HM External Links
Automatically detects and handles external links site wide, opens them in a new tab and optionally displays an icon.
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Install
No release zip yet. The repository archive installs, but the folder name will carry the branch suffix and updates will not flow:
wp plugin install https://github.com/humanmade/hm-external-links/archive/refs/heads/main.zipAlso on Packagist as humanmade/hm-external-links:
composer require humanmade/hm-external-linksFrom the readme
HM External Links
A WordPress plugin that automatically detects and handles external links sitewide — no configuration needed. On every page load it scans all links and:
- Opens external links in a new tab (target="blank")
- Adds rel="noopener noreferrer" (preserving any existing rel values)
- Optionally displays an icon after external links in header, footer, and navigation items
Links added dynamically after page load (e.g. via AJAX or the Interactivity API) are handled automatically too.
Installation
Drop the plugin folder into wp-content/plugins/ or client-mu-plugins/ and activate it.
The build/ directory is included so no build step is required.
Disabling the icon
The icon is shown by default. To disable it:
Customising the icon appearance
The icon inherits its size from two CSS custom properties. If your theme already defines these (e.g. for button arrow icons), the external link icon will match automatically. You can also override them directly:
To replace the icon SVG entirely, override the CSS variable the plugin injects:
Accessibility note
The plugin adds target="blank" to external links but does not automatically announce this to screen reader users. It is r
Read the full README on GitHub →
Releases
| Tag | Published | Asset | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.0.0 | May 21, 2026 | — | — |