Link Anonymizer

Link Anonymizer v1.02a & 1.03, 1.04, 1.05.3 & 1.10

Author: MarcoH64

vBulletin Version: 3.5.1

Warning: Version 1.02 might create double anonym links if you edit a post multiple times. Version 1.03 has been reported not to be working for some people. Please read posts in this thread if you plan on using this hack, until i had time to look into this.
v1.05 and higher should be the best versions
1.10 Is an updated version of 1.05.3 and is considered a stable release. Only version 1.10 will be supported now.

Description:
This Product will add a self configurable anonymising link to all external urls in posts.

Installation:
Install the XML-file as Product.

Configuration:
vBulletin Options->Link Anonymizer :

• Local Addresses

Local addresses are not anonymized. If you leave this option blank, the value for vBulletin Options Cookie Domain will be used. Do not use a http:// prefix.

If you start the name with a dot (.mydomain.com) all server addresses ending with this will be considered local. If you want to add mulitple domain/servernames, seperate them by a single space.

• Anonymizer (default: http://anonym.to/?)

Link to a anonymizer function. Use preceding / if needed. Other Usable Anonymizers:

http://anon.free.anonymizer.com/ 
 
http://anonym.webgurus.de (Thanks Wachtmeister)

• Allways anonymize Unparseble URLs (* New in version 1.10)

Please click install if you are using this hack.

Donations are always welcomed at Paypal: marcoh64 AT gmail.com

Change log:
6-9-2005 v1.01
- 1 setting was missing from product file due to wrong Product. Fixed
7-9-2005 v1.02
- Under some conditions a newly posted post with only a link would not get anonymized. Fixed.
7-9-2005 v1.02a
- Fixed bug when handling generic local domain (starting with a dot '.'') Sorry for the many updates.
8-10-2005 v1.03
- Totally new way of doing this, on view instead of on write.
- Solved doubling the anonym link on edit
10-10-2005 v1.04
- Link not didn't get anonym prefix if URL= didn't contain http://. Solved.
- Added truncate table post_parsed to install routine.
1-11-2005 v1.05
- Standard Editor fixed
- Simple URL's in standard editor fixed.
- Default anonymizer changed
2-11-2005 v1.05.1
- Fixed bug where only the last url to the same domain in a single post was anonymised.
9-11-2005 v1.05.2
- Added option to ignore certain protocols in the vBulletin Options (ie. ignore https, ftp, ....).
- Attempt to fix reported bug where an inline fragment (#fragment) would also be anonymized.
10.11.2005 v1.05.3
- Another attempt to ignore fragments
25.11.2005 v1.10
- Fixed a bug where some urls could lead to a parse error. Example of an url leading to this error:

http://mymail@mymail.com:password@www.mydomain.com

- Added new parameter to vB Options: Always anonimyze unparseble URLs
- This is considered a very stable release. No bug reports pending
- All previous versions are from now on unsupported

Upgrades:
If you are running an older version and want to upgrade, simply do an overwrite install.

It is possible that there are still double links in the database from old versions. If you wish to remove these, run the following queries (make backup first!!):

SQL Query: (how to run queries)
update post set pagetext = replace(pagetext, "http://YOURANONIMIZERLINK/","");

[BiReL41r]

I'm not entirely sure what this hack. Does it prevent members from viewing the forum on Link Anonymizer sites or..?

[Marco van Herwaarden]

No this hack adds an Anonimyzer URL to all (external if set in Options) links, so that if a member clicks on a posted link, the linked site will not see your address as referrer.

[influence]

dont u think this will mess up adsense? because google do wants to know were clicks are coming from for that site to get paid

i would like to know if this will anonymize google adsense outgoing links. if so then I will pass on this hack then. Great hack though

[Marco van Herwaarden]

It will only work on links inside posts, so as long as your adsense is not inside the posts text, it will work. You can also set domains to exclude from anonymizing in the vB Options.

[RFViet]

So, If the http://anonym.to? slow down or die then the links in my forum doesn't work ???

[D.Ilyin]

Originally Posted by RFViet

So, If the http://anonym.to? slow down or die then the links in my forum doesn't work ???

no, all forum links absolutly free from anonym.to. You can just OFF this plugin or choose another site (for example safeurl.de)

[Rat]

The Meta Refresh in this Hack isn't harmless: http://www.url-hijacking.com/index_en.html

Meta refresh is (afaik) the only way to hide the referer but produces an 302.

So, if you wouldn't potential harm the linked page: dont use it (until (e.g.) google fixes this issue - and that may take a while)

A possible solution is to exclude the links.php (wich contains the Meta refresh) in the robots.txt to prevent indexing by SEs.

i've found a similar hack in a german board with the same problem, so i searched here for an alternative ...

and now decided to give it up to hide the referer, cause i didn't see really why i have to.

PS: that's not a critic pointed to the hack, just an information pointed Meta refresh...

[Marco van Herwaarden]

I don't see what this got to do with this hack. URL Hijacking like described there is about links TO your site. What this hack does is nothing more then prefixing all OUTGOING links posted at your board with a configurable prefix. If this prefix is set to one of the sites that offer an anonymiser service it will just call that site. Standard vBulletin will anyway open external links in a new window, so i don't see what harm can be done. But ofcourse i don't know what each website that offer this service is doing.

[Tuan Ly]

Does this hack work correcly without any problem in vB 3.5.3 ?

[Marco van Herwaarden]

Ihave not got any complaints about this hack not working for 3.5.3