diff --git a/extlink.js b/extlink.js
index 2fa46bf..74ac4c5 100644
--- a/extlink.js
+++ b/extlink.js
@@ -1,20 +1,23 @@
 (function ($) {
 
-function extlinkAttach(context) {
+Drupal.extlink = Drupal.extlink || {};
+
+Drupal.extlink.attach = function (context, settings) {
   // Strip the host name down, removing ports, subdomains, or www.
   var pattern = /^(([^\/:]+?\.)*)([^\.:]{4,})((\.[a-z]{1,4})*)(:[0-9]{1,5})?$/;
   var host = window.location.host.replace(pattern, '$3$4');
   var subdomain = window.location.host.replace(pattern, '$1');
 
   // Determine what subdomains are considered internal.
-  if (Drupal.settings.extlink.extSubdomains) {
-    var subdomains = "([^/]*\\.)?";
+  var subdomains;
+  if (settings.extlink.extSubdomains) {
+    subdomains = "([^/]*\\.)?";
   }
   else if (subdomain == 'www.' || subdomain == '') {
-    var subdomains = "(www\\.)?";
+    subdomains = "(www\\.)?";
   }
   else {
-    var subdomains = subdomain.replace(".", "\\.");
+    subdomains = subdomain.replace(".", "\\.");
   }
 
   // Build regular expressions that define an internal link.
@@ -22,26 +25,26 @@ function extlinkAttach(context) {
 
   // Extra internal link matching.
   var extInclude = false;
-  if (Drupal.settings.extlink.extInclude) {
-    extInclude = new RegExp(Drupal.settings.extlink.extInclude.replace(/\\/, '\\'));
+  if (settings.extlink.extInclude) {
+    extInclude = new RegExp(settings.extlink.extInclude.replace(/\\/, '\\'));
   }
 
   // Extra external link matching.
   var extExclude = false;
-  if (Drupal.settings.extlink.extExclude) {
-    extExclude = new RegExp(Drupal.settings.extlink.extExclude.replace(/\\/, '\\'));
+  if (settings.extlink.extExclude) {
+    extExclude = new RegExp(settings.extlink.extExclude.replace(/\\/, '\\'));
   }
 
   // Extra external link CSS selector exclusion.
   var extCssExclude = false;
-  if (Drupal.settings.extlink.extCssExclude) {
-    extCssExclude = Drupal.settings.extlink.extCssExclude;
+  if (settings.extlink.extCssExclude) {
+    extCssExclude = settings.extlink.extCssExclude;
   }
 
   // Extra external link CSS selector explicit.
   var extCssExplicit = false;
-  if (Drupal.settings.extlink.extCssExplicit) {
-    extCssExplicit = Drupal.settings.extlink.extCssExplicit;
+  if (settings.extlink.extCssExplicit) {
+    extCssExplicit = settings.extlink.extCssExplicit;
   }
 
   // Find all links which are NOT internal and begin with http (as opposed
@@ -52,7 +55,7 @@ function extlinkAttach(context) {
   // available in jQuery 1.0 (Drupal 5 default).
   var external_links = new Array();
   var mailto_links = new Array();
-  $("a:not(." + Drupal.settings.extlink.extClass + ", ." + Drupal.settings.extlink.mailtoClass + "), area:not(." + Drupal.settings.extlink.extClass + ", ." + Drupal.settings.extlink.mailtoClass + ")", context).each(function(el) {
+  $("a:not(." + settings.extlink.extClass + ", ." + settings.extlink.mailtoClass + "), area:not(." + settings.extlink.extClass + ", ." + settings.extlink.mailtoClass + ")", context).each(function(el) {
     try {
       var url = this.href.toLowerCase();
       if (url.indexOf('http') == 0 
@@ -66,42 +69,30 @@ function extlinkAttach(context) {
       // icons from being added to image-maps).
       else if (this.tagName != 'AREA' 
         && url.indexOf('mailto:') == 0 
-	    && !(extCssExclude && $(this).parents(extCssExclude).length > 0)
-	    && !(extCssExplicit && $(this).parents(extCssExplicit).length < 1)) {
+        && !(extCssExclude && $(this).parents(extCssExclude).length > 0)
+        && !(extCssExplicit && $(this).parents(extCssExplicit).length < 1)) {
         mailto_links.push(this);
       }
     }
     // IE7 throws errors often when dealing with irregular links, such as:
     // <a href="node/10"></a> Empty tags.
     // <a href="http://user:pass@example.com">example</a> User:pass syntax.
-    catch(error) {
+    catch (error) {
       return false;
     }
   });
 
