The URL to check (can be absolute or relative)
True if the URL is external (different hostname), false otherwise
// On https://beta.localhost.dev/components
// Same hostname - returns false
isExternalUrl('https://beta.localhost.dev/giving'); // false
isExternalUrl('/components/navigation'); // false
isExternalUrl('../about'); // false
// Different hostname - returns true
isExternalUrl('https://giving.umd.edu'); // true
isExternalUrl('https://www.google.com'); // true
// Invalid URLs - returns false
isExternalUrl('not a url'); // false
isExternalUrl(''); // false
Checks if a given URL points to a different hostname than the current page.
This utility is useful for determining whether a link should open in a new tab or have special styling/behavior for external links.