WebberZone Link Warnings

FAQ

Does this plugin affect SEO?

Out of the box, no. WebberZone Link Warnings only modifies how links are displayed to users and never alters the href attribute or link structure.

If you enable the Link Attributes settings under Settings > WebberZone Link Warnings > Advanced, the plugin will add rel and target attributes to matching links, which is a deliberate SEO signal that you control. Attributes on links inside post content are written server-side and are present in the HTML that search engines download. Attributes on links elsewhere on the page — navigation menus, widgets, footers and other theme output — are applied by the JavaScript scan after the page loads, so they are only visible to crawlers that execute JavaScript.

Is it accessible?

Yes. The plugin adds screen reader text, ARIA attributes, and (for modal mode) keyboard navigation and focus management.

Does it work with multilingual sites?

Yes. WebberZone Link Warnings is translation-ready. It uses standard WordPress translation functions and works with popular multilingual plugins such as WPML and Polylang.

Does this work with page builders?

Yes. Post content is processed via standard WordPress filters (the_content and the_excerpt). In addition, a JavaScript scan runs after the page loads and processes any links not already handled by PHP — including output generated by page builders, theme templates, navigation menus, and widgets.

Can I customize the redirect screen template?

Yes. Copy the template file to your-theme/webberzone-link-warnings/redirect-screen.php to override the default redirect screen with your own design.

How can I force an internal link to be treated as external?

Add the class wzlw-force-external directly to the <a> tag:

<a href="/go/partner/" class="wzlw-force-external">Partner link</a>

To force all links inside a container, add wzlw-force-external-wrapper to the wrapper element instead:

<div class="wzlw-force-external-wrapper"><a href="/go/product-a/">Product A</a><a href="/go/product-b/">Product B</a></div>

Both class names are configurable under Settings > WebberZone Link Warnings > Advanced.

How do I add rel=”nofollow” or rel=”sponsored” automatically?

Go to Settings > WebberZone Link Warnings > Advanced and use the Link Attributes section. Tick any combination of rel="nofollow", rel="sponsored", rel="ugc", “Open in a new tab”, rel="noopener" and rel="noreferrer" under External Links, Affiliate Links, or both.

Attributes already on your links are kept. A link that carries rel="me author" becomes rel="me author nofollow" rather than losing its original values, and a link that already has rel="NoFollow" is not given a second copy — matching ignores case.

noopener and `noreferrer` are only added to links that actually open in a new tab, either because the link already has `target="_blank"` or because you enabled the new-tab option. Every option is off by default and nothing is added unless you tick it — the plugin has never rewritten `rel` on your links before this version.

They are deliberately separate options. Current browsers already imply noopener for target="_blank", so ticking it mainly satisfies security scanners and older browsers and costs you nothing. noreferrer is the one with a behavioural cost: it also stops the referrer being sent, so leave it unticked for affiliate links if your merchant relies on the referrer for attribution.

How do I mark affiliate links?

Add the class wzlw-affiliate directly to the <a> tag:

<a href="/proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmerchant.example.com%2Fproduct" class="wzlw-affiliate">Buy now</a>

To mark every link inside a container, add wzlw-affiliate-wrapper to the wrapper element instead:

<div class="wzlw-affiliate-wrapper"><a href="/proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmerchant.example.com%2Fa">Product A</a><a href="/proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fmerchant.example.com%2Fb">Product B</a></div>

Affiliate links receive both the External Links and Affiliate Links attribute sets. Both class names are configurable and accept comma-separated values under Settings > WebberZone Link Warnings > Advanced.

Note that marking a link as an affiliate link also treats it as external for warning purposes, exactly like the force-external class. An internal cloaked URL such as /go/product/ will show your configured modal, redirect screen or indicator, and a domain on your exclusion list will show a warning if you also give the link an affiliate class.

How can I prevent icons from appearing on specific links?

Add the class wzlw-no-icon to any link where you don’t want an icon to appear. For example:

<a href="/proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com" class="wzlw-no-icon">Link without icon</a>

This suppresses the visual indicator (icon and/or text). The modal or redirect warning still applies if your warning method includes one. Screen reader text and ARIA attributes are still added.

To exclude all links inside a wrapper element (e.g. a navigation block or card), add the class wzlw-no-icon-wrapper to the containing element:

<div class="wzlw-no-icon-wrapper"><a href="/proxy?url=https%3A%2F%2Fexample.com">Link without icon</a></div>

All links inside that wrapper will have their visual indicators suppressed.

Can I customize the icon that appears?

Yes. Go to Settings > WebberZone Link Warnings > Display tab and find the “Icon Style” dropdown. You can choose from several preset icons:

• ↗ Arrow (North-East) – default
• → Arrow (Right)
• ⬈ Arrow (Up-Right)
• ⧉ External Link Symbol
• 🔗 Link Emoji
• 🌐 Globe Emoji
• • Asterisk
• Custom (enter your own)

Using Custom Icons: Select “Custom” and enter any Unicode symbol or emoji in the “Custom Icon” field. Examples: →, ⇗, 🔗, 🌐, *, +

Can visitors stop the modal from showing every time?

Yes. Go to Settings > WebberZone Link Warnings > Display and set “Modal Frequency” to either “Once per browser session” or “Once every N days”. The modal then shows a “Don’t show again” checkbox. When a visitor ticks it and clicks Continue, the dismissal is remembered and the link behaves like a normal link on later clicks.

“Dismissal Scope” controls how far that goes. “Per destination domain” suppresses the modal for the domain the visitor dismissed and leaves every other external link alone. “All external links” suppresses it everywhere on the site.

Dismissals live in the visitor’s browser, in sessionStorage for the session option and localStorage for the N days option. No cookies are set and nothing is stored against a user account, so the setting is per browser rather than per person. Clearing site data resets it.

The default is “Always show the modal”, which is the behaviour from earlier versions.

Does this modify my database content?

No. The plugin only alters rendered output. Your stored content remains unchanged.

What happens if I deactivate the plugin?

Your links return to their original state. The plugin doesn’t modify your content in the database — it only changes how links are displayed.

Where do I report security bugs found in this plugin?

Please report security bugs found in the source code of the WebberZone Link Warnings plugin through the Patchstack Vulnerability Disclosure Program. The Patchstack team will assist you with verification, CVE assignment, and notify the developers of this plugin.