-  if (Drupal.settings.extlink.extClass) {
-    // Apply the "ext" class to all links not containing images.
-    if (parseFloat($().jquery) < 1.2) {
-      $(external_links).not('[img]').addClass(Drupal.settings.extlink.extClass).each(function() { if ($(this).css('display') == 'inline') $(this).after('<span class=' + Drupal.settings.extlink.extClass + '></span>'); });
-    }
-    else {
-      $(external_links).not($(external_links).find('img').parents('a')).addClass(Drupal.settings.extlink.extClass).each(function() { if ($(this).css('display') == 'inline') $(this).after('<span class=' + Drupal.settings.extlink.extClass + '></span>'); });
-    }
+  if (settings.extlink.extClass) {
+    Drupal.extlink.applyClassAndSpan(external_links, settings.extlink.extClass);
   }
 
-  if (Drupal.settings.extlink.mailtoClass) {
-    // Apply the "mailto" class to all mailto links not containing images.
-    if (parseFloat($().jquery) < 1.2) {
-      $(mailto_links).not('[img]').addClass(Drupal.settings.extlink.mailtoClass).each(function() { if ($(this).css('display') == 'inline') $(this).after('<span class=' + Drupal.settings.extlink.mailtoClass + '></span>'); });
-    }
-    else {
-      $(mailto_links).not($(mailto_links).find('img').parents('a')).addClass(Drupal.settings.extlink.mailtoClass).each(function() { if ($(this).css('display') == 'inline') $(this).after('<span class=' + Drupal.settings.extlink.mailtoClass + '></span>'); });
-    }
+  if (settings.extlink.mailtoClass) {
+    Drupal.extlink.applyClassAndSpan(mailto_links, settings.extlink.mailtoClass);
   }
 
-  if (Drupal.settings.extlink.extTarget) {
+  if (settings.extlink.extTarget) {
     // Apply the target attribute to all links.
-    $(external_links).attr('target', Drupal.settings.extlink.extTargetValue);
+    $(external_links).attr('target', settings.extlink.extTargetValue);
   }
 
   Drupal.extlink = Drupal.extlink || {};
@@ -109,8 +100,8 @@ function extlinkAttach(context) {
   // Set up default click function for the external links popup. This should be
   // overridden by modules wanting to alter the popup.
   Drupal.extlink.popupClickHandler = Drupal.extlink.popupClickHandler || function() {
-    if (Drupal.settings.extlink.extAlert) {
-      return confirm(Drupal.settings.extlink.extAlertText);
+    if (settings.extlink.extAlert) {
+      return confirm(settings.extlink.extAlertText);
     }
    }
   
@@ -122,12 +113,46 @@ function extlinkAttach(context) {
   if (($.support && !($.support.boxModel === undefined) && !$.support.boxModel) || ($.browser.msie && parseInt($.browser.version) <= 7)) {
     $('span.ext, span.mailto').css('display', 'inline-block');
   }
-}
+};
+
+/**
+ * Apply a class and a trailing <span> to all links not containing images.
+ *
+ * @param links
+ *   An array of DOM elements representing the links.
+ * @param class_name
+ *   The class to apply to the links.
+ */
+Drupal.extlink.applyClassAndSpan = function (links, class_name) {
+  var $links_to_process;
+  if (parseFloat($().jquery) < 1.2) {
+    $links_to_process = $(links).not('[img]');
+  }
+  else {
+    var links_with_images = $(links).find('img').parents('a');
+    $links_to_process = $(links).not(links_with_images);
+  }
+  $links_to_process.addClass(class_name);
+  var i;
+  var length = $links_to_process.length;
+  for (i = 0; i < length; i++) {
+    var $link = $($links_to_process[i]);
+    if ($link.css('display') == 'inline') {
+      $link.after('<span class=' + class_name + '></span>');
+    }
+  }
+};
 
-Drupal.behaviors.extlink = {
-  attach: function(context){
+Drupal.behaviors.extlink = Drupal.behaviors.extlink || {};
+Drupal.behaviors.extlink.attach = function (context, settings) {
+  // Backwards compatibility, for the benefit of modules overriding extlink
+  // functionality by defining an "extlinkAttach" global function.
+  if (typeof extlinkAttach === 'function') {
     extlinkAttach(context);
   }
-}
+  else {
+    Drupal.extlink.attach(context, settings);
+  }
+};
 
 })(jQuery);