elint

010101

Do not use this if you use the latest SEO extension. The SEO extension now includes an external links in a new tab feature.

I'll still keep this available just in case someone doesn’t use the SEO extension and wants to use this. But, I personally will be going with the SEO extension.

What is this?

A minimal no non-sense Flarum extension which opens only external links in a new tab. Internal links are left alone. Why is it called "elint?" External Links In New Tab.

Some folks ask: Isn't there already an external links extension? Yes/no. There's an extension out there which opens all links in a new tab. This one only touches the external links so that links to other posts (internal links) still open in the same window. This also adds a class called "external-links" to external links so you may style them differently if you'd like. Plus, it ensures external links have "noopener," "nofollow," and "ugc" attributes.

Install

composer require zerosonesfun/elint

Update

composer update zerosonesfun/elint

Remove

composer remove zerosonesfun/elint

Links

https://github.com/zerosonesfun/elint

010101

010101 Any suggestions for this? And, I mean simple suggestions. I’m not an expert developer. Nothing too crazy please. For example, should I add “nofollow” to the detected external links? Should I add one of those external link icons?

Gatsu

010101 What are the differences with this?
https://github.com/franzliedke/flarum-open-links-in-new-tab

wloot

010101 I am using this simple but amazing extension. https://github.com/flarum/core/blob/master/src/Formatter/Formatter.php#L141 This is what flarum doing, it to add nofollow and ugc attributes over the url's origin

robinodds

010101 how about add "https://href.li/?" to external url?

I often need to hide the HTTP Referer.
Don't know if there are other methods to get anonymous links

matteocontrini

robinodds yes, there's the rel="noreferrer" HTML attribute. Actually, using noopener would be a better idea (for external links).

That's what Franz's extension does for example: https://github.com/franzliedke/flarum-open-links-in-new-tab

010101

matteocontrini Good idea. I’ll add noopener. Seems like one day the default for target blank will be noopener. At least that’s what some are pushing. Or, nofollow and noopener together.

010101

New Release

Added noopener and nofollow to external links. One is for security the other is for SEO.

wloot

010101 How about do something like this as there are already nofollow and ugc when needed?

var rel = $('.External-link').attr('rel');
$('.External-link').attr('target','_blank').attr('rel',rel + ' noopener');

010101

wloot

New Release

Thanks to wloot, the attributes are now coded better. Now the extension will use the already existing nofollow and ugc in Flarum core, but add the noopener as well for security.
The previous poster brought up a good question that you too may be wondering so be sure to read the previous post as well about the difference between this and Franz's external link extension.

010101

Gatsu I believe that one you linked to opens ALL links in an external tab. This only opens external links in a new tab. Internal links, such as ones to another post or page within your forum open in the same window. Therefore, users stay on your site when the link is something on your site, but they leave when the link is not part of your site. This also adds "noopener" which is about security. Many may disagree, but in my opinion, this is how links should work naturally in browsers. If link is part of the site, you stay on that site. If not, you get a new tab/window. Many will also say that you should let the user decide. You can right click and open any link in a new tab. I actually 99% agree with that. EXCEPT, believe it or not, there are users out there who may not know or think about right clicking.

danielunited

Hey, found a bug

External links have this attribute added to them:

010101

danielunited Must have something to do with an embed extension. Normal external links I’ve tested do not look like that.

If you post a normal external link such as, google.com, what happens?

danielunited

010101 It happens to all external links - including the ones on the menu. It doesn't happen to internal links (which point to other discussions).

It's not related to the embed extension. I know because when I dsiabled elint these links work fine (with just nofollow ugc).

matteocontrini

010101 your code is selecting all the links on the page every time a post is rendered, so it adds the attribute many times. jQuery shouldn't really be used with Flarum unless strictly necessary, there's almost always a better way to do it

010101

danielunited

Are you able to reply with a list of installed extensions? And do you have any custom JavaScript added?

If you look at external links at my forum, https://www.sitbreathe.be this is not happening.

danielunited

010101 Sure.

010101

matteocontrini I see the issue now. Thanks.

danielunited

No worries 010101, thank you for taking the time to make this extension in the first place, and help the comunity! ♥

If anyone's interested, this extension works well: https://github.com/franzliedke/flarum-open-links-in-new-tab Just note that is it opens ALL links in a new tab, not just external ones.

matteocontrini

010101 sorry if I've been rude, I just wanted to point out that the Flarum frontend is better extended by using the frontend API and avoiding jQuery as much as possible, so that issues like this are less likely to happen. It's true however that Flarum's extension development is currently very poorly documented so it's quite hard to understand how to do things properly...

010101

matteocontrini No worries. It’s just a little frustrating because I can customize something like a WordPress site all day long, but Flarum just cannot be customized (besides some basics with CSS) by your average website owner. Still, I’m a fan of Flarum. And, this particular feature I don’t really know if it’s even important or not.

Even if all links (external too) open in the same window, some say that’s best... Let the user use their browser back button. This whole opening certain links in new windows thing is something I go back and forth on repeatedly. Does it really matter? Maybe Flarum core has made the right decision to open ALL links in the same window. The user needs to utilize their browser features. Go back as needed.

All I know is, more and more, I’m finding myself sticking with only core extensions and some fof extensions and that’s about it because too many issues arise when you add too many extensions or try to do something “fancy.”