replace link with another - php

Question

I'm struggling on replacing text in each link.
$reg_ex = "/(http|https)\:\/\/[a-zA-Z0-9\-\.]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,3}(\/\S*)?/";
$text = '<br /><p>this is a content with a link we are supposed to click</p><p>another - this is a content with a link we are supposed to click</p><p>another - this is a content with a link we are supposed to click</p>';
if(preg_match_all($reg_ex, $text, $urls))
{
foreach($urls[0] as $url)
{
echo $replace = str_replace($url,'http://www.sometext'.$url, $text);
}
}
From the code above, I'm getting 3x the same text, and the links are changed one by one: everytime is replaced only one link - because I use foreach, I know.
But I don't know how to replace them all at once.
Your help would be great!

Answer 1

You don't use regexes on html. use DOM instead. That being said, your bug is here:
$replace = str_replace(...., $text);
^^^^^^^^--- ^^^^^---
you never update $text, so you continually trash the replacement on every iteration of the loop. You probably want
$text = str_replace(...., $text);
instead, so the changes "propagate"

Answer 2

If you want the final variable to contain all replacements change it so something like this...
You basically are not passing the replaced string back into the "subject". I assume that is what you are expecting since it's a bit difficult to understand the question.
$reg_ex = "/(http|https)\:\/\/[a-zA-Z0-9\-\.]+\.[a-zA-Z]{2,3}(\/\S*)?/";
$text = '<br /><p>this is a content with a link we are supposed to click</p><p>another - this is a content with a link we are supposed to click</p><p>another - this is a content with a link we are supposed to click</p>';
if(preg_match_all($reg_ex, $text, $urls))
{
$replace = $text;
foreach($urls[0] as $url) {
$replace = str_replace($url,'http://www.sometext'.$url, $replace);
}
echo $replace;
}