Link Cloaking Plugin for WordPress
This is a plugin for WordPress that can automatically cloak outgoing links in your posts and/or pages.
Download plugin
(Note: May not be compatible with the latest version of Eclipse Link Cloaker.)
Features
- Choose what to cloak – all links, only the links you specify or no links at all.
- Choose where to cloak – posts, pages or both.
- Exception list – links pointing to domains in this list will not be cloaked. For example, this is useful if you have chosen to cloak all links but don’t want to cloak the links to your own domains.
- Compatible with all browsers – the link cloaker plugin doesn’t use JavaScript so it will work even for visitors that have disabled JS.
- “Smart” cloaking – relative, ambiguous or malformed URLs will not be cloaked. Better safe than sorry.
- If desired, you can also add your own cloaked links manually.
Examples
Lets say you’ve got a link you want to be cloaked.
<a href="http://example.com/?affiliate=me">Cloak Me</a>
Once you install the plugin, it will automatically, without requiring any configuration, turn it into a cloaked link when it’s displayed to a visitor:
<a href="http://yoursite.com/goto/Cloak_Me/12/34">Cloak Me</a>
Here’s a live example: Cloak Me
As an alternative to the fully automatic cloaking, you can switch the plugin to “selective cloaking” and tag the links you want to cloak manually:
<a href="http://example.com/?affiliate=me">Cloak Me<!--cloak--></a>
Note: The plugin does not actually edit your posts or permanently modify your links. Instead, it switches them on-the-fly whenever someone views them on your site. When editing a post in the admin panel, you will see the original, uncloaked link.
Download
Version 1.8.4 : link-cloaking-plugin.zip (16 KB)
Requirements :
- WordPress 2.8 – 3.3
mod_rewrite. If “pretty permalinks” work on your blog then you probably have this already.
(Note: May not be compatible with the latest version of Eclipse Link Cloaker.)
Installation
- Download the link-cloaking-plugin.zip file.
- Unzip the file.
- Upload the `link-cloaking-plugin` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory.
- Activate the plugin through the ‘Plugins’ menu in WordPress.
- (Optional) Go to Settings -> Link Cloaking and modify the default settings to your liking.
FAQ
Why are some of my links not getting cloaked?
The most common possibilities are:
- Links in the sidebar, header, comment area and so on can’t be cloaked by the free version of the plugin. It only works on links in page/post body. Upgrade to the premium version to cloak links anywhere on the page.
- Links added using other plugins, theme features or custom fields are also supported only in the premium version.
- JavaScript links, as well as Flash and context-sensitive ads are not supported by any version of this plugin.
Why are none of my links getting cloaked?
- If using “Seletive cloaking”, make sure you have actually marked some links with the
<!--cloak-->tag. - Double-check that the links in question aren’t added or modified by plugins, the theme, or custom fields.
- Contact me. You might have found a bug.
The exception list doesn’t seem to work. What could be the problem?
Make sure to enter only domain names in the “Exceptions” box. For example, given a link like “http://example.com/directory/page.html”, the domain name is the “example.com” part. So to prevent the plugin from cloaking that link, add “example.com” (sans quotes) to the “Exceptions” box. Entering the full URL or “http://example.com/” will not work.
Additionally, if some of your links point to example.com and some to www.example.com, you will need to add both of those to the exceptions.
Why do some cloaked links redirect me back to my homepage?
Most likely, your post(s) contain links created or modified by other plugins, the theme, or custom fields. Either remove those links, or upgrade to the premium version.
Why do some cloaked links redirect me back to my homepage?
See the previous question.
Why do cloaked links display a “Not Found” error?
- Make sure you’re using pretty permalinks.
- Your .htaccess might be out of date. To update it, go to Settings -> Permalinks and click “Save Changes”.
- Your hosting company may be blocking browser access to PHP files in the /wp-content/plugins/ directory, usually as a security measure. The free version of the plugin is not compatible with these hosts. Consider using the premium version instead.
I have a question not addressed in this FAQ. What should I do?
Either leave a comment below, or email me directly. My email address can be found on the contact page.
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I use the Internet when I click on Add Exporer and nothing happens. Where should the error?
Firefox comes with filebug when I add something:
GET http://www.stefanopepi.com/wp-content/plugins/link-cloaking-plugin/wplc_ajax.php?action=add_link&name=dd&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stefanopepi.com%2
http://www.stefanopepi.com/wp-admin/load-scripts.php?c=1&load=jquery,utils,thickbox&ver=681791909e5bd7a324a42bd282c3a27d
LINE 130
That’s probably not the whole message though, that’s just the URL of the script.
Hmm, this would go a lot faster if I could see the problem first-hand…
Just want to add that I also tried cloaking a link by leaving off the http:// and it will cloak the link. However, when you click on the newly cloaked link, it will take you to an error page not found.
I used Google.com for this test and this is where it took me:
http://successaffiliatemarketing.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/link-cloaking-plugin/google.com
I wonder how much difference there is between the free and paid versions but I have the paid version on 30+ sites and it works perfectly.
@ Robert : Well, unless someone can give me access to their admin panel so that I can analyse the situation directly, there’s not much more that I can suggest.
@ Greg : They are very different. The paid version was basically written from scratch; it shares almost no code with the free version.
Hello you can use one of my not working, give me your email address where I can send you your login information?
Send it to whiteshadow at w-shadow dot com.
I’ve sent you a message at your contact address regarding this matter.
I’m still not sure what’s causing the problem, but after running a couple of tests on Stefano’s site I’ve managed to produce a bugfix that appears to prevent it. Download the fix here.
Ok now it works. I uploaded the file to your site accedereal try my site and see if there is some other problem.
thanks
Hi White Shadow,
I uploaded the fix and that took care of the problem.
Thanks very much for responding to the problem so quickly and efficiently.
Does the plugin work with the latest version of WordPress – 3.0? Thanks.
yes . now it works. You must install the version 1.8
I’m using Link Cloaking now but it has not work on my blog (www.ghufron.com). this is the cloaked link: http://www.ghufron.com/produk/affiliate/.
I’ve tried deactivating all plugins installed on my blog, but the problem still continue.
Please tell me by email when you have correct the problem
Thank you!
Ghufron
Make sure your .htaccess contains the plugin’s code. If not, try updating your permalinks.
Thank you for replying my comment…
Ok, how do I update my .htaccess?
Below are the lists of my .htaccess file:
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{HTTP_HOST} !^www.ghufron.com$ [NC]
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ http://www.ghufron.com/$1 [L,R=301]
RewriteEngine On
RewriteBase /
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d
RewriteRule . /index.php [L]
Thank you so much for your supports
Hi! I really glad tonight because as you say, I found the .htaccess update on Permalink menu.
So, I say thanks very much…cihuyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!
Hey White Shadow,
I like your plug in. Does the link always have to show the numbers at the end. Is there anything we can change in the .htaccess file.
I know you said in the recent post about creating static links to say whatever but I tried that and when you hover the mouse over the link it still shows http://domain.com/prefix/Link_Text_Here/12/34
Can show me what I’m doing wrong? Maybe I need to update the permalinks after I change the setting.
Thanks
Mike
@ Mike :
When you create a static link, it gives you a unique cloaked URL for that link. Click “show cloaked url” in the links table to display it. Then you need to manually replace your original, uncloaked links with that URL – it’s not done automatically in the free version.