diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de9d237
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+dist
+build
+*.egg-info
+*.pyc
+*.pyo
+*~
+*#
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lektor_markdown_link_classes.py b/lektor_markdown_link_classes.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34354e4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lektor_markdown_link_classes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+import re
+from lektor.pluginsystem import Plugin
+from markupsafe import escape
+
+
+_class_re = re.compile(r'\s+:([a-zA-Z0-9_-]+)')
+
+
+def split_classes(text):
+    classes = []
+    def _handle_match(match):
+        classes.append(match.group(1))
+        return ''
+    text = _class_re.sub(_handle_match, text).replace('\\:', ':')
+    return text, classes
+
+
+class MarkdownLinkClassesPlugin(Plugin):
+    name = 'Markdown Link Classes'
+    description = 'Adds the ability to add classes to links.'
+
+    def on_markdown_config(self, config, **extra):
+        class LinkClassesMixin(object):
+            def link(renderer, link, title, text):
+                text, classes = split_classes(text)
+                if link.startswith('javascript:'):
+                    link = ''
+                attr = ['href="%s"' % escape(link)]
+                if title:
+                    attr.append('title="%s"' % escape(title))
+                if classes:
+                    attr.append('class="%s"' % ' '.join(
+                        escape(x) for x in classes))
+                return '<a %s>%s</a>' % (' '.join(attr), text)
+        config.renderer_mixins.append(LinkClassesMixin)
diff --git a/setup.cfg b/setup.cfg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3c6e79c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup.cfg
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+[bdist_wheel]
+universal=1
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fe68040
--- /dev/null
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+from setuptools import setup
+
+setup(
+    name='lektor-markdown-link-classes',
+    version='0.1',
+    author='Armin Ronacher',
+    author_email='armin.ronacher@active-4.com',
+    license='MIT',
+    py_modules=['lektor_markdown_link_classes'],
+    url='http://github.com/lektor/lektor',
+    entry_points={
+        'lektor.plugins': [
+            'markdown-link-classes = lektor_markdown_link_classes:MarkdownLinkClassesPlugin',
+        ]
+    }
+)