Native Content Relationships

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The Missing Relationship Engine for WordPress

Structured, indexed, scalable relationships between posts, users, and terms.

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WordPress.org
🧩

One API, many surfaces

ncr_add_relation, ncr_get_related, WP_Query content_relation. PHP, REST, shortcodes, Gutenberg, Elementor.

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Performance at scale

Indexed relationship table. Sub-2ms lookups at 1M rows. Benchmarks and scaling guide.

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Migrate from meta & ACF

Escape technical debt. Migration guides for post meta, ACF relationship fields, and P2P.

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Integrations

WooCommerce, Elementor, Gutenberg, WPML, headless REST. Same relationships everywhere.

php
ncr_add_relation( 123, 'post', 456, 'post', 'related_to' );
$related = ncr_get_related( 123, 'post', 'related_to', [ 'limit' => 10 ] );

Stability promise

Schema stable from 1.x onward. Backward compatibility guaranteed.

Pick your path ​

Quick Start

Install, add your first relationship in the UI, and show it with a shortcode or block.

Introduction

What is NCR, minimal example, and next steps to installation and API.

Relationships

Create, query, and remove from code. PHP, WP_Query, shortcodes, theme example.

Use Cases

Products & accessories, courses & lessons, related articles, favorites, WooCommerce.

FAQ

WooCommerce, ACF migration, page builders, users & terms, data privacy, schema stability.

Benchmarks

Latency at 100k and 1M rows, memory usage, and comparison with meta-based approaches.

The problem ​

WordPress does not have native relationships.

  • Post meta is unindexed — meta_query on relationship-style keys doesn't scale; full table scans as data grows.
  • Taxonomies are semantic grouping, not relational modeling — Categories and tags group posts; they don't model “post A links to post B” or directional graphs.
  • Meta queries degrade with scale — Complex relationship logic in meta becomes slow and hard to maintain.
  • Complex modeling becomes messy — Workarounds (custom tables, multiple meta keys, P2P-style plugins) add technical debt.

Developers need a first-class, indexed relationship layer. Not a workaround.

The solution ​

A dedicated relationship table and a small API. Same data, every surface.

Post → Indexed relationship table → Post / User / Term

  • Dedicated relational storage — One table, proper indexes. No post meta or taxonomy hacks.
  • Directional relationships — From/to, bidirectional or one-way. Model courses→lessons, favorites, parent/child.
  • WP_Query integration — Query by relationship in the loop. content_relation in your query args.
  • REST & CLI ready — Optional REST embed; WP-CLI commands for scripting and migration.
  • Multilingual safe — Works with WPML, Polylang. Relation IDs are stable across languages.

One API, one schema, many surfaces (PHP, REST, shortcodes, Gutenberg, Elementor).

Real-world use cases ​

Don’t list features. Show patterns.

Content modeling

  • Courses → Lessons
  • Products → Accessories
  • Articles → Related content

User relationships

  • Favorites, bookmarks
  • Multi-author posts

Taxonomy extensions

  • Featured categories
  • Curated collections

→ Use cases — Products, courses, related articles, favorites, with code and shortcodes.

Performance & benchmarks ​

Most WP plugins never show performance data. We do.

Scenario100k relations1M relations
Point lookup (mean)0.49 ms1.00 ms
Point lookup (P95)0.85 ms2.73 ms
Covering index mean0.22 ms0.61 ms
Peak memory delta—~2.21 MB

Covering index: (type, from_id, to_id) — index-only lookups; query time O(log n). Sub-2ms typical at 1M rows.

→ Benchmarks — Full methodology, scaling guide, and comparison with meta-based approaches.

Integrations ​

WooCommerceElementorGutenbergWPML / PolylangHeadless (REST)SEO (Yoast, Rank Math)

Same relationships everywhere. No lock-in.

Architecture & stability promise ​

Critical for ecosystem and agency adoption.

Schema stability guaranteeStable from 1.x onward. No breaking schema changes in the 1.x line.
Backward compatibility commitmentPublic API and table structure remain compatible; new features are additive.
Semantic versioningVersion numbers reflect compatibility expectations.

→ Architecture overview · Schema

Developer section ​

Short and scannable.

PHP APIWP_QueryREST APIWP-CLIHooks & filtersShortcodes

→ Quick Start — First relationship in minutes.
→ Relationships — Create, query, remove from code.

Migration ​

Escape from technical debt. We offer a path off meta and legacy plugins.

Migrating from ACF Relationship Fields

Export ACF, choose a relation type, import, switch code.

Migrating from post meta

Move meta-based relationships into NCR.

Migrating from Posts 2 Posts

P2P to NCR migration path.

Community & roadmap ​

Repository — GitHub — WP-Native-Content-Relationships

Contributing — How to contribute: issues, docs, code. Standards and hooks documented.

Roadmap — Near term & future: documentation, stability, integrations; WPGraphQL, tutorials, ecosystem.

Transparency builds trust. No fluff.

Schema stable from 1.x onward. Backward compatibility guaranteed.

GPLv2 or later · Native Content Relationships