager, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove and click Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete multiple links, either tick the check box next to each link that you would like to delete, or select all links by clicking on the main check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-deletion function)
All the links you have selected will be removed …
(links deleted notification)
Using The Link Manager Plugin
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.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in your dashboard menu …
(WordPress Appearance – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
To make the ‘Links’ widget active, drag the widget to one of your active widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you want your links to display …
(Add a links widget to your WordPress widget bar using drag & drop)
The Links widget includes various configurable options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like displayed on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This allows you to add and display different link lists sorted by categories 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 rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done setting up your Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section will show on your sidebar …
(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 detailed article on using widgets. Learn more here:
Links Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with search, sort, and filter functions.
Sort Your 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 your links)
Find Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(You can easily search links using the search function)
Filtering Your Links
You can filter links by link category …
(Filter your 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)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to your site, 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 – Plugin For WordPress)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to display a list of your link categories with a complete list of links plus descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
This plugin creates a page on your web site that contains a list of all of 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 for your links so that your site users can be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article on adding HTML hyperlinks to WordPress. Go here to learn more:
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