How to delete tracking code from links in PHP

Hi I have a form in WordPress where users can submit a link to a product, but very often the links come with unnecessary baggage, like tracking codes. I would like to create a filter in WordPress and clean the links so they consist of just a working link. I would like to if possible confirm that the link still works or a method that will guarantee that the link will still work.

The main things I want to get rid of in links are utm_source and it's contents, utm_medium and it's contents, etc. Everything but the clean working link.

So for example, a link like this: https://www.serenaandlily.com/variationproduct?dwvar_m10055_size=Twin&dwvar_m10055_color=Chambray&pid=m10055&pdp=true&source=detail&utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=pjdatafeed&publisherId=20648&clickId=2669312134#fo_c=745&fo_k=c0ebaf8359ca7853df8343e535533280&fo_s=pepperjam

Will end up like this:

https://www.serenaandlily.com/variationproduct?dwvar_m10055_size=Twin&dwvar_m10055_color=Chambray&pid=m10055

I'd really appreciate if someone can lead me in the right direction.

Thanks!

Solution

You can do what you want with explode, parse_str and http_build_query. This code uses an array of unwanted parameters to decide what to delete from the query string:

$unwanted_params = array('utm_source', 'utm_medium', 'utm_campaign', 'clickId', 'publisherId', 'source', 'pdp', 'details', 'fo_k', 'fo_s');
$url = 'https://www.serenaandlily.com/variationproduct?dwvar_m10055_size=Twin&dwvar_m10055_color=Chambray&pid=m10055&pdp=true&source=detail&utm_source=affiliate&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=pjdatafeed&publisherId=20648&clickId=2669312134#fo_c=745&fo_k=c0ebaf8359ca7853df8343e535533280&fo_s=pepperjam';
list($path, $query_string) = explode('?', $url, 2);
// parse the query string
parse_str($query_string, $params);
// delete unwanted parameters
foreach ($unwanted_params as $p) unset($params[$p]);
// rebuild the query
$query_string = http_build_query($params);
// reassemble the URL
$url = $path . '?' . $query_string;
echo $url;

Output:

https://www.serenaandlily.com/variationproduct?dwvar_m10055_size=Twin&dwvar_m10055_color=Chambray&pid=m10055

Demo on 3v4l.org