As you become more familiar with WordPress, you may occasionally come across something called a blogroll.
WordPress refers to a list of hyperlinks pointing to other websites or pages that display on your sidebar menu 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 manage a set of links using the Links menu in your WordPress Dashboard. These links will display on your sidebar if you have added the Links widget.
Prior to the release of v3.5, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. After v3.5, the Links manager and blogroll sections were removed …
Before …
(The Links Manager feature – part of the WordPress dashboard menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature is no longer included in WordPress after WordPress version 3.5)
If you’ve used an earlier version of WordPress than v.3.5 and upgraded your installation, then the Links Manager would be removed, unless you’ve previously used it.
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 Link Manager is not visible when you log into your WP dashboard you will need to install a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager WordPress Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description
The Link Manager plugin displays the built-in Link Manager, even if you update WordPress to a later version or remove all of your current links.
Note: All this plugin does is add a single line of code 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links Plugin)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Plugin Description
This plugin recreates the same concept as the built-in WP Links Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated feature.
Installing The Plugin
To install the Link Manager plugin, follow the step-by-step instructions below:
From your WordPress admin area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Click on the Install Plugins > Search tab, then type ”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 activating the plugin, a ‘Links’ item is added to your WP sidebar menu …
(Links menu section)
Configuring Link Manager
We recommend setting up link categories first before you start adding links. This way, you can assign any new links to the link category you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, click on Links > Link Categories in the WP navigation menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This brings up the ‘Link Categories’ screen in your web browser.
Enter information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- 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. (Optional)
after entering your information, click the Add New Link Category button …
(Link Categories)
The new category will be added to the table …
(Link Categories)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change the default link category name to something that will make sense to your readers. 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 listed under the new category name …
(Consider changing the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will relate to)
To edit the default category name, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Editing the default link category name)
Change 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 …
(Quick Edit)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with an appropriate links section category name (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Related Products’ etc).
Let’s now add a link category description. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(Link category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ page and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category screen)
Repeat the above process and add as many link categories as your site requires.
After you have finished configuring your link categories, you can being adding new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, select Links > Add New in the admin menu …
(WP Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
This section is where you enter your link details …
(Add New Link screen – Name, Web Addressand Description)
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Whatever you type here is the category name that will display on your site.
- Slug: The slug is the SEO friendly URL part of your link category. Only use lower case letters without spaces (use hyphens to separate words).
- Description: Some themes may display a link category description. (Optional)
Categories & Target
After adding link details, select a Category and Target for the link …
(Add New Link screen – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you’ve already set up, or click on ’+ Add New Category’ 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 how you want the link to open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that a new window will open up in their browser to display the information for that link. This allows your visitors to see the link information without leaving your page
- _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. Don’t worry about this option if you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are.
Link Relationship XFN
This area provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) – Add New Link)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN stands for XML Friends Network – allows you to define your relationship with the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Ritvik Anderson and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional for WordPress links. You can ignore this section and all of your links will work just fine. 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 is used to define what relationship exists 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.
To learn more about XFN, visit this site:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page allows you to specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can leave these fields empty unless you have a reason to use them) …
(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 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 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 into the above fields or just leave this section blank, as these fields are not essential.
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 update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private allows you to add links and then toggle their visibility on and off without deleting your links (this is useful if you want links to display during certain periods and hide them when not required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, choose Links > All Links in the navigation menu …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your web browser. The table of links displays all your links and link information (e.g. link URL, categories, visibility, etc.) …
(Table of links)
Tip: To display additional fields in the Links table, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Links screen)
Display/hide fields on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Links table – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Your Links
To edit links in the Link Manager, go to your navigation menu and choose Links > All Links to bring up your links page …
(WordPress Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the item’s link details …
(Editing link information)
Edit your link information …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing your link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button to save and update your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to see your link and make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (the link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link from your link table …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
How To Remove Your Links
To remove a link, go to your WP admin menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
This loads the ‘Links’ table in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all of your links.
To delete links individually, hover over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Delete links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the checkbox next to every link that you want to delete, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ menu, and click the Apply button to remove all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
Your links will be deleted …
(links deleted message)
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 make links display on your website.
Links Widget
The Link Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ screen.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to your admin menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance Menu – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your browser.
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 the active widget bars and drop it wherever you would like the links to display …
(Drag and drop the links widget to add it to your WordPress sidebar)
The Links widget provides various options. For example, you can specify what information you want to show about your links and how many links you would like to display on your sidebar menu …
(Link widget - settings)
You can also add multiple link widgets to your sidebars and footers. This allows you to add and display link lists on your site …
(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 ID, Link title, Link rating, or display links in Random order …
(Link widget settings – Sort by options)
Once you are done configuring your links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. Your link section will show on your website or blog’s sidebar …
(An example of how 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 more help with widgets? We have written a comprehensive article about adding widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have many links, the Link Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these using filter, search, and sort functionality.
Sorting Links Function
You can sort links by hovering your cursor over the title of the column you want to sort and clicking on the little black triangle displayed next to the column title …
(Sorting links function)
Searching Links Function
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to find links …
(Search your links)
Filter Links Function
You can filter links by link category …
(Filtering links by link categories)
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 listed for a specific link category …
(Links filtered by category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to use links extensively on your website, 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 consider using a plugin that can help you administer links, like Link Library.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
This plugin gives you the ability to output a list of your link categories with a complete list of links plus notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Image: Link Library plugin website.)
Link Library creates a page on your website that contains a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, plus all links defined for 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 be made aware of additions to your link library.
For more information about this useful plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to add external links to your WordPress site.
To learn more about how to easily add hyperlinks in your WordPress posts & pages, see this article:
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now