External Links
The external links plugin for WordPress lets you process outgoing links differently from internal links.
4.8(36 reviews)
·9.0K+ active installs·Updated 8 years agoAs of April 2026, External Links is a WordPress nofollow plugin with 9.0K+ active installations and a 4.8/5 rating from 36 reviews. It has been downloaded 358K+ times in total. Requires WordPress 2.8+ and PHP false+. Available on WordPress.org since 2008. Last updated 8 years ago — may have compatibility concerns. Downloads are up 20% this week. Top alternative: External Links – nofollow, noopener &….
4.8/536 reviews
9.0K+active installs
358K+total downloads
18 yearssince 2008
Overview
The external links plugin for WordPress lets you process outgoing links differently from internal links.
Usage
Under Settings / External Links, you can configure the plugin to:
- Process all outgoing links, rather than only those within your entries’ content and text widgets.
- Add an external link icon to outgoing links. You can use a class=”no_icon” attribute on links to override this.
- Add rel=nofollow to the links. (Note: You can use a rel=”follow” attribute on links to override this.)
- Open outgoing links in new windows. Note that this can damage your visitor’s trust towards your site in that they can think your site used a pop-under.
- Turn on “autolinks” functionality.
- Domains/subdomains you wish to Exclude from processing.
Auto Links
The A…
Ratings & Reviews
4.836 reviews
5 ★
31
4 ★
4
3 ★
0
2 ★
0
1 ★
1
Recent Reviews
Best of its kind!
by Jimmy Lee·2 years ago
Hope this one never goes away!!!
Works just fine
by yeoric·5 years ago
The only of all such plugins that I tried that works fine and did not break anything. Would be nice to have icons options, but hey, I’m thankful for it as it is, and the current icon is a good choice.
Simple and useful
by FeliceAntonio·5 years ago
Simple and comfortable to use, really nice style, I was looking for.
I’m searching to improve my website, accessibility and usability too and I removed all the target="_blank" on my posts and I marked the external links with this plugin.
Easy to use, and helpful.
Easy to install & configure
by prodos·7 years ago
Works perfectly!
Nice & tidy little icon is automatically added after all external links.
Can even configure external link/icons to open in a new browser page.
Other configurations also available.
Very nice.
Very good plugin /Muy recomendable
by Ramon·7 years ago
Very easy to use, it fulfils its purpose perfectly.
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Muy fácil de utilizar, cumple perfectamente con su cometido.
Download Trends
Today: 13Yesterday: 12This week: 77Period total: 4K
Compatibility
| WordPress | 2.8+ requiredTested up to 4.7.33 |
| PHP | false+ required |
Version Adoption
v6.8
95.5%
Other
4.5%
Top Alternatives to External Links
Frequently Asked Questions
Changelog
6.8.1
- Fix: Embedded Facebook urls no longer processed by Auto Convert text functionality
Contributors
Plugin data sourced from WordPress.org. Analysis and metrics by PluginSift.