As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
A blogroll is a list of links pointing to external sites or web pages displayed on your sidebar menu.
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 a featured links section on your website using the WordPress Link Manager plugin.
Before the release of WordPress version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v 3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was removed …
Before …
(Links – included in the menu until the release of WordPress v.3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager – no longer included in the WordPress menu after WP v3.5)
If your website previously used this feature, then it will still be available when you upgrade to newer WordPress versions. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will remain hidden – you won’t see it displayed 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 item is not visible when you log into your WP backend, you can add it via 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)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the default Link Manager, even if you update to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to WordPress 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 one below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP admin menu, select 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 screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, WordPress will display a ‘Links’ item on the dashboard menu …
(WordPress links menu section)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, you can assign new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, select Links > Link Categories in the WP dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
You will be taken to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name here.
- Slug: The slug displays in the search-engine friendly URL of the 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. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories screen)
The new category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something better suited to your business. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically be listed under the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category name)
Replace both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the category ‘Blogroll’ with a more suitable name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ 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 …
(Link category description)
Enter your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished setting up your link categories, you can add new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, go to the navigation menu and choose Links > Add New …
(WordPress Links – Add New)
This brings up the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button in the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes several sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
Enter details about your link in this section …
(Name, Web Address& Description)
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: What you enter in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category name. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description.
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, select one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ 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 by visitors:
- _blank means that a new browser window will open up to display the content associated with the link.
- _none means that when visitors click on the link, they will leave 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 just 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 with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Ishaan Schwartz 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. 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 specifies 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit the site below:
Advanced
The last section lets you specify Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced link settings – Add New Link)
The Advanced section contain the following fields:
- 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 your 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: 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 ignore this section.
When you have finished adding your new link information, click on the Add Link button to save your new link …
(Click on the Add Link button to update your link settings)
Note: If you select the Keep this link private checkbox, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making links private allows you to toggle link visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want 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 your links, choose Links > All Links in your WP admin menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser. The Links screen displays your links and link information (e.g. URL, link categories, rating, etc.) …
(Links table)
Tip: To display additional fields in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab near the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – List of links)
Enable/disable information on your table of links by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Show/hide links)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify a link in the Link Manager, go to your dashboard menu and click on Links > All Links to bring up your links screen …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Select the link to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing your links)
Make any changes you want to your link information …
(Edit Link screen)
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 its URL correctly (your link will open up in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your table …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Links
To delete links from the Link Manager, go to the main admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ screen.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or delete all of your links.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete a number of links at once, either tick the checkbox next to every link that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main checkbox next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Delete multiple links)
Choose Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Links: bulk-delete function)
Your selected links will be removed …
(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’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your dashboard menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ screen in your web browser.
You will notice that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the active widget sections and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Drag & drop the links widget to add it to a widgetized area)
The Links widget offers various settings. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget settings)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and feature specific a number of lists of links on your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Select a link category to display links for a specific category …
(Link widget settings – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link title, Link rating, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget options – Sorting options)
After setting up the Links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your links will become visible on your website’s sidebar menu …
(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 with widgets? We have written a detailed article on adding widgets. To learn more about this go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering functions.
Sort Links Function
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 …
(Sort links)
Searching Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Searching links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by link categories …
(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 category links in the ‘Links’ column …
(Search and filter links in the Link Categories screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website or blog, 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)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library allows you to output a list of all your link categories with a complete list of links with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image source: Link Library plugin site.)
Link Library creates a page on your website 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 so that your site users can become aware of additions to your link library.
To learn more about Link Library:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links to other websites in WordPress.
We have also created a comprehensive article about how to easily add HTML hyperlinks to WordPress here:
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