Apply "rel=nofollow" attribute to all parsed URLs

In the first cooperative move for nearly ten years, the major search engines have unveiled a new indexing command for web authors that they all recognize, one that they hope will help reduce the link and comment spam that plagues many web sites....due to removing the point of doing it in the first place.

The new "nofollow" attribute that can be associated with links was originated as an idea by Google in late 2004 and MSN and Yahoo, as well as major blogging vendors have jumped onboard.

The Nofollow Attribute

The new attribute is called "nofollow" with rel="nofollow" being the format inserted within an anchor tag.
When added to any link, it will effectively serve as a flag to tell the search engines that the link has not been explictly approved by the site owner, and therefore "not follow" it, or not use the referring page's (on your site) Page Rank in any way.

For example, this is how the HTML markup for an ordinary link might look:

<a href="http://www.somedomain.com/page.html">My forums are the best lol lol lol click here!!</a>

This is how the link would look after the nofollow attribute has been added, with the attribute portion shown in bold

<a href="http://www.somedomain.com/page.html" rel="nofollow">My forums are the best lol lol lol click here!!</a>

Once added, the search engines supporting the attribute will understand that the link has not been approved by the site owner.

Think of it as a way to flag to them, "I didn't post this link -- someone else did, don't associate me with it."

Originally Posted by Alkatraz

If Google sees nofollow as part of a link, it will:

1. NOT follow through to that page.
2. NOT count the link in calculating PageRank link popularity scores.
3. NOT count the anchor text in determining what terms the page being linked to is relevant for.

The site that is being linked to will gain nothing from the link, so the whole point of doing it in the first place is removed.

This will affect URLs in posts, as well as signatures...anything that goes through the bbcodeparse function as far as I can tell/guess, and will work recursively, or whatever the word is that means 'it will affect all existing posts and signatures'...or it did for me anyway.

To change the conditional number of posts, alter

PHP Code:

OR $post['posts'] > 50) 


to whatever you like.

I can't see how this could be done as a plugin, but if anyone wants to point out how, that would be nicer....YAY Kirby!

Now all you need to do is unzip the attached file, upload the plugin using your Admin CP - Plugin System - Plugin Manager!

Relax, safe in the knowledge that spammers linking from your site are doing so for no reason whatsoever.

To remove the old version:

File to modify: 1

1/ Open your includes/class_bbcode.php file

Find:

PHP Code:

        // standard URL hyperlink
        //return "<a href=\"$rightlink\" target=\"_blank\">$text</a>";

        global $post;

if (is_member_of($post, 6) //Admins are exempt
OR is_member_of($post, 5) //Mods are exempt
OR is_member_of($post, 7) //SuperMods are exempt
OR $post['posts'] > 50) // People with over 50 posts are exempt
    {
    // standard URL hyperlink
    return "<a href=\"$rightlink\" target=\"_blank\">$text</a>";
    }
    else
    {
     return "<a href=\"$rightlink\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">$text</a>";
    }
    } 


Replace with:

PHP Code:

// standard URL hyperlink
        return "<a href=\"$rightlink\" target=\"_blank\">$text</a>";
    } 


2/ Save and Upload.

[mcncyo]

I will install this on monday.

[bigcurt]

Good job kall, will work great

~Curt

[FleaBag]

I'm not going to install this as my forum doesn't need it, microscopic in size compared to the majority - but just thought I would post my support for an excellent effort!

[Andreas]

Hook bbcode_create

PHP Code:

$this->tag_list['no_option']['url']['callback'] = 'handle_external';
$this->tag_list['no_option']['url']['external_callback'] = 'handle_bbcode_url_relnofollow';
$this->tag_list['option']['url']['callback'] = 'handle_external';
$this->tag_list['option']['url']['external_callback'] = 'handle_bbcode_url_relnofollow';

if (!function_exists('handle_bbcode_url_relnofollow'))
{
    function handle_bbcode_url_relnofollow(&$parser, $text, $link)
    {
        global $post;
        // Excempt Mods+ and Users with mor then 50 Posts
        $parsedurl = $parser->handle_bbcode_url($text, $link);
        if (is_member_of($post, 5, 6, 7) OR $post['posts'] > 50)
        {
            return $parsedurl;
        }
        else
        {
            return str_replace('href="', 'rel="nofollow" href="', $parsedurl); 
        }
    }
} 


Or (simpler, but might affect mor then just [url])
Hook: bbcode_parse_complete

PHP Code:

global $post;
if (!is_member_of($post, 5, 6, 7) AND !($post['posts'] > 50))
{
    $text = str_replace('href="', 'rel="nofollow" href="', $text);
} 


[ricker]

This seems to have conflicts with the "PM group leader on join request" plugin. At least it did with mine.

[mcncyo]

would the work with grapping of the newsgroup and from mailinglist? Would the plugin work with the nntp newsgroup pulling.

[kall]

Originally Posted by ricker

This seems to have conflicts with the "PM group leader on join request" plugin. At least it did with mine.

I can't see how .. all this does is add an attribute to the href of a link.. can you please explain?

[welo]

Originally Posted by KirbyDE

Hook bbcode_create

PHP Code:

$this->tag_list['no_option']['url']['callback'] = 'handle_external';
$this->tag_list['no_option']['url']['external_callback'] = 'handle_bbcode_url_relnofollow';
$this->tag_list['option']['url']['callback'] = 'handle_external';
$this->tag_list['option']['url']['external_callback'] = 'handle_bbcode_url_relnofollow';

if (!function_exists('handle_bbcode_url_relnofollow'))
{
    function handle_bbcode_url_relnofollow(&$parser, $text, $link)
    {
        global $post;
        // Excempt Mods+ and Users with mor then 50 Posts
        $parsedurl = $parser->handle_bbcode_url($text, $link);
        if (is_member_of($post, 5, 6, 7) OR $post['posts'] > 50)
        {
            return $parsedurl;
        }
        else
        {
            return str_replace('href="', 'rel="nofollow" href="', $parsedurl); 
        }
    }
} 


For some reason I have no idea whatsoever how to apply this code. Is this basically a replacement in class_bbcode.php for what Kall originally posted?

[kall]

Originally Posted by welo

For some reason I have no idea whatsoever how to apply this code. Is this basically a replacement in class_bbcode.php for what Kall originally posted?

You can just upload the attached .xml now, thanks to Kirby.

(Could a Mod move this to the Plugins Forum? Ta.)