FAQ

Answers to real questions about how Link Extension for XFN behaves.

What is XFN?

XFN (XHTML Friends Network) is a way to say how you know the person behind a link, using values like friend, colleague, spouse, or met in the link’s standard HTML rel attribute. The plugin supports all 18 values of the XFN 1.1 specification across 7 categories, and enforces the spec’s rules — you can pick only one Friendship, one Geographical, and one Family value per link, while the other categories allow multiples.

Does this restore the classic Link Manager?

No. The plugin doesn’t use or restore the classic WordPress Link Manager (wp_links). It works entirely inside the block editor and stores relationships in the rel attribute of links in your post content.

Where do I set relationships?

Two places:

• The link popover’s Advanced panel has an XFN section for inline text links. It’s always on.
• An optional XFN Relationships sidebar panel handles block-level links (Button, Image, Navigation Link, Site Logo, Post Title, Query Title, Embed). Enable it at Settings → Link Extension for XFN.

What happened to the “Floating Toolbar Button” setting?

It was removed in 1.0.4. The checkbox existed in earlier versions but the toolbar button it described was never implemented, so it did nothing. The two working interfaces — the link popover’s Advanced panel and the optional Inspector Controls panel — cover the same relationships.

Why don’t tooltips appear on my links?

Frontend tooltips — the hover/focus popover that shows a link’s relationships to visitors — are gated to WordPress 7.0 or later by a feature flag. On WordPress 6.9 and earlier they don’t appear. Your rel attributes are still saved and visible in the page source.

Are my relationships private?

No. Relationships are published as standard rel attributes in your page HTML, visible to anyone who views the source and to any tool that parses XFN. Think before tagging values like spouse, crush, or co-resident. See Privacy and data.

What happens to my relationships if I deactivate the plugin?

They stay. Relationships live in your post content as rel attributes, not in a plugin table, so deactivating or deleting the plugin leaves existing links untouched. You just lose the editor controls, blocks, and tooltips.

Two removal details worth knowing: the plugin has no uninstall script, so its single settings row (xfn_link_extension_options) stays in the database after deletion — remove it manually if you want a full purge. And the Blogroll, Relationship Badge, and Relationship Directory blocks are server-rendered, so after deletion they output nothing where they were placed.

Why is my XFN Blogroll or Relationship Directory empty?

Those blocks build their lists by scanning your published posts and pages for XFN-tagged links, with results cached for about 5 minutes. They need existing tagged links in published content to show anything. See Troubleshooting.

Does the plugin work with my theme?

Yes — rel attributes are part of standard HTML and don’t depend on the theme. No specific theme is required.

Does the plugin send data anywhere or track anything?

No. It makes no external requests and includes no analytics. See Privacy and data.

Does it integrate with the IndieWeb?

Yes, in a few ways: rel="me" identity links, support for blocks that expose an event URL (RSVP cards), and an automatic bridge for the separate Outpost plugin — relationships posted by a Micropub client through Outpost are applied to the matching links in your content. XFN itself is one of the IndieWeb building blocks. See Common tasks.

Can I add custom relationship values?

No. The plugin validates against the fixed XFN 1.1 list of 18 values.