esc_url()

function esc_url( $url, $protocols = null, $_context = 'display' ) {
	$original_url = $url;

	if ( '' === $url ) {
		return $url;
	}

	$url = str_replace( ' ', '%20', ltrim( $url ) );
	$url = preg_replace( '|[^a-z0-9-~+_.?#=!&;,/:%@$|*'()[]\x80-\xff]|i', '', $url );

	if ( '' === $url ) {
		return $url;
	}

	if ( 0 !== stripos( $url, 'mailto:' ) ) {
		$strip = array( '%0d', '%0a', '%0D', '%0A' );
		$url   = _deep_replace( $strip, $url );
	}

	$url = str_replace( ';//', '://', $url );
	/*
	 * If the URL doesn't appear to contain a scheme, we presume
	 * it needs http:// prepended (unless it's a relative link
	 * starting with /, # or ?, or a PHP file).
	 */
	if ( strpos( $url, ':' ) === false && ! in_array( $url[0], array( '/', '#', '?' ), true ) &&
		! preg_match( '/^[a-z0-9-]+?.php/i', $url ) ) {
		$url = 'http://' . $url;
	}

	// Replace ampersands and single quotes only when displaying.
	if ( 'display' === $_context ) {
		$url = gc_kses_normalize_entities( $url );
		$url = str_replace( '&', '&', $url );
		$url = str_replace( "'", ''', $url );
	}

	if ( ( false !== strpos( $url, '[' ) ) || ( false !== strpos( $url, ']' ) ) ) {

		$parsed = gc_parse_url( $url );
		$front  = '';

		if ( isset( $parsed['scheme'] ) ) {
			$front .= $parsed['scheme'] . '://';
		} elseif ( '/' === $url[0] ) {
			$front .= '//';
		}

		if ( isset( $parsed['user'] ) ) {
			$front .= $parsed['user'];
		}

		if ( isset( $parsed['pass'] ) ) {
			$front .= ':' . $parsed['pass'];
		}

		if ( isset( $parsed['user'] ) || isset( $parsed['pass'] ) ) {
			$front .= '@';
		}

		if ( isset( $parsed['host'] ) ) {
			$front .= $parsed['host'];
		}

		if ( isset( $parsed['port'] ) ) {
			$front .= ':' . $parsed['port'];
		}

		$end_dirty = str_replace( $front, '', $url );
		$end_clean = str_replace( array( '[', ']' ), array( '%5B', '%5D' ), $end_dirty );
		$url       = str_replace( $end_dirty, $end_clean, $url );

	}

	if ( '/' === $url[0] ) {
		$good_protocol_url = $url;
	} else {
		if ( ! is_array( $protocols ) ) {
			$protocols = gc_allowed_protocols();
		}
		$good_protocol_url = gc_kses_bad_protocol( $url, $protocols );
		if ( strtolower( $good_protocol_url ) != strtolower( $url ) ) {
			return '';
		}
	}

	/**
	 * Filters a string cleaned and escaped for output as a URL.
	 *
	 * @since 2.3.0
	 *
	 * @param string $good_protocol_url The cleaned URL to be returned.
	 * @param string $original_url      The URL prior to cleaning.
	 * @param string $_context          If 'display', replace ampersands and single quotes only.
	 */
	return apply_filters( 'clean_url', $good_protocol_url, $original_url, $_context );
}

<?php
/**
 * Extend list of allowed protocols.
 *
 * @param array $protocols List of default protocols allowed by GeChiUI.
 *
 * @return array $protocols Updated list including new protocols.
 */
function gcorg_extend_allowed_protocols( $protocols ){
	$protocols[] = 'skype';
	$protocols[] = 'spotify';
	$protocols[] = 'macappstores';
	return $protocols;
}
add_filter( 'kses_allowed_protocols' , 'gcorg_extend_allowed_protocols' );
?>