The Permalinker
Use short codes to dynamically link to your WordPress pages and posts. All you need is the ID. This can come in handy when developing content for WordPress sites. Makes for a cleaner migration with no need to manipulate…
Consider an alternative
The Permalinker shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 2 years ago, and scores 35/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (100+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in over a year
- Only tested up to WordPress 6.4 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where The Permalinker stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| development | >100 |
| linking | >100 |
| migration | >100 |
| permalinks | >100 |
| staging | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
Rating breakdown
★★★★★★★★★★ 5 from 2 reviews
About The Permalinker
From the official readme · v1.9.0Description
Use short codes to dynamically link to your WordPress pages and posts. All you need is the ID. This can come in handy when developing content for WordPress sites. Makes for a cleaner migration with no need to manipulate content when moving from one subdirectory or domain to another.
Attributes of append class, rel, and target are supported within the [permalink] opening tag. See FAQs. You can insert the token %post_title% to dynamically insert the post’s title into anchor text (content between the opening and closing shortcode).
A short code for [template_uri] exists if you’d like to dynamically grab the full URL to your current template directory (useful for adding images and other resources bundled in a template via the page/post editor).
Example 1: Create link.
[permalink id=2 rel="internal"]Check out my latest post named %post_title%[/permalink] or use `[permalink]this link[/permalink]` to link to this post.
Example 2: Output Permalink URL.
<a href="[permalink]">;This post.</a>;
Example 3: Template Directory URI
<img src="[template_uri]/photos/me_grandma.jpg" alt="A Photo of Me and My Grandma" />
Installation
- Download and unzip to the ‘wp-content/plugins/’ directory
- Activate the plugin.
Frequently asked questions
I’ve got multiple permalinker short codes and it’s interpreting them incorrectly and not creating the anchor tags properly. What gives?
It is recommended that if you are mixing non-terminating short codes with terminating codes, that you change all non-terminating short codes into terminating short codes with whitespace as the content: [permalink] becomes `[permalink] [/permalink]` Leading or trailing whitespace is trimmed off of any content within the permalinker short code tags.
Can I add a class, rel, or target attribute to the permalinker output?
Yes. Simply add class, rel, or target attributes to the [permalink] short code and they will be added to the resulting anchor element: [permalink id="232" rel="related" target="_blank" class="highlight"]My favorite post[/permalink]
Can I append a named anchor/ID/query string to the generated permalink?
Yes! Simply use the new append attribute (added in version 1.6): [permalink id="232" append="#comments"]People are talking, talking 'bout people.[/permalink]
Changelog
1.9.0
- Added important security enhancements for escaping URLs and HTML content to prevent XSS and other potential security holes
- Some legacy output may be affected as we are now escaping URLs and HTML attributes.
- Content inside of the shortcode should not be escaped as we want to preserve any HTML within that shortcode content/anchor text.
1.8.0
- WP 5.6 + PHP 7.4 compatibility
- Minor code formatting clean up
- Moved help documentation to Admin > Dashboard menu
1.7.1 (2019-04-28)
- WP 5.2 compatibility
1.7 (2012-01-06)
- Added ability to dynamically insert post_title into anchor text using the token %post_title%
Screenshots
For developers
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FAQ
The Permalinker: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 15, 2026
Is The Permalinker free?
Yes. The Permalinker is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is The Permalinker safe to use in 2026?
The Permalinker shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 100+ sites, is rated 5/5 and was last updated 2 years ago, and scores 35/100 on our health check.
How many websites use The Permalinker?
The Permalinker is active on 100+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 13,094 times since it launched in June 2009. It was downloaded 109 times in the last 30 days.
Does The Permalinker work with WordPress 7.1?
The Permalinker is officially tested up to WordPress 6.4.13, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was The Permalinker last updated?
The latest version, 1.9.0, was released on December 13, 2024 (2 years ago).
Who makes The Permalinker?
The Permalinker is developed and maintained by Andy Stratton.
What are the best alternatives to The Permalinker?
The most popular alternatives to The Permalinker are Query Monitor (200K+ installs), Yoast Test Helper (60K+ installs) and What The File (40K+ installs).
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