Title: Dev Highlighter Author: devshujon Published: July 16, 2026 Last modified: July 16, 2026 --- Search plugins ![](https://ps.w.org/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/assets/banner-772x250.png?rev =3610416) ![](https://ps.w.org/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3610416) # Dev Highlighter By [devshujon](https://profiles.wordpress.org/devshujon/) [Download](https://downloads.wordpress.org/plugin/devshujon-keyword-highlighter.zip) * [Details](https://wordpress.org/plugins/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/#description) * [Reviews](https://wordpress.org/plugins/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/#reviews) * [Installation](https://wordpress.org/plugins/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/#installation) * [Development](https://wordpress.org/plugins/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/#developers) [Support](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/) ## Description Dev Highlighter lets you turn any word or phrase into a styled, optionally-linked highlight everywhere it appears in your content — without editing a single post by hand. Define a keyword once, choose how it should look (text colour, background colour, bold, italic, underline), optionally give it a link, and Dev Highlighter does the rest on the front end. It is built for performance: rules are compiled and cached, and content is parsed safely with DOMDocument so your markup is never mangled. #### Key features * **Context-aware rules engine** — one keyword can have many rules, each with its own colour, link, and target. Highlight “Mental Health” gold site-wide, green on selected pages, and blue in a category — all at once. * **Targeting** — apply a rule Site-Wide, or to Selected Pages, Selected Posts, Categories, Tags, or Post Types. * **Exclusions** — exclude specific posts/pages by ID, categories, or whole post types per rule. * **Priority system** — when several rules match, the most specific one wins (Page› Post › Category › Tag › Post Type › Site-Wide); a per-rule priority breaks ties. * **Smart conflict detection** — the admin flags keywords with multiple rules and shows which one wins. * **Future-proof architecture** — a pluggable condition registry and filterable scope weights make new conditions drop-in additions. * **Unlimited keyword rules** — add as many as you need. * **Styling** — text colour, background colour, bold, italic, and underline per keyword. * **Auto-linking** — add an optional URL to turn a keyword into a link, with optional“ open in new tab” (adds `rel="noopener noreferrer"`). * **Smart phrase protection** — longer phrases always win, so “Mental Health Program” is never broken into “Mental Health” + “Program”. * **Post type control** — choose exactly where processing runs: Posts, Pages, or any public custom post type. * **Safe parsing** — never touches text inside `script`, `style`, `textarea`, ` pre`, `code`, or existing links. * **Optimised CSS** — identical styles are de-duplicated into shared, generated classes; no repeated inline CSS. * **Import / Export** — move your rules between sites as JSON, with merge or replace. * **Performance first** — compiled rules are cached in a transient and only rebuilt when a rule changes, so sites with 500+ keywords stay fast. * **Translation ready** — fully internationalised with the `dev-highlighter` text domain. #### Where processing runs Dev Highlighter only filters `the_content` on the front end. It never runs in the admin area, feeds, REST requests, AJAX requests, or cron. It makes no external/third- party HTTP requests. #### Extensible by design Dev Highlighter exposes documented filters and actions (`word_spotlight_condition_evaluators`,` word_spotlight_collect_conditions`, `word_spotlight_sanitize_extra_conditions`, ` word_spotlight_rule_builder_fields`, and the scope-weight filters) so optional add- ons can register new targeting conditions and rule-builder fields without modifying the core engine. An optional premium add-on, **Dev Highlighter Pro**, builds on these hooks; it is a separate plugin and is not required for any feature described above. ## Screenshots [⌊The Keywords list with live style previews.⌉⌊The Keywords list with live style previews.⌉[ The Keywords list with live style previews. [⌊Adding a keyword with colour pickers and styling options.⌉⌊Adding a keyword with colour pickers and styling options.⌉[ Adding a keyword with colour pickers and styling options. [⌊The Settings screen with post type control and exclusions.⌉⌊The Settings screen with post type control and exclusions.⌉[ The Settings screen with post type control and exclusions. ## Installation 1. Upload the `dev-highlighter` folder to the `/wp-content/plugins/` directory, or install the plugin through the **Plugins** screen in WordPress. 2. Activate the plugin through the **Plugins** screen. 3. Go to **Dev Highlighter Keywords** and add your first keyword rule. 4. Visit **Dev Highlighter Settings** to choose which post types are processed and to set any exclusions. ## FAQ ### Does it modify my stored content? No. Highlighting happens on output via the `the_content` filter. Your posts are never altered in the database. ### Will it break my HTML? No. Content is parsed with DOMDocument rather than naive string replacement, and text inside `script`, `style`, `textarea`, `pre`, `code`, and existing `a` tags is skipped. ### How does phrase protection work? Keywords are sorted longest-first and matched with ordered alternation, so the longest matching phrase at any position always wins. ### Is it fast on large sites? Yes. Compiled rules and the generated stylesheet are cached in a transient and only rebuilt when you change a rule. A fast pre-check skips the DOM entirely on content that contains no keywords. ### How do I exclude my cart or checkout page? Go to **Dev Highlighter Settings Exclusions** and add the page slugs (for example` cart`, `checkout`, `my-account`) or their post IDs. ### Does the plugin contact any external service? No. The free plugin makes no outbound network requests and stores all of its data in your own WordPress database. ## Reviews There are no reviews for this plugin. ## Contributors & Developers “Dev Highlighter” is open source software. The following people have contributed to this plugin. Contributors * [ devshujon ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/devshujon/) [Translate “Dev Highlighter” into your language.](https://translate.wordpress.org/projects/wp-plugins/devshujon-keyword-highlighter) ### Interested in development? [Browse the code](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/), check out the [SVN repository](https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/), or subscribe to the [development log](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/) by [RSS](https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/log/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/?limit=100&mode=stop_on_copy&format=rss). ## Changelog #### 1.2.0 * Added documented extension points (filters/actions) so optional add-ons can register custom targeting conditions and rule-builder fields without modifying the core engine. * Internal refinements to the rules engine and admin. #### 1.1.0 * New: context-aware rules engine — multiple rules per keyword, each with its own styling, link, and target. * New: rule targeting by Site-Wide, Selected Pages, Selected Posts, Categories, Tags, or Post Types. * New: per-rule exclusions (post/page IDs, categories, post types) and a priority tiebreaker. * New: specificity-based priority resolution (Page › Post › Category › Tag › Post Type › Site-Wide) — the most specific rule always wins. * New: visual rule builder with a live preview and smart conflict detection. * New: pluggable condition registry and filters for future conditions. * Existing keywords are automatically migrated to Site-Wide rules — no action needed. #### 1.0.0 * Initial release. ## Meta * Version **1.2.0** * Last updated **16 hours ago** * Active installations **Fewer than 10** * WordPress version ** 6.0 or higher ** * Tested up to **7.0.1** * PHP version ** 7.4 or higher ** * Tags * [auto-link](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/auto-link/)[keyword highlight](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/keyword-highlight/) [keyword linking](https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/keyword-linking/) * [Advanced View](https://wordpress.org/plugins/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/advanced/) ## Ratings No reviews have been submitted yet. [Your review](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/reviews/#new-post) [See all reviews](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/reviews/) ## Contributors * [ devshujon ](https://profiles.wordpress.org/devshujon/) ## Support Got something to say? Need help? [View support forum](https://wordpress.org/support/plugin/devshujon-keyword-highlighter/)