Making a plug for external switches?

Hey there, I am trying to make a plug of some sort that I can use to connect switches to contacts with cut traces (sorry for horrible grammar, I'm not sure quite how to put it into words). Basically what I am trying to achieve is a way to have a switch be able to turn on or off communication between two points on a circuit board, but also be able to unplug the box with the switches and have the communication be always on. I know how to make a simple external box for switches, but it would either always be attached, or when removed, the communication would always be off between points.
Here's a quick mock-up I made in Paint of kinda what I'm looking to achieve:
[GALLERY=media, 1622]Plug Diagram Thing by Shinigami posted Oct 6, 2016 at 11:25 AM[/GALLERY]
The orange parts are cuts made on traces. So basically I want the red wires and blue wires to be connected when the external thing with switches is unplugged, but disconnected when the switches are plugged in, so that the switches control whether the wires connect or not.
If it makes any sort of difference, I will need about 16 wires in the plug connecting 8 sets of 2 points on the board.

Thanks in advance for any help! I can answer any questions you have about what I am trying to say, I understand that I'm not great with putting my ideas into words.

 

Not sure what is going over the wires (signal, power etc) but you could use a bus switch. Assuming you can power the bus switch from the PCB. You could also use normally closed relays, but that'd be a lot of relays with the number of wires you are trying to do.

Heres a TI Bus switch

http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/sn74cbtlv3861.pdf

OE would be held low when the switches are not connected (Think pull down resistor) When the switches are plugged in apply High to OE and they will disconnect.

 

The wires will will be carrying data. I am not an engineer by any stretch, so I would not feel super comfortable adding a chip like the TI Bus switch.
The simplest solution I have been thinking about is using 2 8-pin din ports and just connecting them with a short male-male cable when the switches aren't connected. I am not really a fan of this though, since it would require that cable all the time, and it would take 2 cables when the switches are plugged in.

 

What is it you are actually trying to do? Using an IC would be the neatest solution. U could use an array of latching switches but u would be looking at 8 flip flop IC which is still a lot. The IC suggested by citrus3000psi looks like a good choice. It wouldn't take that long to learn how to design a pcb/ board for that IC.

 

Not sure why you need the removable switch assembly. You can rig up a duplicate plug with the closed circuits in place of the switches. Unplug the switch box and plug in the closed loop plug.

 

Since it sounds like the OP is not that comfortable with electronics maybe a relay is a good solution? Just wire the normally closed contacts across the track cuts and have the external switch supply power to the coil.