WP External Links (nofollow new tab seo)

Wordpress Plugin
Download latest - 2.56

Developers

WebFactory
freelancephp

Download Stats

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Yesterday 113
Last Week 1,043
All Time 291,865
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Manage all external & internal links on your site. Control icons, nofollow, noopener, ugc (User Generated Content), sponsored and if links open in new window or new tab.

WP Links plugin was completely rebuilt in v2 and has lots of new features, like noopener, ugc and sponsored values for rel; font icons, internal links options and full WPMU support.

Link Scanner - PRO feature

Check every single link on your site! See if it's broken or not, if it's redirected, what's the target and rel attribute and what page exactly it's linking to. This feature is a part of the WP Links PRO plugin.

Features

  • Manage external and internal links
  • Open links in new window or tab
  • Add follow or nofollow (for SEO)
  • Add noopener and noreferrer (for security)
  • Add ugc (User Generated Content) and sponsored values to rel (Google announcement)
  • Add link icons (FontAwesome and Dashicons)
  • Set other attributes like title and CSS classes
  • Scan complete page (or just posts, comments, widgets)
  • SEO friendly
  • Link Scanner - check all links on your site - PRO feature
  • Exit Confirmation - protect visitors and traffic when external links are clicked - PRO feature
  • Link Rules - create advanced link rules for chosen link groups - PRO feature

And more...

  • Network Settings (WPMU support)
  • Use template tag to apply plugin settings on specific contents
  • Set data-attribute to change how individual links will be treated
  • Use built-in actions and filters to implement your specific needs

Easy to use

After activating you can set all options for external and internal links on the plugins admin page.

On the fly

The plugin filters the output and changes the links on the fly. The real contents (posts, pages, widget etcetera) will not be changed in the database. When deactivating the plugin, all contents will be the same as it was before.

GDPR compatibility

We are not lawyers. Please do not take any of the following as legal advice. WP External Links does not track, collect or process any user data. Nothing is logged or pushed to any 3rd parties. We also don't use any 3rd party services or CDNs. Based on that, we feel it's GDPR compatible, but again, please, don't take this as legal advice.

Like the plugin? Rate it to support the development.

If you're having problems with SSL or HTTPS try our free WP Force SSL plugin. It's a great way to enable SSL and fix SSL problems.


Releases (58 )

Version Release Date Change Log
2.56 2022-11-20
  • 2022-11-20
    • security fixes
    • removed all external CDNs
    • fixed translation issues
2.55 2022-07-09
  • 2022-07-09
    • fixed current_screen() bug
    • fixed "icon_type" cannot be found bug
    • introduction of the PRO version
    • removed link scanner beta
2.51 2022-01-28
  • 2022-01-28
    • fixed icons for excluded external links
    • fixed FontAwesome conflict
2.50 2021-07-09
  • 2021-07-09
    • completely new GUI
    • link scanner / link analyzer SaaS beta
2.48 2021-01-30
  • 2021-01-30
    • added flyout menu
    • removed promo for WP 301 Redirects PRO
2.47 2020-10-05
  • 2020-10-05
    • added settings link to plugins table
    • added promo for WP 301 Redirects PRO
2.46 2020-05-09
  • 2020-05-09
    • fixed "unable to save post" when using Gutenberg
    • sorry for two updated in two days :(
2.45 2020-05-09
  • 2020-05-08
    • fixed compatibility issue with Site Kit by Google
2.43 2020-04-25
  • 2019-12-27
    • improved link detection regex
2.42 2019-12-18
  • 2019-12-18
    • fixed various undefined variable notices
    • fixed an issue when theres no href attribute set in an A element
2.40 2019-11-20
  • 2019-11-20
    • no longer loads CSS and FontAwesome globally on admin pages
    • added support for "ugc" (User Generated Content) and "sponsored" values in rel
2.35 2019-09-12
  • 2019-09-12
    • FontAwesome updated to 4.7 with 41 new icons
    • bug fix: ship anchor URLs (#anchor)
    • bug fix: don't match domain if the name is contained in the URL
2.32 2019-07-09
  • 2019-07-09
    • security fixes
2.3 2019-06-14
  • 2019-06-14
    • bug fixes
    • 40,000 installations hit on 2018-03-13
2.2.0 2017-11-04
  • Added option ignore links by classes
    • Added option skip pages and posts by id
    • Fixed bug checking internal links without protocol (starting //)
2.1.3 2017-05-21
  • Commit error
2.1.2 2017-05-21
  • Fixed bug checking internal links with https
    • Fixed bug with REST API
    • Fixed conflict Widget CSS Classes plugin (partially fixed)
2.1.1 2017-03-20
  • Fixed updating old plugin values
  • Fixed links containing rel="external" will also be treated as external
  • Fixed prevent caching old styles and scripts
2.1.0 2016-06-09
  • Added tab with options for excluded links
  • Added wpel-no-icon class to set on links
  • Added action wpel_before_apply_link
  • Added option ignore mailto links
  • Fixed ignore links of admin bar
  • Fixed regexp for ignoring tags
  • Fixed text domain to text slug
  • Made filters wpel_before_filter and wpel_after_filter "private"
  • Removed DOMElement dependency
  • Removed rel="external" option for internal links
  • Removed filter wpel_regexp_link (this should not be changed)
2.0.4 2016-06-06
  • Fixed DOMElement breaks of text containing &
2.0.3 2016-06-05
  • Fixed bug ignoring links in
    section
2.0.2 2016-06-05
  • Fixed bug parsing empty attributess
  • Changed mailto links wil be completely ignored
2.0.1 2016-06-04
  • Fixed mark mailto links as excluded
  • Fixed include / exclude url's
2.0.0 2016-06-04
  • REQUIREMENTS: PHP 5.3+
  • Complete rebuilt
  • Added noopener and noreferrer
  • Added font icons (font awesome and dashicons)
  • Added options for internal links
  • Added Network settings (WPMU support)
  • Contribution: David Page solving bug home_url()
1.81 2016-05-09
  • Security update (reported by Vulnerability Lab)
  • Some small changes
1.80 2015-07-23
  • Added filter hook wpel_external_link_attrs to change attributes before creating the link
  • Added filter hook wpel_ignored_external_links
  • Removed phpQuery option
  • Moved ignore selectors option
1.70 2015-06-23
  • Added option to ignore all subdomains
1.62 2015-04-13
  • Fixed php error when using phpQuery option
1.61 2015-04-12
  • Fixed deprecated split() function
  • Fixed deprecated $wp_version
1.60 2015-02-23
  • Added option to replace "follow" values of external links with "nofollow"
  • Updated FAQ with custom solutions
1.56 2015-02-13
  • Fixed bug jQuery as dependency for js scripts
  • Fixed bug "no-icon class in same window" working with javascript
  • Fixed bug setting defaults on installation
1.55 2014-09-18
  • Fixed bug JS error: Uncaught TypeError: undefined is not a function
  • Fixed bug PHP error for links without href attribute ("undefined index href")
  • Replaced deprecated jQuery .live() to .on() (contribution by Alonbilu)
1.54 2014-06-21
  • Fixed bug opening links containing html tags (like )
1.53 2014-06-16
  • Fixed bug also opening ignored URL's on other tab/window when using javascript
  • Changed javascript open method (data-attribute)
1.52 2014-06-13

