Title: External Linker
Author: jstar198
Published: <strong>July 27, 2009</strong>
Last modified: August 9, 2009

---

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This plugin **hasn’t been tested with the latest 3 major releases of WordPress**.
It may no longer be maintained or supported and may have compatibility issues when
used with more recent versions of WordPress.

![](https://s.w.org/plugins/geopattern-icon/external-linker.svg)

# External Linker

 By [jstar198](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jstar198/)

[Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/external-linker.zip)

 * [Details](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/external-linker/#description)
 * [Reviews](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/external-linker/#reviews)
 *  [Installation](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/external-linker/#installation)
 * [Development](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/external-linker/#developers)

 [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/external-linker/)

## Description

You know how `target="_blank"` is invalid in XHTML strict? Well, this plugin uses
a Javascript hack to get around this. The code was originally taken from this thread
I came across: http://www.webmasterworld.com/forum21/11165.htm

For posts/pages, the plugin will automatically captures any `target="_blank"`‘s 
inserted by the WP editor and modifies them to keep the page XHTML Strict valid.
Then some small Javascript is inserted into each page which re-inserts `target="
_blank"` so that the functionality is restored _after_ your page has been validated!

For non-post/page content (eg templates/widgets), simply give your outbound links
a class name of `external`, and the rest will be done automatically while keeping
your page XHTML valid.

### To Do

Future things I plan to add:

 * Integration into WP edit page to allow use of plugin without manually editing
   HTML.

## Installation

 1. Upload/Copy plugin to your blog.
 2. Activate it.
 3. In posts & pages, links containing `target="_blank"` will be handled automatically.(
    This can be turned off by setting `EXTERNAL_LINKER_USE_FILTER` to `false` in the
    plugin file.)
 4. For templates & widgets, instead of using `target="_blank"` simply give your links
    a class name of `external`. (This name can be changed by editing `EXTERNAL_LINKER_CLASS_NAME`
    in the plugin file.)

## FAQ

  How does this affect my styles/CSS?

Not at all. The external class name is not used for any styling purposes, and you
can just combine it with whatever class names you’re already using, eg: `class="
external my-other-class"`

  Does this work on admin pages?

No, it only modifies links on non-admin pages (this is by design).

  Can I change the required class name from `external`?

Yes, simply open `external-linker.php` and change the `EXTERNAL_LINKER_CLASS_NAME`
constant.

  Can I turn off the automatic post filter?

Yes, simply open `external-linker.php` and change the `EXTERNAL_LINKER_USE_FILTER`
constant to `false`.

## Reviews

There are no reviews for this plugin.

## Contributors & Developers

“External Linker” is open source software. The following people have contributed
to this plugin.

Contributors

 *   [ jstar198 ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jstar198/)

[Translate “External Linker” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/external-linker)

### Interested in development?

[Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/external-linker/), 
check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/external-linker/),
or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/external-linker/)
by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/external-linker/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss).

## Changelog

#### 0.2

 * Added automatic post filter.

#### 0.1

 * Creation of plugin!

## Meta

 *  Version **0.2**
 *  Last updated **17 years ago**
 *  Active installations **10+**
 *  Tested up to **2.8.3**
 *  Language
 * [English (US)](https://wordpress.org/plugins/external-linker/)
 * Tags
 * [blank](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/blank/)[external](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/external/)
   [link](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/link/)[target](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/target/)
   [validation](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/tags/validation/)
 *  [Advanced View](https://test.wordpress.org/plugins/external-linker/advanced/)

## Ratings

No reviews have been submitted yet.

[Add my review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/external-linker/reviews/#new-post)

[See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/external-linker/reviews/)

## Contributors

 *   [ jstar198 ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/jstar198/)

## Support

Got something to say? Need help?

 [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/external-linker/)