As you continue to learn more about WordPress, you may occasionally come across references to 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.”
You can display links on your sidebar using the Link Manager plugin.
Before WordPress v3.5 was released, Links were a built-in feature of the WordPress CMS. From version 3.5 onwards, the Links Manager section was removed …
Before …
(WP Links Feature – pre version 3.5)
After …
(Post v3.5 – no WordPress Links feature)
If you have used an earlier version than v 3.5 and upgraded your installation, 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 you can’t see a Links section on your main menu when you log into your WP admin area, you can add this feature by installing a plugin. This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add, edit, delete and manage blogroll links on your sidebar using WordPress plugins.
Link Manager
(Links Manager WordPress Plugin)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-manager
Plugin Description
This plugin displays the built-in Link Manager, even if you upgrade to a later version of WordPress 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, 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 plugin below instead, or contact us for help editing your template code.
Simple Links
(Simple Links – Links Manager Plugin For WordPress)
Download URL
https://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-links/
Description Of Plugin
Simple Links recreates the concept of the built-in Link Manager while removing the shortcomings of the deprecated functionality.
How To Install Link Manager
Let’s install the Link Manager plugin.
From the WP dashboard menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
Select the Install Plugins > Search tab, type in “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 installation …
After activation, WordPress restores the ‘Links’ functionality to your sidebar menu …
(WordPress links menu)
Plugin Configuration
We recommend setting up your link categories first before you start adding new links. This way, when you create a new link, you can assign the link to link categories you have already created.
Link Categories
To create a new link category, go to the WP dashboard menu and select Links > Link Categories …
(Links Menu – Link Categories)
The ‘Link Categories’ page will display in your browser.
Type in the following information:
- Name: Enter the link category name.
- Slug: The slug is the web address bit 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 a link category description.
When done, click Add New Link Category …
(Link Categories)
The link category will display in the table …
(Link Categories area)
Tip: The default WordPress link category is called Blogroll . Unless you specify a category for a new link, WordPress automatically assigns new links to the default category …
(Default link category name is ‘blogroll’)
You may want to change this default link category name to something that will make sense to readers. This will not only make it easier for users of your site, but any new links that you add to your site will automatically display under the new category name …
(Change the default ’blogroll’ to something your visitors will understand)
To edit the ‘Blogroll’ link title, 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, and click on Update Link Category …
(Editing the default link category name)
Replace the category name ‘Blogroll’ with (e.g. ‘Recommended’, ‘Our Sponsors’ etc).
Let’s add a description for this link category. To add a link category description, hover over the link category name and click Edit …
(You can add/edit the category description)
Enter your description in the ‘Edit Link Category’ screen and click Update …
(Edit Link Category area)
Repeat the above process to add as many new link categories as your site needs.
After setting up your link categories, you can being adding new links.
How To Add Links
To add a new link, go to the main admin menu and choose Links > Add New …
(Links – Add New)
You will be taken to the ‘Add New Link’ page …
(Add New Link screen)
You can also access this page 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
Enter your link details in this section …
(Name, Web Address, Description)
Type in the following information:
- Name: What you type in this field displays as the link category name.
- Slug: The slug shows up in the URL of the link category. 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 your link details, select a Category and Target for your new link …
(Categories & Target)
In the Categories section, select a link category you’ve already added, or click on the ‘+ Add New Category’ link to create a new category link.
Next, select a target frame radio button for your link in the Target section. This lets you specify how the link should open when clicked on by visitors:
- _blank means that when a visitor clicks on your link, a separate browser window will open up to display the content for that link.
- _none means that when visitors click on your link, they will exit 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. Ignore this option if you don’t use frames, or if you don’t know what frames are.
Link Relationship XFN
This section provides some additional link functionality …
(Link Relationship (XFN) section)
Link Relationship (XFN) – XFN (XML Friends Network) allows you to define your relationship to the linked person. For example, if you have a professional relationship with Megan Smith and you link to her blog, you would probably tick 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. XFN makes your links 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 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. Other ‘rel’ attributes include author, help, index, start, etc.
