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 put the plugin code on the top of the .htaccess, yeah,it works!! Thanks
I have seen this is a great one for a nice Wp plugins 😀
Thank You..
[…] einfachste Methode ist meiner Meinung nach: Link Cloaking Plugin von W-Shadow. Einfach […]
Seems still not working with wordpress version 2.3.3 any advice?..
Check some of the comments above. You probably need to move the plugin code in .htaccess to the top of that file.
[…] W-Shadow developed a Link Cloaking Plugin for WordPress and is pretty much well-supported by its developer. I suppose it’s a nice alternative to other “affiliate link manager” (as they like to call themselves, but they’re just fancy words for masking or cloaking links! ) scripts out there, and it seems pretty easy to install, although from reading the comments it also looks like you need to meddle a bit with your htaccess file to make it really work well. […]
[…] into a clickable link. You might want to use a link cloaking plugin for WordPress such as this : ø Link Cloaking Plugin for WordPress | W-Shadow.com ø Highlighting sales, special offers, discount codes etc should help especially if they are […]
hey, nice and neat plugin. Thank you!
I’ve been trying this plugin here
http://www.hyperhigh.co.uk/orbounder-trampoline.html
but every click sends me back to the home page 🙁
Without the plugin activated it sends me to the right place – any advice is much appreciated!
I’ve looked at your page. The links redirect back to the homepage because the plugin can’t find the original (uncloaked) link in the post.
This can happen if the original link was created by another plugin, or if it uses some unusual code (as opposed to the normal <a href=’….’>lalala</a> way).
ah I see, yeah the post is pulling some of the information from a database using PHP so that could be the problem. thanks for taking a look.
Hi Techs,
i have a blog where i publish Freeware posts (http://www.telebajar.com) .
I am looking for a wp plugin to wrap
the URL´s to the download sites so that i link to a cloaked URL and i can avoid to have broken links to non existing download URLs (outdated)
a good example is sourceforge.net whre the download links and the mirros are always changing. Do you think this plugin will be useful for this?
Thank a lot in advance
Telebajador
You could use the static cloaking feature to do this. Alternatively, you could use a plugin that checks for broken links.
Hi
Trying out the plugin now and like it so far!
But one thing, is it possible to use it whitout the prototype js?
prototype.js is only necessary if you use “static” cloaked links – it’s used on the AJAX-y link editing screen. Other kinds of cloaked links – like those marked with <–cloak–> – don’t need any JavaScript.
Ok. Thanks for the answer, will try to take out the pototype then 🙂
And thanks again for a nice plugin!
I’m stupid hehe.. Did not manage to remove prototype..
Could I ask for som pointers in what to edit? If it aint to much 🙂
Thanks
Comment out this line:
in wplc_link_cloaking_plugin.php. It’s around line 148.
There’s other stuff that could/should be removed as well, but the above line is the only one you need to remove if you just want to prevent the plugin from adding prototype.js inside the <head> tags.
I hope that makes sense 😛
Woks like a charm! Thanks a milion!
Does the plugin work with 2.5?
I had it running on a blog using 2.3.3 but since upgrading its no longer working..