Opens all (or specific) external links in a new window. XHTML Strict compliant and search engine optimized (SEO).
| Author: | WebFactory (profile at wordpress.org) |
| WordPress version required: | 4.0 |
| WordPress version tested: | 6.8 |
| Plugin version: | 1.44 |
| Added to WordPress repository: | 24-09-2010 |
| Last updated: | 16-04-2025 |
| Rating, %: | 90 |
| Rated by: | 76 |
| Plugin URI: | https://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/open-ext... |
| Total downloads: | 447 456 |
| Active installs: | 30 000+ |
 Click to start download |
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Opens external links in a new tab or a or new window. You can set URLs that should either be forced to open in a new window or ignored.
The plugin produces XHTML Strict compliant code and is search engine optimized (SEO).
This is done using JavaScript’s window.open()-function. It adds only a few lines of vanilla JavaScript to the page, and does not require any external libraries like jQuery.
Most other plugins perform a hack by altering the target parameter (i.e. <a href="http://somewhere.example" target="_blank">). That method is not XHTML Strict compliant.
This plugin handles the links client-side, which lets search engines follow the links properly. Also, if a browser does not support JavaScript, the plugin is simply inactive, and does not result in any errors.
If you need a more advanced plugin, with more options try our free WP External Links plugin.
Credits
Inspired by the Zap_NewWindow plugin by Tom Köhler.
The banner is a photo by Monja Da Riva.
Translations
Danish by Kristian Risager Larsen
Dutch by Paul Staring
Lithuanian by Vincent G
Other translations will be appreciated!
Known bugs
The plugin conflicts with other plugins that change the links’ `onClick´ attribute.
Original developer
Kristian Risager Larsen – kezze.dk
Screenshots
FAQ
ChangeLog