How to Turn Plain URLs into Clickable Links with PHP: A Simple Regex Solution

Integrating URLs into Strings using PHP

Query:

How do I seamlessly integrate URLs within a PHP string, rendering them as clickable links?

Solution:

To linkify URLs within a string in PHP, you can utilize regular expression substitution.

<code class="php"><?php
$string = "Look on http://www.google.com";
$string = preg_replace(
    "~[[:alpha:]]+://[^<>[:space:]]+[[:alnum:]/]~", 
    "<a href=\"\0\">\0</a>", 
    $string
);

// For PHP versions below 5.3, use ereg_replace instead
if (version_compare(PHP_VERSION, '5.3', '<')) {
    $string = ereg_replace(
        "~[[:alpha:]]+://[^<>[:space:]]+[[:alnum:]/]~", 
        "<a href=\"\0\">\0</a>", 
        $string
    );
}
?></code>

Utilizing this approach guarantees that any URL within the original string will be transformed into a clickable link, enhancing user experience and facilitating navigation.

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