External Link Plugin

This plugin will mark external links so users don't leave your site by accident.

This will only work for forced links marked up using []-syntax - like i.e. [[http://external.site.com][an external site]]).

URLs that are just written in straight text (i.e. just http://external.site.com) are left untouched.

Syntax Rules

Remember to use the [] forced link syntax.

Plugin Settings

• One line description, is shown in the TextFormattingRules topic:
  • Set SHORTDESCRIPTION = This plugin will mark external links so users don't leave your site by accident.

• External link mark (besides images it is also possible to use HTML entity characters like e.g. "»" (»))
  • Set MARK =

• Debug plugin: (See output in data/debug.txt)
  • Set DEBUG = 0

Plugin Installation Instructions

This plugin is installed by default with a TWiki release. You should not need to install the plugin unless it is for an upgrade.

• Download the ZIP file from the Plugin web (see below)
• Unzip ExternalLinkPlugin.zip in your twiki installation directory. Content:

  File:	Description:
  data/TWiki/ExternalLinkPlugin.txt	Plugin topic
  lib/TWiki/Plugins/ExternalLinkPlugin.pm	Plugin Perl module
  pub/TWiki/ExternalLinkPlugin/external.gif	Default graphic for external link mark
  ExternalLinkPlugin_installer.pl	Plugin installer script

• (Dakar) Visit configure in your TWiki installation, and enable the plugin in the {Plugins} section.

Testing your installation

To test if the plugin is correctly installed, check the following links.

External links

The links in the "If plugin enabled"-column should be marked with a %EXTERNALLINKPLUGIN_MARK% if the plugin is functioning correctly.

Verbatim	Pre-rendered	If plugin enabled
[[ftp://no.where.com][Some nonexistent FTP site]]	Some nonexistent FTP site	Some nonexistent FTP site
[[https://sourceforge.net][Sourceforge.net under a secure connection]]	Sourceforge.net under a secure connection	Sourceforge.net under a secure connection
[[http://TWiki.org][TWiki.org: TWiki's home]]	TWiki.org: TWiki's home	TWiki.org: TWiki's home

Local links

Not surprisingly, ExternalLinkPlugin won't mark local links as being external. The following links should not be marked with a %EXTERNALLINKPLUGIN_MARK%:

Verbatim	Pre-rendered	If plugin enabled
[[%ATTACHURL%/bli.png][link to (nonexistent) local attachment]]	link to (nonexistent) local attachment	link to (nonexistent) local attachment
[[%SCRIPTURL%/view%SCRIPTSUFFIX%/%WEB%/%TOPIC%][explicit link to this topic]]	explicit link to this topic	explicit link to this topic

Plugin Info

Plugin Author:	TWiki:Main.AurelioAHeckert, TWiki:Main.NelsonFerraz, TWiki:Main.AntonioTerceiro
Plugin Version:	v1.11 - 24 Apr 2006
Change History:
24 Apr 2006:	(v1.11) - %TOPIC% removed from =MARK definition, wasn't expanded correctly.

| 23 Apr 2006: | (v1.10) - Incorporated patch from TWiki:Main.TobiasRoeser (only mark external link once in an included scenario). Minor doc brush-up. Changed default marker to external.gif graphic. (TWiki:Main.SteffenPoulsen).

02 Nov 2005:	(v1.00) - Initial release
CPAN Dependencies:	none
Other Dependencies:	none
Perl Version:	5.005
License:	GPL (GNU General Public License)
Benchmarks:	GoodStyle nn%, FormattedSearch nn%, ExternalLinkPlugin nn%
Plugin Home:	http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/ExternalLinkPlugin
Feedback:	http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/ExternalLinkPluginDev
Appraisal:	http://TWiki.org/cgi-bin/view/Plugins/ExternalLinkPluginAppraisal

Related Topics: TWikiPreferences, TWikiPlugins