Cookie settings

Choose which cookies we can use. You can change this at any time from “Cookie settings” in the footer. See our cookie policy for details.

Essential

Needed for the site to work, such as remembering your cookie choices. These can’t be switched off.

Always on

Help us understand which pages are visited and how people find us (Google Analytics). Off unless you turn it on.

Skip to content
New in 3.4.0 8 new features and 16 fixes November special 20% off every Pro plan with code NOVEMBER20 Black Friday 50% off every Pro plan until Sunday 29 November
WP Extended Modular WordPress toolkit , home
Link Manager Free

Control external links and link preloading

Control how external links are marked, and tune or switch off the speculative loading WordPress 6.8 added, which preloads pages before visitors click.

Download free or read the Link Manager docs

Free on WordPress.org, with nothing locked behind Pro.

in the free plugin
Free
settings to configure
7
developer hook
1
updates since 2025
4
An agency team in a brick-walled studio reviewing WP Extended settings on a wall screen

Why you need Link Manager

Speculative loading makes sites feel faster, but preloading the cart, checkout or account pages can cause real problems. WordPress gives you no settings for it.

What Link Manager does

  • Speculative loading

    Choose the mode and eagerness, or switch it off.

  • Exclusions

    Exclude paths such as /cart/* or /checkout/* from preloading or only from prerendering.

  • External link arrow

    Exclude classes from the external link arrow, or disable it.

What you can configure

7 settings, all in the free plugin.

  • Exclude classes Enter a comma-separated list of classes to exclude from the external link arrow
  • Disable external link arrow Note: Not recommended as it may cause accessibility issues.
  • Disable speculative loading Completely disable speculative loading feature.
  • Loading Mode Choose how aggressively to preload links.
  • Loading Eagerness Choose how early to start preloading links.
  • Exclude Paths Enter URL patterns to exclude from speculative loading, one per line. Use URL Pattern format (e.g. /cart/*, /checkout/*).
  • Exclude from Prerender Enter URL patterns to exclude only from prerendering, one per line. Use URL Pattern format (e.g. /personalized-area/*).

Where Link Manager helps

  • A freelance web designer on a sofa with WP Extended open on her laptop, her dog asleep beside her

    WooCommerce stores

    Keep cart and checkout pages out of preloading.

For developers

Link Manager has 1 hook for changing its behaviour per project, without editing the plugin.

All Link Manager hooks
filter functions.php or a Code Snippet
add_filter( 'wpextended/link-manager/exclude_classes', function ( $value ) {
    // Return the value you want to use
    return $value;
} );
  • link-manager/exclude_classes

Recent changes

The latest updates to Link Manager, from the WP Extended changelog.

Full changelog
  1. v3.1.0 22 Sept 2025
    • new

      Custom classes for modified external links.

    • new

      Option to disable speculative loading.

    • new

      Option to disable external arrow icon.

    • improved

      Merged "Open in new tab" feature into Link Manager.

Link Manager questions

Link Manager documentation

Yes. It is in the free plugin.

Pairs well with

All Performance & Control

Get Link Manager free

Link Manager is in the free plugin on WordPress.org, alongside 34 other free modules you can switch on when you need them.

Download free See Pro pricing

Pro from $29 a year · 14-day money-back guarantee