@Wes - I know this thread is from a long time ago but I have tried the method above to link a category to an external link and I can't get it to work. This is the JS I used:

//send category links to community - Change category and google.com to your helpcenter
$('a').each(function() {
var value = $(this).attr('href');
if(value=='/hc/en-us/categories/201141365-Streets-Heaver-FTP')
{
$(this).attr('href', https://downloads.streets-heaver.com/downloads/index.php');
}
});

I put it below the $(document).ready(function() {

in the JS.

Hope you can help, thanks.