As you continue to discover more about the benefits of using WordPress, you may occasionally come across the term blogroll.
In WordPress terminology, a list of links 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.”
The Links Manager lets you add external links to a widgetized theme.
Prior to the release of v 3.5, Links were a core feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Link Manager section was kept hidden by default in new WordPress installations …
Before …
(The Link Manager displayed in the menu until the release of WP version 3.5)
After …
(The Link Manager feature is no longer included in the WordPress dashboard menu after WP version 3.5)
If you were using the Links Manager in previous versions of WordPress, then it will still be available when your installation upgrades to a newer version. If you’ve never used the Links feature, however, or if your site installation is new, then this function will remain hidden – it will not appear on your 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 menu section is not visible when you log into your WordPress admin area, you can add it by installing a plugin. In this tutorial, you will learn how to add and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using plugins.
Link Manager
(Link Manager Plugin)
Download URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Description Of Plugin
Use this plugin to display the built-in Link Manager, even if you upgrade WordPress to a later version or remove all of your existing links.
Note: This plugin adds a single line of template code to restore the hidden feature. When we last checked, this plugin had not been updated for some time, 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 site’s template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – Link Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
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
To install the Link Manager plugin on your website or blog, follow these instructions:
In the WordPress administration area, go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, then 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 installation …
After activation, WordPress will restore the ‘Links’ feature to your WP admin menu area …
(Links management menu)
Plugin Setup
Before adding new links, we recommend setting up your link categories. This way, you can assign any new links to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a link category, choose Links > Link Categories in the main admin menu …
(Links – Link Categories)
This takes you to the ‘Link Categories’ screen.
Type in information into the following sections:
- Name: Enter the category name here.
- 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 your link category description.
after entering your information, click Add New Link Category to save …
(Link Categories area)
Your category details will display in the list …
(Link Categories)
Tip: Blogroll is the default link category name. Unless you specify the category when creating a new 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 not only makes it easier for visitors, but any new links that you add to the Links section will automatically display under the new category name …
(Change the default link category name to something better suited to your business)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, hover your mouse over the item and click on Quick Edit …
(Quick Edit)
Change both the Name and the Slug with a new category name, then click on the Update link Category button …
(Update Link Category)
Replace the link category name ‘Blogroll’ with a name more suitable to your purposes (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘XYZ Sites’ etc).
Let’s add a link category description. To add a description to an existing link category, click on the Edit link under the category name …
(You can add/edit your category description)
Add your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update when finished …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process and add as many different link categories as your site requires.
Once you have finished configuring your link categories, you can add your links.
Adding New Links
To add a new link, choose Links > Add New in the admin menu …
(WP Links Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Link’ screen in your browser …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also reach this screen by clicking on ’Add New’ at the top of the main Links screen …
(Links – Add New Link button)
The ‘Add New Links’ page has various sections:
Name, Web Address & Description
The first section is where you enter your link details …
(Name, Web Address, Description section – Add New Link page)
Type in information into the following fields:
- Name: Enter the category name.
- Slug: The slug is the search-engine friendly URL part of your link category name. Use only lowercase letters and do not include 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 with their mouse.
Categories & Target
After typing in link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Add New Link – Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, tick one of the link categories you have already created, 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 the link should open when visitors click on it:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on the link, a new browser window will open up to display the information associated with the link. This allows your visitors to access the information without leaving your page
- _none means that when a visitor clicks on the link, they will exit your site and a new website 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 ignore this option.
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 – lets you define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you work with Dylan Anderson and you link to his blog, you would probably check co-worker or colleague.
XFN relationships are optional. You can ignore this section and all your links will work just fine. 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 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.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting 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) …
(Add New Link – Advanced fields)
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 stored 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 can display 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Type in your information in the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you have finished adding information about your link, click on the Add Link button to update your link settings …
(Click on Add Link to update your link settings)
Note: If you tick Keep this link private, your link will not be visible in your Links section …
(Private link checkbox)
Making links private allows you to toggle their visibility on and off without deleting these (this is useful if you want to have seasonal links) …
(Toggle link visibility on and off)
To see all your links, click on Links > All Links in your WP dashboard menu …
(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, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To view additional columns in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen Options – Links table)
Enable/disable fields on your Links table by selecting/deselecting their check boxes …
(List of links – Show/hide screen options)
How To Edit Your Link Information
To modify links, select Links > All Links in your dashboard navigation menu to bring up the links table …
(Links – All Links)
Locate the item you want to edit and click on Edit to bring up the link’s details …
(Editing links)
Make the changes you want to your link details …
(Edit Link page)
After editing the link, you can:
- Click on Update Link to save your link details,
- Click on Visit Link to make sure that you have set up its URL correctly (your link will open in a new window),
- Click Delete to remove the link …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Removing Links
To delete a link, go to the WP dashboard navigation menu and click on Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ table will display in your browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links by selecting their check boxes, or delete all links.
To delete links individually, hover your mouse cursor over the link title that you want to remove and click on Delete …
(Deleting your links)
To delete multiple links, either click on the check box next to each item that you want to delete, 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)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ drop menu, and click the Apply button to delete your selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
Your selected links will be removed …
(Deleted links message)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, let’s show you how to display your links on your site.
Links Widget
The Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, choose Appearance > Widgets in the dashboard navigation menu …
(Appearance – Widgets)
You will be taken to the ‘Widgets’ page.
You will see that a ‘Links’ widget has been added to the Available Widgets section …
(Links widget)
Drag the ‘Links’ widget to one of your active widget bars and drop it wherever you would like the links to show up …
(Add a links widget to your widget bar using drag and drop)
The Links widget includes various configurable settings. 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 - configurable settings)
You can add multiple link widgets to your sidebar. This lets you add and feature multiple link categories on your site …
(Add a number of link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of items for a specific category …
(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 options – Sorting options)
When you have finished setting up the links widget, click Save to update your settings. Your link section should appear on your website …
(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 using widgets? We have written a detailed article about using widgets. Go here to learn more about this:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have loads of links, the Links Manager plugin allows you to easily administer these with searching, sorting, and filtering functionality.
Sort Your Links
To sort links, hover your cursor 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 sort your links)
Search Your Links
Type a search term into the search field and click the Search Links button to search for links …
(Find links function)
Filter Links
You can filter links by category …
(Filtering your links by link 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 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 category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add lots of links to your website or blog, 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 your links.
Link Library
(Link library – WordPress Links Management Plugin)
Download Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
The Link Library plugin gives you the ability to publish a list of all your link categories and a complete list of links with descriptions and notes …
(Link Library links. Image sourced from Link Library plugin documentation.)
Link Library creates a page on your site containing a list of all of the link categories in your Links area, and 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 link collection that lets your site users be made aware of any additions made to to your link library.
To learn more about the Link Library plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add a blogroll and manage links in WordPress.
We have written a detailed article about adding hyperlinks into your WordPress content. For more details, go here:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)