Test if links are external with jQuery / javascript?

Question

How do I test to see if links are external or internal? Please note:

1. I cannot hard code the local domain.
2. I cannot test for \"http\". I could just as

Answer 1

Here's a jQuery selector for only external links:

$('a[href^="(http:|https:)?//"])') 

A jQuery selector only for internal links (not including hash links within the same page) needs to be a bit more complicated:

$('a:not([href^="(http:|https:)?//"],[href^="#"],[href^="mailto:"])')

Additional filters can be placed inside the :not() condition and separated by additional commas as needed.

http://jsfiddle.net/mblase75/Pavg2/

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Alternatively, we can filter internal links using the vanilla JavaScript href property, which is always an absolute URL:

$('a').filter( function(i,el) {
    return el.href.indexOf(location.protocol+'//'+location.hostname)===0;
})

http://jsfiddle.net/mblase75/7z6EV/