We were tired to alter every link and image in posts, pages or widgets when switching from development to live environments.

e.g. when you insert an image in TinyMCE on your development environment (http://dev.example.com), the image has a hard URL: http://dev.example.com/media/2014/06/example.jpg When switching to your live environment (http://live.example.com), you change your WordPress Site URL, but the image in the content is still http://dev.example.com/media/2014/06/example.jpg. This is very frustrating, you have to alter each page, post, widget etcetera...

This plugin solves that problem. It automatically adds a data-wp-id tag when you insert an image or link in your TinyMCE. The data-wp-id tag contains a unique ID from the wp-post table in WordPress.

When displaying the content on the front-end this plugin automatically recognizes the data-wp-id tag and replaces the src="" and href="" with the correct permalink. You can use the tag anywhere you want, simply add the data-wp-id="123" (where 123 is the ID).

So, how does it work?

The plugin automatically adds the data-wp-id when inserting an image or link in the WordPress editor.

Normally, when you insert an image into the WP editor, WordPress would generate image tags like this:

<img src="https://dev.example.com/media/2014/05/example-150x150.jpg" class="size-thumbnail" width="150" height="150" />

But this Plugin will generate a link like this:

<img data-wp-id="123" src="#" class="size-thumbnail" width="150" height="150" />

... And finally on the Front-End, the Plugin will output is as:

<img src="https://live.example.com/media/2014/05/example-150x150.jpg" class="size-thumbnail" width="150" height="150" />

Another example, adding a link:

Normally WordPress will generate a link like this:

<a href="http://dev.example.com/example-page" target="_blank" />

But this Plugin will generate it like this:

<a data-wp-id="100" href="#" target="_blank" />

...And finally on the Front-End, the Plugin will output it as:

<a href="http://live.example.com/example-page" target="_blank" />

How does it work?

The plugin has a hook on the_content that parses the content. Every HTML tag that contains a data-wp-id, will be converted in a perfect link or source.

How does it work under the hood?

The plugin uses the DOMDocument Class in PHP to parse the HTML. Tags will be replaced and removed, and clean HTML will be outputted. So no Javascript or whatsoever.

Do I have to add the data-wp-id tag manually?

You can, but it will be inserted automatically by the Plugin, when inserting an Image or Link in the WordPress editor.

Can you give me an example?

Sure, you add a data-wp-id to an image: <img src="#" data-wp-id="24" class="size-thumbnail" />, it will be converted to a clean URL: <img src="https://www.example.com/media/2014/05/example-150x150.jpg" class="size-thumbnail" />

Can I use this with HTTPS?

Yes, because the plugin uses the WordPress Site URL to generate a link.

Can I use it with any HTML tag?

Sure, you can use any HTML tag, and it recognizes automatically if the tag needs a src="" or href=""

How does it work with image sizes?

WordPress adds a class to any image size (e.g. size-thumbnail). The plugin recognizes this class and will return the correct link.

Can I use it in my plugins and themes?

Currently not, but we are working on that.

1.0.1

Fixed screenshots, improved readme.txt

1.0

Fixed data-wp-id tag in stead of shortcode.

1. Upload the wp-softlinks folder to the /wp-content/plugins/ directory
2. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' menu in WordPress
3. Place data-wp-id="1234" in any HTML tag of your choice.

An example how a link works with the data-wp-id



An example how an image works with the data-wp-id



The image remains intact in the editor



The link modal contains an ID field