GT Link Manager

GT Link Manager is a free WordPress link manager and URL shortener for branded short links, affiliate link management, country-based redirects, and opt-in click analytics. Create reusable links, find out where they are clicked, and manage them from the WordPress admin, block editor, or REST API. There are no premium tiers or upsells.

Redirects use indexed custom database tables and resolve before theme templates load. Advanced Analytics adds no visitor tracking scripts, cookies, or beacon requests.

Your links follow a clean URL pattern: yoursite.com/go/your-slug (the prefix is configurable and can even be removed on individual links).

Official Page & Documentation | Free Training Course | REST API & AI Tools Guide

Advanced Analytics: See Where Your Links Get Clicked

Advanced Analytics adds reports alongside the existing lifetime click counter. It stays off until you explicitly enable it under GT Links > Analytics > Settings. No analytics tables, options, records or maintenance jobs are created before opt-in.

• Find your strongest links. View click totals, daily or hourly trends, and the links used within a selected period or category.
• See the referring post or URL. The separate Clicked from report lists every matching recorded entry with pagination and resolves published WordPress post titles where possible. Open a page report to see which links were clicked there, then inspect an individual link within that same page.
• Switch breakdowns instantly. Sources, countries, devices, browsers, operating systems and configured campaigns are loaded with the report. Switching tabs does not reload the page or fetch another report.
• Read the chart clearly. The chart fits the recorded activity period while preserving real time spacing. View click totals opens a scrollable popup with exact values.
• Use WordPress time. Dates, hourly/day grouping and CSV timestamps follow the timezone configured in WordPress, including fractional offsets and daylight-saving changes.
• Keep the context when exporting. Date, category, link and referring-page selections carry into CSV exports. Configured UTM combinations can be tracked as campaigns.
• Choose what to retain. Individual click records default to seven days and reports to ninety days. Choose Forever to keep reports until you delete them; individual records still expire separately.
• Pause or remove analytics independently. Turning collection off keeps existing reports under their retention policy. Deleting analytics removes its records and jobs while preserving links and basic counts.

Collection uses a compact server-side write on eligible GET redirects. PHP-FPM can finish the redirect response before recording the event; other hosts complete that write synchronously. No visitor JavaScript, cookies, beacons, IP storage, fingerprinting or external analytics service is added. Referring URLs omit credentials, query strings and fragments; raw user agents are not retained.

Recognized bots, prefetches and signed-in link managers are excluded. These reports count eligible redirect requests, not unique people or conversions. Browsers may report an external website, only its origin, or no referrer. Earlier clicks without page information remain Page unavailable, with a short explanation. External referrers are kept and explained rather than automatically treated as spam.

Reports and page-specific breakdowns are summarized by a bounded maintenance worker. Keep WordPress cron or a system scheduler running. Storage and processing safeguards can pause collection while preserving existing reports. Historical data can be viewed in date windows of up to ninety days. Advanced Analytics currently supports single-site installations.

The Privacy and data section links to WordPress’s suggested Privacy Policy text. Administrators control analytics by default; developers can use gtlm_analytics_capability for report access and gtlm_analytics_should_record to suppress events, including consent integrations. Site-owner opt-in is not a legal consent exemption.

Fast Branded Redirects

GT Link Manager stores links in custom database tables, not custom post types. Redirect resolution runs on init at priority 0 using a UNIQUE-indexed slug lookup, before theme templates load. Missing, inactive and trashed branded short links return a real 404 instead of serving the homepage.

Key Features

• Advanced Analytics. Optional click trends, referring-page drilldowns, instant breakdown tabs, WordPress-time reports and CSV export, with no visitor scripts or cookies.
• Fast direct redirects. Resolves links on init (priority 0) via direct DB lookup, no CPT overhead
• 301, 302, and 307 redirects. Choose the right redirect type for SEO, temporary, or method-preserving redirects
• Rel attribute controls. Set nofollow, sponsored, and ugc per link for proper SEO attribution
• Noindex support. Sends X-Robots-Tag: noindex header to prevent search engines from indexing redirect URLs
• Categories and tags. Organize links into categories with parent/child hierarchy and free-form tags
• Full admin list table. Search, filter by category/status, sort by any column, and perform bulk actions
• Quick Edit. Update URL, slug, redirect type, rel, category, and status inline without leaving the list
• Activate / Deactivate. Disable a link without deleting it; inactive links stop redirecting but stay in the database
• Trash and restore. Soft-delete links to trash with the option to restore or permanently delete
• CSV import and export. Import links from CSV with column mapping preview, or export filtered links; includes LinkCentral and Pretty Links compatible presets. Manual column mapping also supports compatible CSV exports from ThirstyAffiliates, ClickWhale, Lasso, BetterLinks, GeniusLink, and others. Map the name and destination URL fields, review the preview, and choose how to handle duplicates.
• Block editor integration. Search and insert managed links into rich text and the core Button block without leaving the editor
• Branded URL preview. See the full branded URL as you type, with one-click copy
• Prefix-free and regex redirects. Route ordinary paths without /go/, or use regular expressions and capture groups for more complex rules. Protected WordPress endpoints cannot be claimed by redirect rules.
• Geolocation targeting. Send visitors from different countries to different destinations on a per-link basis (e.g. India to amazon.in, the US to amazon.com). The country comes from a header your CDN already sends, whether that is Cloudflare, CloudFront, Vercel, App Engine, or an nginx/Apache GeoIP module, so there is no GeoIP database to install and no external lookup. Links without country rules skip country detection.
• Independent lifetime counts. Optional running totals remain separate from Advanced Analytics. When analytics is enabled, click a count in All Links to open that link’s report.
• Click tracking integrations. For per-visit analytics, hook gtlm_before_redirect and send events to GA4, Plausible, Fathom, Matomo, or Simple Analytics
• AI and REST API workflows. Create, update, categorize, trash and restore links through authenticated endpoints. The settings page links directly to the AI-tools guide.
• Safer CSV handling. Preview and map columns before import. Temporary files stay outside public uploads, and spreadsheet-style formulas are neutralized on export.
• Data cleanup controls. Restore trashed links, configure trash retention, and choose whether uninstall removes plugin data.
• Developer-friendly. Actions and filters for redirect interception, URL modification, capability control, cache TTL, and more

