remark-external-links

What is remark-external-links?

The remark-external-links package is a plugin for the Remark Markdown processor that automatically modifies links in Markdown files. It is primarily used to add attributes like target and rel to external links, enhancing security and usability without manual HTML tagging.

What are remark-external-links's main functionalities?

Adding attributes to external links

This feature allows users to automatically add specific attributes such as target='_blank' and rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer' to external links in Markdown content. This enhances security by preventing tabnapping and improves SEO through 'nofollow'. The code sample demonstrates how to set up the plugin with Remark to process a simple Markdown string.

const remark = require('remark');
const html = require('remark-html');
const externalLinks = require('remark-external-links');

remark()
  .use(externalLinks, {target: '_blank', rel: ['nofollow', 'noopener', 'noreferrer']})
  .use(html)
  .process('Check out [Google](https://google.com)!', function (err, file) {
    console.log(String(file));
  });

Other packages similar to remark-external-links

rehype-external-links

Similar to remark-external-links, rehype-external-links is a plugin but for Rehype, which processes HTML instead of Markdown. It offers similar functionalities in terms of adding attributes to external links in HTML content, making it a suitable alternative for projects that work directly with HTML rather than Markdown.

markdown-it-external-links

This is a plugin for the markdown-it parser, which is another popular Markdown processor. Like remark-external-links, it allows the addition of attributes to external links in Markdown files. The main difference lies in the base Markdown processor (markdown-it vs. remark), which might affect the choice depending on other project dependencies and personal preference for Markdown syntax extensions.

README

remark-external-links

remark plugin to automatically add target and rel attributes to external links.

Install

npm:

npm install remark-external-links

Use

Say we have the following file, example.js:

var remark = require('remark')
var html = require('remark-html')
var externalLinks = require('remark-external-links')

remark()
  .use(externalLinks, {target: false, rel: ['nofollow']})
  .use(html)
  .process('[remark](https://github.com/remarkjs/remark)', function(err, file) {
    if (err) throw err
    console.log(String(file))
  })

Now, running node example yields:

<p><a href="https://github.com/remarkjs/remark" rel="nofollow">remark</a></p>

API

remark().use(externalLinks[, options])

Automatically add target and rel attributes to external links.

options

options.target

How to display referenced documents (string?: _self, _blank, _parent, or _top, default: _blank). Pass false to not set targets on links.

options.rel

Link types to hint about the referenced documents (Array.<string> or string, default: ['nofollow', 'noopener', 'noreferrer']). Pass false to not set rels on links.

When using a target, add noopener and noreferrer to avoid exploitation of the window.opener API.

options.protocols

Protocols to check, such as mailto or tel (Array.<string>, default: ['http', 'https']).

options.content

hast content to insert at the end of external links (Node or Children). Will be inserted in a <span> element.

Useful for improving accessibility by giving users advanced warning when opening a new window.

Contribute

See contributing.md in remarkjs/.github for ways to get started. See support.md for ways to get help.

This project has a Code of Conduct. By interacting with this repository, organisation, or community you agree to abide by its terms.

License

MIT © Cédric Delpoux