dlb's Send-A-Link
dlb's Send-A-Link allows visitors to send someone an email containing a link to the post or page.
Consider an alternative
dlb's Send-A-Link shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 7 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
- Small user base (10+ active installs)
- Very few reviews so far
- No update in 6 years
- Only tested up to WordPress 5.2 (latest is 7.1)
How does it stack up?
Side-by-side on installs, updates, ratings & support
Daily downloads
Download spikes usually follow a new release — each site that auto-updates counts as a download.
Rankings
Where dlb's Send-A-Link stands todayWordPress.org search rankings
Live position in the plugin search, top 100| Keyword | Position |
|---|---|
| >100 | |
| link | >100 |
| send | >100 |
| send email | >100 |
| send link | >100 |
Version adoption
Share of active sites per release.
About dlb's Send-A-Link
From the official readme · v1.2Description
dlb’s Send-A-Link allows visitors to send someone an email containing a link to the post or page.
Key features include:
- Show visitors a link (icon and/or text) to send an email by adding a function call to your templates or a shortcode to your pages/posts.
- The input form, confirmation page, and email message are all based on easily modifiable HTML templates.
- Spam protection includes CAPTCHA verification and limiting any given IP address to two messages per minute.
- Send-A-Link loads fast because code is compact and does not use jQuery.
- Send-A-Link uses Javascript/AJAX for fast, inobtrusive form handling, but it degrades gracefully to provide full functionality to clients without Javascript.
- Built and tested on WordPress v3.5.1; although it might work on earlier versions, it has not been tested on them.
dlb’s Send-A-Link code is heavily commented, especially regarding WordPress plugin interfaces and AJAX features. This makes it a suitable starting point for novice developers to explore their own programming interests. I have attempted to make the code very understandable. However, I do not claim this to be model code because I am not an experienced developer myself. In fact, I would greatly appreciate constructive criticism.
In the future, I plan to release new versions with the following features, in approximately this order:
- Privacy reassurance that email addresses are not stored, but IP’s are
- Make the “send another message” link consistently re-display form with fields pre-filled
- Localize to be ready for translation, including delivery of po and mo files and some instruction on how to use POEDIT to customize the wording, regardless of language. This could especially apply to the error messages.
- Attempt to use PHP’s DOM handling routines for more robust and reliable formatting of responses when client does not have Javascript available
- Use a stored procedure to flush log daily to reduce number of times it is done
- Rewrite using class construction
- Add admin screens to specify some things now defined in constants and templates
- Make it easy to turn CAPTCHA off or on
- Make it easy to use other CAPTCHAs
Installation
The easiest method is to use Plugins > Add New in your blog’s Administration menu. Search for “dlb” and click on the Install now link under dlb’s Send-A-Link. Then click the Activate Plugin link.
The manual method requires several steps: (1) Download the zip file to your computer. (2) Unzip the file. (3) Upload the dlbs-send-a-link folder to your wp-content/plugins directory. (4) Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins in your blog’s Administration menu and click the Activate link under dlb’s Send-A-Link.
Customization of dlb’s Send-A-Link is further described in the FAQ. Generally, it will be necessary to copy dsl-page.html, dsl-templates.html, and dsl.css from the plugin folder to your theme folder. Modify dsl-page.html to match the structure of your theme’s page.php file. Modify dsl-templates.html to reflect the URL of your blog. Modify dsl.css to match the look & feel of your blog.
You need to register at http://captchas.net (It’s free!) to obtain your own Username and Secret Key. Copy file dsl-captcha.php from the plugin folder to the theme folder. Change the values of $id and $key from “demo” and “secret” to your own Username and Secret Key respectively.
Finally, insert the shortcode [dsl-link] in your posts/pages wherever you want to show a link or icon to your visitors offering the opportunity to send a message. In your templates, insert the function dslLink(), typically as: if( function_exists('dslLink') ) { echo dslLink(); }. See FAQ to customize it.
Changelog
This is the first production release. Please upgrade as soon as possible. Please follow the new installation instructions carefully, and note that the layout of some templates has changed.
1.2
- Use latest version of (CaptchasDotNet.php) from https://captchas.net/sample/php/captchasdotnet
- Change all references to “http” to “https” in CaptchasDotNet.php
1.1
- Remove call-by-reference for PHP v5.3 and above compatibility by
- Changed line 736 in file dsl.php from dslSubstitutePlaceholders(&$input) to dslSubstitutePlaceholders($input)
1.0
- First production release
- Correct regression error with showing values on error screens without Javascript enabled
0.95
- Candidate for final release pending complete testing
- Degrades gracefully to provide full functionality to users without Javascript
- Loads CAPTCHA configuration file from theme folder
0.5
- Implements activate and deactivate routines to provide a database table for logging
- Logs IP address and time for every mail sent
- Flushes all log records more than one day old
- Limits send rate from an IP address to one message every 30 seconds
- Moved the last bit of visible text from Javascript file to template file
0.45
- Added dlb’s Send-A-Link to the WordPress.org Plugin Directory
- Improved the formatting and installation instructions in readme.txt
Screenshots
For developers
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FAQ
dlb's Send-A-Link: quick answers
Straight answers, pulled from live WordPress.org data.
Live data from WordPress.org · checked Oct 10, 2026
Is dlb's Send-A-Link free?
Yes. dlb's Send-A-Link is free to download and use from the official WordPress.org plugin directory.
Is dlb's Send-A-Link safe to use in 2026?
dlb's Send-A-Link shows warning signs in 2026 — compare the alternatives below before installing. It runs on 10+ sites and was last updated 7 years ago, and scores 23/100 on our health check.
How many websites use dlb's Send-A-Link?
dlb's Send-A-Link is active on 10+ WordPress websites and has been downloaded 2,568 times since it launched in June 2013. It was downloaded 57 times in the last 30 days.
Does dlb's Send-A-Link work with WordPress 7.1?
dlb's Send-A-Link is officially tested up to WordPress 5.2.29, while the latest release is 7.1.3. It may still work, but try it on a staging site first.
When was dlb's Send-A-Link last updated?
The latest version, 1.2, was released on October 13, 2019 (7 years ago).
Who makes dlb's Send-A-Link?
dlb's Send-A-Link is developed and maintained by Dave.
What are the best alternatives to dlb's Send-A-Link?
The most popular alternatives to dlb's Send-A-Link are WP Mail SMTP by WPForms (4M+ installs), MC4WP: Mailchimp for WordPr… (1M+ installs) and Easy WP SMTP (500K+ installs).
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