PHP Auto Linker is a PHP class that allows you to automatically apply links on a HTML document.

This class is already in use in other products from our portfolio. In particular, it’s adopted to apply the automatic links in WordPress plugins with thousands of users, like Interlinks Manager.

How the class applies the automatic links

This class uses PHP regular expressions to generate the links from a list of keywords and URLs provided by the user.

It’s worth noting that this class gives you total control over the algorithm used to apply the links. Specifically, you can configure a high number of options both at the class level and at the automatic link level to:

• Limit the maximum number of automatic links to a specific number
• Select between a case sensitive or a case insensitive search of the keyword
• Add the Nofollow attribute on the link element
• Set a custom title attribute on the link element
• Open the links in the same tab or a new tab
• Find only the occurrences of the keyword preceded or followed by a specific string
• Configure specific word boundaries based on the particular context or language
• Prioritize individual keywords over the others

We have also included other advanced features for the most demanding users. For example, you can:

• Prevent the application of the automatic link on specific HTML elements
• Improve the distribution of the automatic links with the “Random Prioritization” feature
• Prevent the application of the automatic links that target the current URL
• Limit the maximum number of automatic links based on the length of the provided string
• Limit the maximum number of automatic links that target the same URL

How to use the class

The simplest usage example of the class:

require_once( 'inc/class-daext-automatic-links.php' );
$automatic_links = new DaextAutomaticLinks();

echo $automatic_links->add_autolinks( '<p>Buy my book.</p>',
    [
        [
            'keyword' => "book",
            'url'     => "https://example.com/" 
        ]
    ]
);

The above example will output:

<p>Buy my <a href="https://example.com/">book</a>.</p>

This other script uses advanced options to:

• Open the generate links on a new tab
• Limit the number of automatic links to two
• Protect specific tags

require_once( 'inc/class-daext-automatic-links.php' );
$automatic_links = new DaextAutomaticLinks();

$automatic_links->set_options(
    [
        'open_new_tab'         => true,
        'general_limit_amount' => 2,
        'protected_tags'       => [
            'h1',
            'h2',
            'h3',
            'h4',
            'h5',
            'h6',
            'strong',
            'pre',
            'code'
        ]
    ]
);

$article = '<h2>iPhone 14 range</h2>';
$article .= '<p>The iPhone 14 is an obvious pick on our list.</p>';

echo $automatic_links->add_autolinks( $article,
    [
        [
            'keyword' => "iPhone 14",
            'url'     => "https://example.com/iphone-14/" 
        ]
    ]
);

The above example will output:

<h2>iPhone 14 range</h2><p>The <a target="_blank" href="https://example.com/iphone-14/">iPhone 14</a> is an obvious pick on our list.</p>

Note that more examples are available in the class demo and the plugin manual.

Updates

15.03.2022 - v1.05
  - Improved documentation
14.03.2022 - v1.03
  - First release

Do you care about your website’s SEO?

Improve your internal links structure and get more visits on your WordPress website with the Interlinks Manager plugin.