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External Links Overview

External Links Overview

Por Christian Ott
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Descripción

The "External Links Overview" plugin scans your WordPress posts and pages to find all outgoing external links. It provides a detailed table view of these links, including source page, anchor text, target URL, target domain, rel attribute, a new Target attribute column, and link status (OK or potentially broken). The plugin features domain analysis, status checking for external links, the ability to manually mark links as OK, a CSV export function (including rel and target attributes), and provides a dashboard widget summarizing link status. This plugin uses the unique prefix seokelo_ for functions, options, and database tables to avoid conflicts.

For more information and documentation, please visit the official plugin page on seo-kreativ.de. Support is available in the WordPress.org support forum.

Key Features

  • Collects and analyzes external links from posts and pages.
  • Detailed table view with search, filter, and sort options, including rel attribute and a new Target attribute column.
  • Checks the status of external links (optional, via button click).
  • Identifies potentially broken external links.
  • Allows manually marking links as "OK" if the check was inaccurate.
  • Provides domain analysis: See which external domains you link to most often.
  • Offers a CSV export function for external link data (including rel and target attributes).
  • Collects, displays, and exports link rel attribute information.
  • Collects, displays (in a dedicated column), and exports link target attribute information (e.g., _blank, _self).
  • Tab-based user interface for easy navigation between the link table and domain analysis.
  • Detects post updates to allow targeted rescanning.
  • Dashboard widget showing a summary of broken links.
  • Uses unique prefixes (seokelo_ / SEOKELO_) for functions, classes, options, and database table to prevent conflicts.

Usage

After activating the plugin, navigate to the "External Links" menu in your WordPress admin area.

  1. Click "Collect All External Links" to initiate the first scan (or rescan) of your content. This will populate the wp_seokelo_external_links table, including rel and target attributes.
  2. The plugin will process your posts and pages in batches. Progress will be displayed.
  3. Once finished, the "Link Table" tab will show all found external links, including the new "Target" column which displays values like _blank, _self, etc.
    • Use the search bar to find specific links.
    • Sort the table by clicking on column headers (including "Target").
    • Use the "Show only broken links" checkbox.
  4. Click "Check External Links Status" to verify link reachability.
  5. For links marked as "Broken" that work, use the "Mark as OK" button.
  6. Switch to the "Domain Analysis" tab for a domain summary.
  7. Click "Export to CSV" to download link data, including rel and target attributes.
  8. If you update posts, use "Update Links from Changed Posts" for efficient rescanning.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPL v2 or later.

Capturas

  • Link Table: The main "Link Table" tab, displaying all found external links with details (including Rel attribute and the new Target column), search/filter options, and actions. (corresponds to screenshot-1.*)
  • Domain Analysis: The "Domain Analysis" tab, showing metrics and distribution for domains linked to from your content. (corresponds to screenshot-2.*)

Instalación

  1. Upload the entire external-links-overview folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory.
  2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress. (Activation creates/updates the database table wp_seokelo_external_links).
  3. Find the plugin menu under 'External Links' in the WordPress admin sidebar.
  4. Check the WordPress Dashboard for the "External Links Overview: Status" widget (if enabled in options, enabled by default).

Important Update Note: If updating from a version prior to 1.1.1, the database table name and option names have changed to use the seokelo_ prefix. You will need to run "Collect All External Links" again after updating to populate the new table. If updating to 1.2.0 and the link_target column was not previously populated correctly, running "Collect All External Links" is also recommended.

FAQ

Does the plugin check links in comments, widgets, or theme files?

No, the plugin currently scans the content of published posts and pages only (configurable via the seokelo_allowed_post_types filter). Links in comments, widgets, theme files, or added by other plugins are not included.

How often should I run the link status check?

You can run it whenever you want an up-to-date status of your external links. It’s recommended to run it periodically (e.g., monthly) or after major content updates. The check can take time, especially on sites with many external links. The Dashboard widget provides a quick overview based on the last check.

Why are some working external links marked as "Broken"?

