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SM - Auto Internal Linker

Automatically links predefined keywords/phrases in news articles to related posts within the site.

by Martin Nestorov · github.com/mnestorov/smarty-auto-internal-linker · website

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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/mnestorov/smarty-auto-internal-linker/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Readme

SM - Auto Internal Linker

Overview

SM – Auto Internal Linker is a lightweight WordPress plugin that automatically turns the first occurrences of predefined keywords or phrases inside your posts into bold, SEO-friendly internal links. Originally built for high-throughput news sites, it now ships with Polylang-aware language scoping, so every keyword can link only inside the language you choose.

Description

The plugin watches every post/page on render, finds matching keywords in the body (never in headings, quotes, or existing anchors) and injects an <a> element that :

  • points to the URL you defined,
  • inherits the exact capitalisation the reader sees (e.g. NFT, nft or Nft),
  • carries an optional nofollow attribute,
  • is styled with the class .smarty-aul-link (bold by default).

The admin screen lets editors manage keywords, per-keyword link limits and language with a friendly UI. An hourly WP-Cron task back-fills links into older posts so your archive stays fresh as new keywords arrive.

Features

Category What you get
Smart linking Case-insensitive matching with word boundaries, preserves original casing in output.
Per-keyword cap Each keyword obeys its own max-links-per-post value (1 – 3).
Language scope New Language selector (Any / bg / en …). Keywords link only in the chosen Polylang language.
Scope control Skips headings <h1-h6>, blockquotes, existing <a> tags.
Admin UI Add / edit / delete keywords, set dofollow / nofollow, max links, all from WP Dashboard.
Cron for old posts Hourly routine updates 20 older posts (older than a week) with fresh links.
Bold by default Injected links get font-weight:bold; via a tiny inline stylesheet (easily override).
Performance MySQL table + 24 h transient cache; zero queries on most page loads.
No classes, pure functions 100 % procedural PHP with smarty_aul_ prefix and function_exists guards.
I18n-ready Text domain smarty-auto-internal-linker; ready for translation files in /languages.

Installation

  1. Download the plugin
    grab smarty-auto-internal-linker.php from the repo’s latest release.

  2. Upload & activate
    Plugins → Add New → Upload Plugin → choose the file → Install → Activate.

  3. (First-run)
    On activation the plugin will:

    • create the table {$wpdb->prefix}smarty_aul_dictionary_keywords,
    • schedule the hourly WP-Cron event.

  4. Done.
    A new top-level menu “Auto Links” appears in the admin sidebar.

Usage

  1. Add a keyword
    Auto Links → Add Keyword → fill in the phrase, target URL, choose max links/post and rel.

  2. Edit / delete
    Click Edit next to an entry, update the fields and click Update Keyword.
    Or click Delete to remove it entirely.

  3. Styling
    Links are bold by default via .smarty-aul-link. Override in your theme: 

    
.smarty-aul-link{font-weight:600;color:#1e90ff;text-decoration:none;}

  4. Testing View any single post containing the phrase – on the first render you’ll see the new link.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: The plugin isn’t linking anything. What’s wrong?

A: Make sure the keyword exists exactly (case doesn’t matter but spaces do). Ensure you haven’t hit the global (3) or per-keyword cap.

Q: Can I link inside custom post types?

A: Change the early guard in smarty_aul_filter_content() to add your CPT condition.

Q: How do I disable the bold style?

A: Either dequeue the inline style:

add_action( 'wp_enqueue_scripts', function(){
    wp_dequeue_style( 'smarty-aul-inline' );
}, 20 );

or override .smarty-aul-link{font-weight:normal;} in your theme CSS.

Q: Will it slow my site down?

A: No – the dictionary is cached for 24 h and the DOM manipulation runs only on single post views.

Q: How can I import 500 keywords at once?

A: Insert rows directly into wp_smarty_aul_dictionary_keywords (or use WP-CLI) and then delete_transient( 'smarty_aul_dictionary_cache' );.

Translation

This plugin is translation-ready. Add translations to the languages directory.

Changelog

For a detailed list of changes and updates made to this project, please refer to our Changelog.

License

This project is released under the GPL-2.0+ License.

Read the full README on GitHub →