wp_links

Last updated: March 4, 2026

Legacy blogroll/links table. Deprecated since WordPress 3.5 (2012) but still present for backward compatibility.

Schema

Column	Type	Null	Default	Description
`link_id`	bigint(20) unsigned	NO	auto_increment	Unique identifier
`link_url`	varchar(255)	NO	”	Link URL
`link_name`	varchar(255)	NO	”	Link title/name
`link_image`	varchar(255)	NO	”	Image URL for link
`link_target`	varchar(25)	NO	”	Target: _blank, _top, etc.
`link_description`	varchar(255)	NO	”	Short description
`link_visible`	varchar(20)	NO	‘Y’	Visibility: Y or N
`link_owner`	bigint(20) unsigned	NO	1	User ID who created link
`link_rating`	int(11)	NO	0	Rating (0-10)
`link_updated`	datetime	NO	0000-00-00 00:00:00	Last update timestamp
`link_rel`	varchar(255)	NO	”	Relationship (XFN values)
`link_notes`	mediumtext	NO	NULL	Private notes
`link_rss`	varchar(255)	NO	”	RSS feed URL

Indexes

Key Name	Columns	Unique	Purpose
`PRIMARY`	link_id	Yes	Primary key
`link_visible`	link_visible	No	Filter visible links

Foreign Key Relationships

link_owner → wp_users.ID

Links can be categorized using the taxonomy system:

wp_term_relationships.object_id = wp_links.link_id
Taxonomy: link_category

Deprecation Status

The Links Manager was hidden in WordPress 3.5 (December 2012):

UI removed from core
Table still created for new installations
API functions still work
Link Manager plugin can restore the UI

Common Queries

Get all visible links

sql

SELECT * FROM wp_links 
WHERE link_visible = 'Y' 
ORDER BY link_name;

Get links with categories

sql

SELECT l.*, t.name as category
FROM wp_links l
JOIN wp_term_relationships tr ON l.link_id = tr.object_id
JOIN wp_term_taxonomy tt ON tr.term_taxonomy_id = tt.term_taxonomy_id
JOIN wp_terms t ON tt.term_id = t.term_id
WHERE tt.taxonomy = 'link_category'
  AND l.link_visible = 'Y'
ORDER BY t.name, l.link_name;

Get links by category

sql

SELECT l.*
FROM wp_links l
JOIN wp_term_relationships tr ON l.link_id = tr.object_id
JOIN wp_term_taxonomy tt ON tr.term_taxonomy_id = tt.term_taxonomy_id
JOIN wp_terms t ON tt.term_id = t.term_id
WHERE t.slug = 'blogroll'
  AND tt.taxonomy = 'link_category'
  AND l.link_visible = 'Y';

WordPress API Functions

These functions still work but may require the Link Manager plugin for UI:

get_bookmarks( $args ) – Get links/bookmarks
wp_insert_link( $linkdata ) – Insert link
wp_update_link( $linkdata ) – Update link
wp_delete_link( $link_id ) – Delete link
get_bookmark( $link_id ) – Get single link

XFN Relationships

The link_rel column supports XFN (XHTML Friends Network) values:

Value	Meaning
`friend`	Friend
`acquaintance`	Acquaintance
`contact`	Contact
`met`	Have met in person
`co-worker`	Co-worker
`colleague`	Colleague
`co-resident`	Co-resident
`neighbor`	Neighbor
`child`	Child
`parent`	Parent
`sibling`	Sibling
`spouse`	Spouse
`kin`	Family
`muse`	Muse
`crush`	Crush
`date`	Date
`sweetheart`	Sweetheart
`me`	Another site of mine

Multiple values can be space-separated.

Migration Alternatives

For modern link collections, consider:

Custom post type for links
Navigation menus
Block pattern with link blocks
Third-party bookmark plugins

Removal

If not using links, the table can be safely ignored. To remove:

sql

-- Only if you're sure you don't need it
DROP TABLE IF EXISTS wp_links;

Note: This is generally not recommended as it may confuse future debugging.

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