Docs / Getting Started / Plugin Limitations

Plugin Limitations

WPLIA is built to do one thing well: scan the content stored in your WordPress database and extract the links it finds there.

Because of this focused approach, there are several things the plugin does not do. This page explains what those are and why.

External Websites and Backlinks from Other Sites

The plugin only reads your own WordPress database and it does not visit or crawl external websites. WPLIA cannot check whether any of them backlink to your website.

Backlink detection requires crawling the entire web or querying third-party SEO databases. WPLIA does neither. It only extracts added inside your own posts and pages.

Broken Links (404s)

WPLIA reads your content and extracts every URL it finds, but it does not visit those URLs to verify whether they are accessible, return a "404 Not Found" error, or trigger a redirect.

The plugin will list a link even if the destination page has been deleted or moved.

No Real Time Monitoring

WPLIA does not run continuously in the background and it scans the content on demand. When you publish a new post or edit an existing page, the plugin does not automatically update its report.

Excluded Content

Navigation Menus

WordPress keeps menu data in its own database tables, separate from your posts and pages. Because of that, any links you have added to your header, footer, or sidebar menus will not show up in the plugin report.

Widgets

Widgets are stored apart from post content, similar to menu items. Links inside text widgets will not be processed.

Comments

Comment data is stored separately in WordPress and is not part of your regular post content. Because of this, the plugin does not check comments for links.

Custom Files and PHP Files

The plugin works only with database content, not server files. It cannot process links stored inside:

  • Custom PHP templates inside your theme.

  • Links hardcoded into your functions.php file.

  • Uploaded files or documents.

The rule is simple: if the link is not inside post/page content, WPLIA will not be able to access it.

URL Endpoints and Rewrite Rules

WordPress uses rewrite rules to handle URL endpoints. This covers pagination, feed URLs, and any custom endpoints added by 3rd party plugins.

These rules are not saved in the database, so the plugin has no way to read or process them.