You can learn more about XFN by visiting the site below:
Advanced
The last section of the Add New Link’ page lets you specify Advanced features for your links (some themes will ignore this. You can ignore this section, unless there’s a good reason to use it) …
(Advanced area – Add New Link)
The Advanced section fields include the following:
- Image Address: Specify an image to be displayed with the link. To use this feature, add the image URL 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 be displayed next to the link.
- 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 want to sort links by rating (see the ‘Links’ widget section below).
Enter information into the above fields or just leave this section blank.
When you are done 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 the checkbox next to Keep this link private, the link will not be visible in your Blogroll section …
(You can make links private by checking the box)
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 times and hide them when not required) …
(Making links private toggles their visibility on and off)
To see all your links, go to the dashboard navigation menu and select Links > All Links …
(Links – All Links)
The ‘Links’ screen will load in your browser. The Links screen displays your links and link information (e.g. link URL, link categories, visibility, etc.) …
(List of links)
Tip: To display additional columns in the table of links, click on the ‘Screen Options’ tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen Options – Table of links)
Enable/disable information on your Links table by ticking/unticking their check boxes …
(Hide or display – Links page)
How To Edit Links
To edit links, click on Links > All Links in the dashboard menu to bring up your links table …
(Links Menu – All Links)
Locate the item to be edited and click on Edit to bring up the link’s information …
(Editing link information)
Change your link details …
(Edit Link page)
After you’re done editing the link, you can:
- Click the Update Link button 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 remove the link from your table of links …
(Edit Link: Update Link button)
Deleting Links
To remove a link, go to your WP navigation menu and choose Links > All Links …
(Links Menu – All Links)
The ‘Links’ page will display in your web browser.
You can delete links individually, delete multiple links, or perform a bulk delete.
To delete individual links, hover your mouse cursor over the link that you want removed and click on Delete …
(Deleting links)
To delete a number of links at once, either click on the checkboxes next to individual items that you want deleted, or select all links by clicking on the check box next to the ‘Name’ column header at the top of the list …
(Deleting multiple links)
Select Delete from the ‘Bulk Actions’ dropdown menu, and click Apply to delete all selected links …
(Bulk-delete links)
The links will be removed …
(Deleted links notice)
Using The Plugin
Now that you know how to set up link categories and how to add, edit and delete links, it’s time to learn how to make links display on your website or blog.
Links Widget
Installing the Links Manager plugin adds a ‘Links’ widget to your ‘Widgets’ section.
To access and configure your Link widgets, go to the WP navigation menu and click on Appearance > Widgets …
(Appearance – Widgets)
This brings up the ‘Widgets’ page in your 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 it to one of the widget areas in the Widgets page and drop it wherever you would like the links section to show up …
(Adding a links widget to your sidebar using drag & drop)
The Links widget provides various options. You can specify what information you would like displayed about your links and how many links you want to display on your sidebar …
(Link widget - configurable options)
You can also add as many link widgets to your sidebar and footer as you want. This allows you to add and feature various link sections throughout your site …
(Add multiple link widgets to your sidebar)
Display a list of items 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 settings – Sorting options)
After setting up the Links widget, click the Save button to update your settings. A link section will show on your sidebar …
(An example of how 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? Go here if you want to learn more using widgets:
Link Manager – Additional Information
If you have added many links, the Link Manager plugin lets you easily administer these using filter, sort, and search 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 triangle displayed next to the column title …
(You can easily sort links)
Finding Your Links
You can search for links using the ‘Search Links’ button …
(Finding your links)
Filtering Links Function
You can filter links by categories …
(Filtering 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 screen)
This displays a list of all links grouped under a specific link category …
(Links filtered by link category)
Additional Link Options
If you plan to add a lot of links to 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 look at using a plugin that can help you administer links.
Link Library
(Link Library)
Plugin URL
http://wordpress.org/plugins/link-library/
Plugin Description
Link Library gives you the ability to display a list of all your link categories with a complete list of all your links together with notes and descriptions …
(Link Library links. Screenshot taken from Link Library plugin documentation.)
This plugin creates a page on your site containing a list of all of 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 of your link collection that lets your site users become aware of additions to your link library.
For more details about using this WordPress plugin, go here:
Congratulations! Now you know how to how to add and manage links to other sites in your WordPress sidebar menu.
We have written a detailed article about how to add HTML hyperlinks in your WordPress posts and pages. To learn more, go here:
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