Link checking isn’t always perfect. Some servers might block automated requests (like the HEAD/GET requests used by the checker), respond slowly (timeout), or have temporary issues like invalid or expired SSL certificates. Firewalls can also interfere. By default, the plugin verifies SSL certificates (sslverify set to true), which is more secure but may lead to more "broken" reports for sites with certificate issues. If you know a link works despite this, use the "Mark as OK" button to correct its status in the table.

How can I check links with invalid SSL certificates?

If you need to check links on servers with known SSL certificate issues (e.g., self-signed, expired), you can disable SSL verification for the link checker using a WordPress filter. Add the following code snippet to your theme’s functions.php file or a custom plugin:
add_filter(’seokelo_ssl_verify', '__return_false');
**Note:** Disabling SSL verification reduces security and should only be done if necessary and you understand the risks. The default is true. You can also filter the timeout (seokelo_link_check_timeout, default 10s) and allowed redirects (seokelo_link_check_redirections, default 5).

Does the plugin slow down my website?

The link collection and checking processes run in the WordPress admin area and use background processing (AJAX batches) to minimize server load. They should not impact the frontend performance of your website for visitors. However, running the processes might consume server resources while active.

Can I automatically remove or fix broken links?

No, the plugin identifies potentially broken links but does not automatically modify your content. You need to manually edit the respective posts or pages to fix or remove the links using the "Edit Source" link in the table for convenience.

Reseñas

A valuable helper

11 de mayo de 2025 1 reply
This actually works quite nicely!! first it scans and lists all external links on a website and in a 2nd step, it checks if they are broken. Usually that kind of function is integrated in more expensive SEO tools. Here it is for free, so I can’t complain. Thanks! Maybe in future you guys could improve the UX a bit, intuitively managed to get it done. Maybe you can integrate a quick guide or pop up helper.
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Registro de cambios

1.2.1

  • Fix: Improved responsive table display in admin area to prevent column titles from overlapping content on mobile views. Styles for table rows (tr) and ::before pseudo-elements for table cells (td) adjusted to ensure correct display and hiding of column titles in mobile view.

1.2.0

  • Feature: Added a new "Target" column to the admin link table, displaying the target attribute of the link (e.g., _blank, _self).
  • Feature: Made the new "Target" column sortable in the admin link table.
  • Feature: Ensured link_target attribute is included in the CSV export.
  • Improvement: Updated CSS for table column layout to include the new "Target" column.
  • Readme: Updated stable tag, version information, and feature descriptions to reflect the new "Target" column.

1.1.1

  • Refactoring: Applied unique prefix seokelo_ / SEOKELO_ to all classes, functions, options, constants, database table, hooks, handles, cache keys/groups, and CSS elements to meet WordPress.org guidelines and prevent conflicts. Requires re-running "Collect All External Links" after updating from previous versions.
  • Security: Improved sanitization/validation of GET/POST inputs.
  • Security: Corrected nonce verification according to WordPress recommendations (sanitize_text_field(wp_unslash(...))).
  • Escaping: Ensured all echoed output, including translatable strings (__()), uses appropriate escaping functions (esc_html__, esc_html, esc_attr, wp_kses_post, etc.).
  • Code Standards: Removed inline styles from widget (moved to CSS file). Removed disallowed file_put_contents on activation. Removed console.log calls from JavaScript. Replaced parse_url with wp_parse_url. Replaced unlink with wp_delete_file in uninstall routine.
  • Readme: Reduced tags to 5. Shortened short description. Updated filter names in FAQ.

1.1

  • Feature: Added rel attribute storage and display in the admin table & CSV export. (Requires re-running "Collect All".)
  • Feature: Added Dashboard Widget for broken link summary.
  • Improvement: Changed default SSL certificate verification during link check to true (more secure). Added FAQ entry explaining the seokelo_ssl_verify filter.
  • Improvement: Internal code updates, improved AJAX handling, and UI refinements (progress bar, notifications, pagination, DB error logging).
  • Updated plugin version number and related assets.

1.0

  • Initial release.
  • Focus solely on external link collection, analysis, status checking, and export.
  • User interface translated to English.

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