As you continue to discover more about using WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of hyperlinks displayed on your sidebar section 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.”
You can add a blogroll using the Links menu in your Dashboard. These links will then display on your site if you have added the Links widget.
Prior to the release of version 3.5, Links were a visible feature of the WordPress CMS. From v.3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new installations …
Before …
(Links – part of the dashboard menu until the release of WordPress v3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature – excluded from the menu after WP version 3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and upgraded your installation, the Link Manager would have been removed, unless you’ve previously used it. If you’ve never used Links Manager, however, or if your site is new, then this function will become invisible – it will not display on your 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 the Links item is not visible when you log into your WordPress dashboard, you can add it by installing 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 Link Management Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
The Link Manager plugin displays the default Links Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress or remove all of your existing links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of template code to your installation in order to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, the 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 WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description
Simple Links attempts to recreate the concept of the built-in WordPress Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Plugin Installation
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
In your WP admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type ”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 it has been installed …
After activation, the ‘Links’ functionality will be restored to the WP sidebar menu area …
(WordPress links menu section)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up link categories first before adding links. This way, when adding a new link, you can assign the link to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your web browser.
Enter information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL bit 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.
Click the Add New Link Category button to save your new link category name …
(Link Categories)
Your new category will now show in the list …
(Link Categories screen)
Tip: WordPress calls its default link category Blogroll . Unless you specify a category when creating a new link, WordPress will automatically assign new links to the default category …
(Default link category)
You may want to change this to something that will make sense to your visitors. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, 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 edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the list item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category)
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), and click on Update Link Category …
(Edit the link category name)
In our example, the link category name ‘Blogroll’ has been replaced with an appropriate links section name (e.g. ‘Recommended’).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, hover over the item name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Add your link category description field and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat this process and add as many new link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can being adding your links.
Adding Links
To add a new link, go to the main dashboard menu and select Links > Add New …
(WP Links – Add New)
The ‘Add New Link’ page will display in your web browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page includes the following sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter details about your link …
(Name, Web Address, Description – Add New Link page)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Whatever you enter here will display as the category your links will be assigned to.
- Slug: The slug is the URL part of your link category. It must be in lowercase letters and contain no spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description in the links section, or as a tool tip when visitors hover over the link name with their mouse.
Categories & Target
Select a Category and Target for your link …
(Categories & Target fields)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already created, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to add a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how you want your link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new web browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on your 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. If you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are, then just ignore this option.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Add New Link – Link Relationship (XFN) section)
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 Aaron Jones 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 lets you specify 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, type nofollow into this field. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, start, index, help, etc.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section lets you enter Advanced features for your links (You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Add New Link – Advanced link settings)
The Advanced link settings section contains the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. Add the URL of your image 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 will be displayed next to the links.
- 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 would like to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information in the above fields or just leave this section ignore this section.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on Add Link to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to save your new link)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
Making a link private allows you to toggle its visibility on or off without deleting it (this is useful if you would like your link to display during certain periods and hide it after it’s no longer required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To view all the links you have added to the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in your WP navigation menu …
(WP Links – All Links)
You will be taken to the ‘Links’ table. The list of links displays all of your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Links page)
Tip: To view additional fields in the Links page, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Links page – Screen Options)
Display/hide fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(Show/hide – List of links)
How To Edit Links
To modify links in the Link Manager, click on Links > All Links in the main dashboard menu to bring up the links screen …
(Links – All Links)
Select the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing links)
Change 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 view your link and 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 list if it’s no longer required …
(Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove a link, go to the WP admin menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ page in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your cursor over the link title that you want to remove from the link table and click Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkboxes next to individual links that you would like deleted, or select all links by clicking on the main check box 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 remove all selected links …
(Bulk-deletion of links)
The links you have selected will be deleted …
(Link deletion notice)
Plugin Usage
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to make links display on your site.
Using The Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your dashboard navigation menu and choose Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This loads the ‘Widgets’ page in your web browser.
You will see a ‘Links’ widget in the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of the widget areas and drop it wherever you want your links to show up …
(Add a links widget to a widgetized area using drag and drop)
The Links widget offers various options. For example, you can specify what information you would like to display about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - settings)
You can add as many link widgets as you want. This allows you to add and display link sections sorted by categories on your site …
(You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
You can select a link category …
(Link widget options – Select Link Category)
You can sort links by Link rating, Link title, Link ID, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
When you have finished configuring the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A links will show up immediately on your 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 help using widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about using widgets. To learn more, go here:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using searching, sorting, and filtering features.
Sorting Your Links
To sort links, hover your mouse 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)
Finding Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button …
(Finding links function)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering your links by link 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 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 add lots of links to your website or blog, or if you intend to add a ‘Links’ page to your site (i.e. not just add links on your sidebar), then you may want to look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library lets you output a list of your link categories with a complete list of all your links plus descriptions and notes …
(List of links created with Link library. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your site that contains all 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 that lets your site users be made aware of additions to your link library.
Visit this site to learn more this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a featured links section to WordPress.
We have written a comprehensive article about adding links to your WordPress content. Go here to learn more:
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