Universal Hyperlinker: A Small Plugin That Solved a Real Problem

The Universal Hyperlinker wasn’t born out of a desire to create a Figma plugin—I wasn’t even looking to develop one. I was simply trying to solve a specific issue I encountered during my own design workflow. There was no straightforward way to add a hyperlink to an image or frame in Figma, and surprisingly, no existing plugin seemed to address this.

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Rather than wait for a solution, I decided to create my own. I initially came up with a workaround involving a transparent text layer that could be placed over images or frames, making them clickable. While it did the job, it wasn’t exactly efficient. So, I took it further and wrote an algorithm that detects the size of a selected image or frame and generates a matching clickable area. This way, the hyperlink covers the entire element from edge to edge without any manual adjustments.

One feature I added for convenience was the ability to hyperlink multiple items at once, speeding up workflows even more. The interface also handles edge cases, like when an invalid URL is input or when no valid element is selected for linking.

The result? What started as a small side project turned into something that not only improved my workflow but also ended up benefiting others. Universal Hyperlinker now has over 1000 users and has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the community.

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"Works great! Really sped up my workflow!"

@stanley12

"Super useful tool especially for prototypes."

@honeycomb1

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Though it wasn’t a grand project, it’s been rewarding to see how a simple tool, born out of necessity, can have a practical, positive result. It’s a reminder that sometimes the best ideas come from addressing your own needs first.