The Mystery Surrounding Reported Broken Links
Hi Folks
I feel I have been wasting valuable time on what may or may not be broken links on one of my websites. So, I decided it’s time to ask a few questions.
The problem arose from Google Analytics reporting an unknown (to me) URL that had a number of visitors.
The URL is /index.html which has received 60 page views during the past 28 days.
I felt that the page views must be from robots although clicking an up-arrow reports a 404 Error.
So, the next step was to install a plugin to check for broken links.
Unfortunately, Broken Link Checker plugin, which I used previously, has not been tested with the current WordPress version.
So, I installed a plugin named Link Checker and have received the strangest results which, to my knowledge, are not related to my website.
It reports multiple 502 Errors for http://waterforfuel-guides.com/?id=4147140 and http://toysbyages.com/
I have not placed any content on this site regarding water for fuel, or about toys. Maybe these links are from comments on my site, but those links do not point to my website so I don’t understand how they could cause errors.
I realize this problem sounds confusing, and it most definitely is confusing to me.
But, I need to find a reliable plugin that will help to identify any broken links on my website.
If you can recommend a plugin, other than Broken Link Checker, I would be grateful if you would leave details in the Comments section below.
Alternatively, I wonder if it would be safe to use Broken Link Checker even though it hasn't been tested with the latest version of WordPress.
Thank you.
Recent Comments
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Valerie I haven't had this problem yet with Mystery surround3 broken links on your site. I hope these is soon resolved with help of a great community. Louisa B
Hi Valerie sorry to hear about the mystery of broken links. I agrer with Jovo and Scott. Hope you get it sorted. Cheers
Something is wrong in your statement "but those links do not point to my website so I don’t understand how they could cause errors". Imagine a visitor clicks such a link and it does not work, this is a broken link regardless where it goes.
From my experience, most of the broken links were in comments. So do not allow people to leave urls of their sites in comments. Simply delete them. In your case those are likely former WA members who have abandoned their sites and those are now broken links.
Thanks Jovo for responding. I hadn't thought about a visitor clicking on links in comments, but of course you are correct in what you say.
I appreciate your help, and I'll delete all urls in comments.
I always delete them Valerie.
It’s not that I don’t want to give them a backlink it’s just that it can cause silly broken links that don’t really affect our site, but who needs the hassle of seeing them and trying to work out what’s wrong.
Those backlinks in comments are useless in any case, the most important search engines are designed to ignore them, this has been so for years. People just do not know this and think that adding url in comments will give them a backlink.
That's a very good answer, and quick thinking. I would think that if someone else wants to be lazy and instead of building their own site, they track mud on your just cleaned floors, and try to steal your traffic, DELETE!
Thanks, Suzay
When you visit the main URL for a site browsers will look for a default page. One such page is index.html. For example if I type https://mavicmaniacs.com my browser may load https://mavicmaniacs.com/index.html. I say may because there are a couple other defaults that might exist besides index.html. This probably explains the views you see.
Thanks for your comment Scott. It is interesting in that I can click on https://mavicmaniacs.com/index.html and it opens to a valid page on which I could install an awesome website.
If I type my domainname dot com into the browser and add /index.html I get a 404 error. Does that mean my site is lacking a default page?
Thanks Scott. index.php works fine.
So that leaves me with the thought that perhaps I need to ignore Google Analytics report of page views to index.html?
Hello Valerie, I am sorry to hear that you're having issues with broken links. I would have thought that it is worth trying broken link checker even though it hasn't been tested for the present version of WordPress, my guess is that it would probably work. I'm certainly not an expert on WordPress so it would be good to see what other people say before you take action, I will follow this thread with interest.
I hope that you can get the issue solved.
Enjoy your day.
Roy
Hi Roy, thanks very much for your response.
Scott (Merlynmac) has left a very interesting comment. I have responded to him with a question. It will be interesting to see what his reply is.
I am now wondering if there is an error with the set up of my website, or maybe the Theme which is no longer supported by its creator, Woo Themes.
So many technicalities to consider!
Thank you Valerie, Scott's comment is a very interesting one! I'm surprised that Woo themes are not supporting your particular theme. When I look for a theme, I always try and look at how many downloads it has and is it still supported. Is there an upgrade to your present theme Valerie, possibly? Just a thought.
Enjoy your day.
Roy
Roy, the theme is 'Canvas', one of Woo's first themes. There was quite a lot of anger expressed online when Woo announced that Canvas would no longer be supported.
I've just gone online and read more about it. It's interesting from my point of view. It seems that their most recent article has much more to say, but I don't have time to 'absorb' it just now. I'm pasting a few paragraphs from Woo's recent article, which may be of interest to you. I have a lifetime subscription but I see it ends in October 2018. I don't know that I want to trust Woo from now on. I'm interested in a Genesis theme but don't want to invest in it until I have time to learn more about Genesis and their themes.
What I most enjoy about the Canvas theme is that it is a 'canvas' in that It is blank and provides many features to build a website exactly to one's liking. It has been an amazing theme and I will struggle to use a theme that has restrictions. It will be like starting all over again.
This is what Woo say in their article:
"WordPress is constantly evolving, and Canvas is no longer a good option for site builders using newer versions of WordPress – we don’t want to recommend a theme we don’t think will serve you in the future.
We’ll continue to provide support for active subscriptions, and for a year from today for lifetime subscriptions.
We’ve created a comprehensive plan for all our Canvas customers going forward. We aren’t simply dropping the theme, we are going to walk this road with you."
So, the road may be long, but something I will need to face eventually.
Thank you for your interest Roy.
Valerie
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The answers from Loes and a valuable. Thanks for asking the question, Valerie.
Awesomeness!
Mojalefa.