Developer Hooks

GT Link Manager provides a comprehensive set of hooks for customization:

• gtlm_before_redirect, action fired before redirect (use for click tracking or logging)
• gtlm_redirect_url, filter to modify the destination URL
• gtlm_redirect_code, filter to modify the HTTP status code
• gtlm_rel_attributes, filter to modify rel attribute values
• gtlm_headers, filter to modify redirect response headers
• gtlm_prefix, filter to override the URL prefix
• gtlm_capabilities, filter to override the required user capability
• gtlm_cache_ttl, filter to set object cache TTL for link lookups
• gtlm_geo_country, filter the detected country code (plug in any detection method you like)
• gtlm_geo_sources, filter the list of request variables checked for a country
• gtlm_geo_country_groups, filter country groups usable in rules (ships with EU)
• gtlm_geo_matched_rule, filter the resolved geo rule before the redirect is sent
• gtlm_geo_blocked, action fired when a visitor is blocked by a geo rule’s 404 fallback
• gtlm_link_not_found, action fired when a prefixed link cannot be resolved and a 404 is sent
• gtlm_404_on_missing_link, filter to disable the 404 for unresolved prefixed links and fall through to WordPress instead
• gtlm_trash_purged, action fired after trashed links are automatically purged, with the count and retention window
• gtlm_count_click, filter to skip counting a particular click (exclude logged-in editors, add bot filtering)
• gtlm_click_recorded, action fired after a click has been counted
• gtlm_analytics_should_record, filter to suppress an advanced analytics event
• gtlm_analytics_capability, filter the capability required to view analytics reports

Independent Click Counting

Basic click counting is off by default. Enable it under GT Links > Settings to keep one lifetime total per link. It stores no visitor details, IP addresses, user agents, referrers or timestamps. With basic counts and Advanced Analytics both off, GT Link Manager stores no request analytics.

Counts appear in the sortable Clicks column, the read-only REST API total_clicks field and CSV exports. Use Reset Clicks for a single link or gtlm_count_click to exclude requests. When Advanced Analytics is enabled, a count links to that link’s report.

Updates are atomic. PHP-FPM can finish the response before recording a count; other hosts write synchronously. Basic totals and dated analytics have independent settings. Choose consent requirements according to your site and integrations.

Free Training and Documentation

The GT Link Manager Training course covers getting started, managing links, categories, settings, the redirect system, block editor integration, import and export, geolocation targeting, REST API endpoints, hooks, filters and troubleshooting.

Useful references:

• Import and Export: Pretty Links and LinkCentral presets, column mapping and CSV migration.
• Geolocation Targeting: country rules and CDN header detection.
• Developer Reference: API access, hooks and custom integrations.

Source, Support and Data Ownership

The full source, including the compiled block editor assets’ source code, is on GitHub. See Releases for builds and changelogs.

Use the WordPress.org support forum for help or GitHub Issues for bugs. Include your WordPress and PHP versions, link slug, configured prefix, expected behavior and any CDN or page cache. Send security reports privately to the maintainer.

CSV export keeps your links portable, including geo rules and advanced redirect configuration. Uninstall removes data only when you enable that option. There are no Pro tiers, trials, required accounts, telemetry or upsell notices.

GT Link Manager does not perform automatic keyword linking. Country detection depends on a trusted CDN or server header; a header supplied directly by a visitor can be forged. Basic counts measure requests, while Advanced Analytics adds eligible-click reports; neither identifies unique visitors or verifies conversions.

Analytics & Advanced Integrations

The Developer Reference includes step-by-step integration guides for:

• Analytics. Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Plausible Analytics, Fathom Analytics, Matomo, and Simple Analytics
• Tracking. Custom click logging to a database table, dashboard widget, and UTM parameter passthrough
• Automation. Webhook notifications for Zapier, Make, and n8n
• Advanced redirects. Role-based redirects (route by user role) and geo-based redirects (route by location)
• Customization. Custom response headers, hooks and filters reference

REST API & AI Tools

GT Link Manager has a full REST API that works with AI tools for programmatic link management. The REST API & AI Tools Guide covers authentication setup, all available endpoints, and integration with AI platforms including Claude Code, OpenAI Codex, WP-MCP, Novamira, Claudeus WordPress MCP, and WordPress MCP Adapter. Settings includes a copyable setup prompt that asks the AI to read the guide, reuse supplied configuration and request missing details.

Source Code

The block editor assets (blocks/link-inserter/build/) are compiled from the source at blocks/link-inserter/src/ using @wordpress/scripts. The full source code is available in this plugin and on GitHub at https://github.com/wpgaurav/gt-link-manager.

To build from source:
cd blocks/link-inserter && npm install && npm run build