How to: Open external links in a new window

Over the weekend, I attended WordCamp Denver, and I was asked by John Hawkins how to force links to open in a new tab with out editing the source code. So, today lets learn a simple jQuery trick to open all external links in your site in a new tab or window. We are going to make sure you have jQuery active on your site, you can do this easily in WordPress, since it’s bundled with the latest installations. Use this code in your header: <?php wp_enqueue_script('jquery'); ?> then, below the wp_head add the following:

<script type="text/javacript">
var $j = jQuery.noConflict();

$j(document).ready(function() {
//external attribute
    $j("a:not([@href*=http://YOURSITE.com/])").not("[href^=#]")
        .addClass("external")
        .attr({ target: "_blank" });
    }
);
</script>

That’s it, just make sure you change the http://YOURSITE.com to your website.