= * Added filter hook wpel_internal_link * Fixed use_js option bug * Fixed bug loading non-existing stylesheet * Minified javascripts
1.51 2014-04-11
  • Fixed also check url's starting with //
  • Fixed wpel_external_link also applied on ignored links
1.50 2014-01-21
  • Removed stylesheet file to save extra request
  • Added option for loading js file in wp_footer
  • Fixed bug with data-* attributes
  • Fixed bug url's with hash at the end
  • Fixed PHP errors
1.41 2013-05-31
  • Fixed Bug: wpmel_external_link filter hook was not working correctly
1.40 2013-05-27
  • Added action hook wpel_ready
  • Added filter hook wpel_external_link
  • Added output flush on wp_footer
  • Fixed Bug: spaces before url in href-attribute not recognized as external link
  • Fixed Bug: external links not processed (regexpr tag conflict starting with an a, like
  • Cosmetic changes: added "Admin Settings", replaced help icon, restyled tooltip texts, removed "About this plugin" box
1.31 2013-03-13
  • Fixed passing arguments by reference using & (deprecated for PHP 5.4+)
  • Fixed options save failure by adding a non-ajax submit fallback
1.30 2012-05-18
  • Re-arranged options in metaboxes
  • Added option for no icons on images
1.21 2012-05-12
  • Fixed phpQuery bugs (class already exists and loading stylesheet)
  • Solved php notices
1.20 2012-02-03
  • Added option to ignore certain links or domains
  • Solved tweet button problem by adding link to new ignore option
  • Made JavaScript method consistent to not using JS
  • Solved PHP warnings
  • Solved bug adding own class
  • Changed bloginfo "url" to "wpurl"
1.10 2011-08-04
  • Resolved old parsing method (same as version 0.35)
  • Option to use phpQuery for parsing (for those who didn't experience problems with version 1.03)
1.03 2011-08-03
  • Workaround for echo DOCTYPE bug (caused by attributes in the head-tag)
1.02 2011-08-02
  • Solved the not working activation hook
1.01 2011-08-02
  • Solved bug after live testing
0.35 2011-06-13
  • Widget Logic options bug
0.34 2011-06-13
  • Added option only converting external <a> tags to XHTML valid code
  • Changed script attribute language to type
0.33 2011-04-09
  • Add option to fix js problem
  • Fixed PHP / WP notices
0.32 2011-04-06
  • For jQuery uses live() function so also opens dynamicly created links in given target
  • Fixed bug of changing <abbr> tag
  • Small cosmetical adjustments
0.31 2011-03-17
  • Small cosmetical adjustments
0.30 2011-03-07
  • Improved Admin Options, f.e. target option looks more like the Blogroll target option
  • Added option for choosing which content should be filtered
0.21 2011-03-03
  • Solved bug removing icon stylesheet
0.20 2011-03-02
  • Put icon styles in external stylesheet
  • Can use "ext-icon-..." to show a specific icon on a link
  • Added option to set your own No-Icon class
  • Made "Class" optional, so it's not used for showing icons anymore
  • Added 3 more icons
0.12 2011-02-28
  • Options are organized more logical
  • Added some more icons
0.11 2011-02-28
  • JavaScript uses window.open() (tested in FireFox Opera, Safari, Chrome and IE6+)
  • Also possible to open all external links in the same new window
  • Some layout changes on the Admin Options Page
0.10 2011-02-27
  • Features: opening in a new window, set link icon, set "external", set "nofollow", set css-class
  • Replaces external links by clean XHTML tags
  • Internalization implemented (no language files yet)

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