by WebFactory 4.3 (247 reviews)

External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window

Name: External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window
Rating: 4.3 (247 reviews)
Author: WebFactory

Internal links & external links manager: open in new window or tab, control nofollow, ugc, sponsored & noopener. SEO friendly.

External Links ranks #499 among WordPress.org plugins with 90,000+ active installations, is #18 of 647 in the Multisite category, a 4.3/5 rating from 247 reviews, and was last updated Aug 16, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Compatible with WP 7.1.4

v2.66 Current Version v2.66

Updated 2 months ago Last Update on 16 Aug, 2026

Refreshed 18 hours ago Last Refreshed on

#18 of 647 in Multisite Top 1% by installs Downloads -30.4% this week

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#499

— No change

Active Installs

90K+

-2.9%

KW Avg Position

0.2 better

Downloads

1.8M

+60 today

Support Resolved

100%

— No change

Rating

86%

Review 4.3 out of 5

4.3 (247 reviews)

Next Milestone 100K

Total Progress 0%

90K+ 100K+

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

Pro

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Rank Changes

Current #499

Change

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Active Installs Growth

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Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

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Reviews & Ratings

4.3

247 reviews

Overall 86%

194 (79%)

7 (3%)

8 (3%)

6 (2%)

32 (13%)

Support Threads Overview

Resolved

Unresolved

Total Threads

Resolved

Unresolved

100%

Resolution Rate

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

6 known vulnerabilities on record · 0 in the last 24 months · checked 1 week ago

Mar 9, 2023

External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window [wp-external-links] < 2.58

Fixed in v2.58
Mar 8, 2023

External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window [wp-external-links] < 2.58

Fixed in v2.58
Nov 20, 2022

External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window [wp-external-links] < 2.56

Fixed in v2.56
Mar 31, 2016

External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window [wp-external-links] < 1.81

Fixed in v1.81
Mar 23, 2016

External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window [wp-external-links] < 1.81

Fixed in v1.81
External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window [wp-external-links] < 1.81

Fixed in v1.81

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Plugin Details

Version: 2.66
Last Updated: Aug 16, 2026
Requires WP: 4.2+
Tested Up To: 7.1.4
PHP Version: 7.2 or higher
Author: WebFactory

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆ 4.3
Reviews: 247
Support Threads: 1
Resolved: 100%

Keywords

external links new tab new window nofollow noopener

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TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

This plugin is for WordPress site owners who want control over how external and internal links behave on their site. It solves the problem of manually editing link attributes like nofollow, noopener, and target by automatically managing these settings site-wide without altering stored content.

Manage external and internal links
Open links in new window or tab
Add follow or nofollow
Add noopener and noreferrer
Add ugc and sponsored rel values
Add link icons (FontAwesome and Dashicons)
Set custom attributes and CSS classes
Network Settings (WPMU support)

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about External Links – nofollow, noopener & new window

Just use the option "Skip pages or posts" under the tab "Exceptions". For a more custom approach use the action wpel_apply_settings: add_action( 'wpel_apply_settings', function () { global $post; $ignored_post_ids = array( 1, 2, 4 ); if ( in_array( $post->ID, $ignored_post_ids ) ) { return false; } return true; }, 10 ); Using this filter you can ignore any request, like certain category, archive etcetera.

There's an option for ignoring links containing a certain class (under tab "Exceptions"). For a more flexible check on ignoring links you could use the filter wpel_before_apply_link: add_action( 'wpel_before_apply_link', function ( $link ) { // ignore links with class "some-cls" if ( $link->has_attr_value( 'class', 'some-cls' ) ) { $link->set_ignore(); } }, 10 );

Create redirect by using the wpel_link action. Add some code to functions.php of your theme, like: add_action( 'wpel_link', function ( $link ) { // check if link is an external links if ( $link->is_external() ) { // get current url $url = $link->get_attr( 'href' ); // set redirect url $redirect_url = '//somedom.com?url='. urlencode( $url ); $link->set_attr( 'href', $redirect_url ); } }, 10, 1 );

By adding this JavaScript code to your site: jQuery(function ($) { $('a[data-wpel-link="external"]').click(function (e) { // open link in popup window window.open($(this).attr('href'), '_blank', 'width=800, height=600'); // stop default and other behaviour e.preventDefault(); e.stopImmediatePropagation(); }); }); See more information on the window.open() method.

Add this JavaScript code to your site: jQuery(function ($) { $('a[data-wpel-link="external"]').click(function (e) { if (!confirm('Are you sure you want to open this link?')) { // cancelled e.preventDefault(); e.stopImmediatePropagation(); } }); });

Use some JavaScript code for opening PDF files in a new window: jQuery(function ($) { $('a[href$=".pdf"]').prop('target', '_blank'); });

Use some CSS style to change the icon for secure sites using https: a[href^="https"] .wpel-icon:before { content: "\f023" !important; } The code \f023 refers to a dashicon or font awesome icon.

If your plugin contains links it might be filtered by the WPEL plugin as well, causing a conflict. Here are some suggestions on solving the problem: Add data-wpel-link="ignore" to links that need to be ignored by WPEL plugin Use wpel_before_apply_link-action to ignore your links (f.e. containing certain class or data-attribute) Use wpel_apply_settings-filter to ignore complete post, pages, categories etc

You can report security bugs through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program. The Patchstack team help validate, triage and handle any security vulnerabilities. Report a security vulnerability.