As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar is often referred to 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 links to a widgetized theme.
Before WordPress version 3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After v 3.5, the Links Manager section was hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(WordPress Links Manager – pre v 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you’ve used an earlier version than 3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would be removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used the Link Manager feature, however, or if your WordPress installation is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not display on the dashboard 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 tutorial explains how to add and manage blogroll links on your site’s sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
Use this plugin to display the built-in Links menu on your dashboard, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of code 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 the Link Manager 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 attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in Link Manager while addressing 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 – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”link manager” into the search field and hit Enter …
Locate the plugin in the search results screen and click Install Now …
Activate the plugin …
After activation, a ‘Links’ item will get added to your WP navigation menu area …
(WordPress links menu)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding any new links. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, go to the WP navigation menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(WordPress Links Menu – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ page.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug displays in the web address of the link category. Use lowercase letters only and do not include spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Click the Add New Link Category button to save …
(Link Categories area)
The link category will now show in the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name)
You may want to change this to something that your visitors can relate to. 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 …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something better suited to your business)
To change the default category name, hover your mouse over the list item and click on the Quick Edit link …
(Editing the link category)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Editing the link category)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ etc).
Let’s create a description for this link category. To add a description to an existing link category, click on Edit under the category name …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category page)
Repeat the above process to add as many link categories as you need.
Once you have set up your link categories, you can add your links.
How To Add New Links
To create a new link, click on Links > Add New in your WP admin menu …
(Links – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Link’ page in your web browser …
(Add New Link page)
You can also access this screen by clicking on the ‘Add New’ button at the top of the main Links page …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type in this field is the link category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug appears in the URL of the link category name. Use lowercase letters only without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display your link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After typing in your link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you have already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
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 window will open up in their browser to display the content for that link. This allows your visitors to access the link information without leaving your website
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will leave your site and a new site 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 just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN))
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) lets you define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Florence O’Malley 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 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 specifies the ‘rel’ attribute that will be assigned to your link. The rel attribute defines 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. Separate multiple ‘rel’ keywords with spaces.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ screen allows you to enter Advanced features for your links (You can leave the fields in this section empty unless there’s a good reason to use them) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Lets you specify an image to be displayed with the link. 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 link’s RSS feed will display 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 in 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 the Add Link button to save your new link)
Note: If you select Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making a link private allows you to toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to the main navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
This brings up the ‘Links’ table in your browser. The Links page displays a list of all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, rating, etc.) …
(Table 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 …
(Screen Options – Links table)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their checkboxes …
(Show/hide links)
Editing Links
To modify links, go to your admin menu and select Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Edit your link …
(Edit Link page)
After 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 everything correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to delete the link if you no longer require it …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Your Links
To remove links, click on Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu …
(Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or remove all of your links.
To delete links individually, hover your cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete links in bulk, either tick the checkbox next to every item that you would like removed, 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)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The selected links will be removed …
(links deleted notification)
Using The 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’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your WP navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
The ‘Widgets’ page will display in your web browser.
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 bars and drop it wherever you want the links section to display …
(Adding a links widget to a widgetized menu)
The Links widget includes various options. For example, you can specify what information you want to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This lets you create and feature specific link categories throughout your site …
(You can add a number of link widgets to your widget bars)
Select a link category from the ‘Select Link Category:’ pulldown menu …
(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 settings – Sorting options)
Once you are done configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your links should now display on your site’s sidebar …
(Links can be displayed on a 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 detailed article on using widgets. For more details, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin lets you easily administer these with searching, filtering, and sorting functions.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse over the title of the column you want to sort and click on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily 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 categories …
(Filter links by link category)
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 brings up a list of all links listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Links – Additional Options
If you plan to add a lot 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 a links section to your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link library – Plugin For WordPress)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you output a list of your link categories and a complete list of links together with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library can be used to create a page on your web site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links section, plus 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 link collection that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about the benefits of using this plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to WordPress.
Go here to learn more about how to insert HTML hyperlinks into your WordPress posts and pages:
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