- var_dump: documentation ( source)
- explode: documentation ( source)
- preg_replace: documentation ( source)
<?php
$text = 'A string with a link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/';
$delim = preg_replace('/(http\:\/\/|https\:\/\/)([a-z0-9\.\/\?\=_]*)/i', 'URL_DELIM', $text);
$parts = explode('URL_DELIM', $delim);
var_dump($parts);