Broken Link Checker for WordPress

Notice: This plugin has been transferred to ManageWP. I am no longer working on it. Please direct any feedback to the new developer. See the plugin homepage for more information.

Sometimes, links get broken. A page is deleted, a subdirectory forgotten, a site moved to a different domain. Most likely many of your blog posts contain links. It is almost inevitable that over time some of them will lead to a “404 Not Found” error page. Obviously you don’t want your readers to be annoyed by clicking a link that leads nowhere. You can check the links yourself but that might be quite a task if you have a lot of posts. You could use your webserver’s stats but that only works for local links.

So I’ve made a plugin for WordPress that will check your posts (and pages), looking for broken links, and let you know if any are found.

Features

  • Detects links that don’t work, missing images, deleted YouTube videos and other problems.
  • Periodically checks links in posts, pages, comments, custom fields and the blogroll.
  • New and modified entries are checked ASAP.
  • Notifies you on the Dashboard if any problems are found.
  • Lets you edit all instances of a specific link at once.
  • Gives you a list of all links ever posted on your site, with the ability to search and filter it.
  • Lets you apply custom CSS styles to broken and removed links.
  • Highly configurable.

The broken links show up in the Tools -> Broken Links tab along. If any invalid URLs are found a notification will also show up on the Dashboard widget. To save screen real-estate, the widget can be configured to stay closed most of the time and automatically expand when broken links are detected.

Download

broken-link-checker.zip (412 KB)

    Requirements

    • WordPress 3.0 or later
    • MySQL 4.1 or later

    The current version of this plugin is only compatible with WordPress 3.0 and up. If you have an older version of WP, try one of the older releases. Specifically, version 0.8.1 is the last one that’s still compatible with the WP 2.8 branch, and version 0.4.14 is the last one compatible with WP 2.1 – 2.6.x.

    Installation

    Install “Broken Link Checker” just like any other WordPress plugin :

    1. Download the .zip file (see below).
    2. Unzip.
    3. Upload the broken-link-checker folder to you /wp-content/plugins directory.
    4. Activate the plugin in the Plugins tab.
    Related posts :
    This entry was posted on Sunday, August 5th, 2007 at 22:59 and is filed under WordPress Plugins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

    2,584 Responses to “Broken Link Checker for WordPress”

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    1. 20 wordpress плагинов для Вашего бизнес-блога | Бизнес Блог Базарова Ильяса says:
      June 6, 2013 at 11:59

      […] Страница плагина: http://w-shadow.com/blog/2007/08/05/broken-link-checker-for-wordpress/ […]

    2. このブログのWordPressにいれたプラグインまとめ | d.takamiya's blog says:
      June 12, 2013 at 16:46

      […] Broken Link Checker リンクエラーやリンクエラーの画像がないかブログをチェックし、見つかった場合は、ダッシュボード等で通知してくれるプラグイン。 […]

    3. Wordpress: Two New Plug Ins and a Problem | Working Hard On The Internet says:
      June 15, 2013 at 15:30

      […] second plug ins is Broken Link Checker by Janis Elsts, this tool is also brilliant. I haven’t turned it ON on the Financial site, […]

    4. Døde linker på din blogg kan ødelegge mye – unngå dem! | ProBlogger.no says:
      June 17, 2013 at 11:30

      […] Nemlig Broken Link Checker som du finner her: http://wordpress.org/plugins/broken-link-checker/ hos WordPress sin Plugin Directory, eller på hjemmesiden til utvidelsen som du finner her: http://w-shadow.com/blog/2007/08/05/broken-link-checker-for-wordpress/ […]

    5. oli says:
      June 19, 2013 at 12:05

      Tried it – but got a memory error. 128 MB RAM seems not to be enough

    6. Must Have WordPress Plugins says:
      June 20, 2013 at 08:20

      […] Broken Link Checker – There is nothing worse than broken links or missing images to annoy your readers and the search engines. Use Broken Link Checker plugin to ensure your blog links are always current. […]

    7. 導入して間違いなしのWordpressプラグイン１９個まとめ | GeekStory says:
      June 22, 2013 at 19:15

      […] 公式サイト：Broken Link Checker コメント：外部サイトにリンクを張る際に、時が経てばそのサイトが閉鎖していくことが多くなります。error404にリンクを貼っていると若干SEOで不利みたいなので、404リンクを素早く発見するために入れています。 […]

    8. Cinque nuovi lavori di giardinaggio nel blog | Giuseppe Vitale's Blog says:
      June 23, 2013 at 12:21

      […] la cassetta degli attrezzi e sistemare, i link rotti, ad esempio, cosa che faccio grazie al plugin Broken Link Checker.  Oppure ci sono dei post da aggiornare o riscrivere, perché obsoleti. Oppure ancora bisogna […]

    9. morrisjfwong says:
      June 23, 2013 at 17:54

      Installed this plugin for days, still see no result. Any suggestions ?

    10. Jānis Elsts says:
      June 23, 2013 at 19:09

      What status does it show in Settings -> Link Checker?

    11. Google tip to help you stay on top of the rankings An important tip - WassupBlog says:
      June 25, 2013 at 18:20

      […] that I could fulfil this Google tip properly. The guys from my host, InMotion Hosting recommended Broken Link Checker. I took their advice and found another 500 or so broken links.  This is BS but at least I now had […]

    12. Fabian says:
      June 26, 2013 at 17:35

      Hi,
      there are two main problems coming up overtime: broken links and broken shortcodes… the first is covered very well… the latter… well…
      actually there is a plugin (http://wordpress.org/plugins/hide-broken-shortcodes/), but it just covers the problem, it doesn’t inform me on it.
      maybe the broken link checker would benefit from an additional shortcode checker? that would be great!
      greetz

    13. Jānis Elsts says:
      June 26, 2013 at 18:45

      Thank you for your feedback. However, checking for broken shortcodes is probably beyond the scope of this plugin. It is designed around checking URLs – whether they’re links to another site, image, or YouTube videos. Checking for shortcode issues is something else.

    14. 10 Best Wordpress Plugins for 2013 | Ena wall says:
      June 26, 2013 at 19:54

      […] 10. Broken Link Checker […]

    15. My Favorite Wordpress Plugins » Saol SonaSaol Sona says:
      June 29, 2013 at 16:05

      […] clicks. Blogger Importer – transfer all of your blogger blog posts/comments over to your WP blog. Broken Link Checker – tracks and verifies if links are broken. Clean and Simple Contact Form – no more need for wufoo […]

    16. Petter Jone says:
      June 30, 2013 at 06:29

      Can you fixed link error Bitshare.com ? thanks .

    17. dosentelefon.eu - nun schlicht & schnell - dosentelefon.eu says:
      June 30, 2013 at 20:28

      […] Broken Link Checker […]

    18. Useful WordPress Plugins, Every Wordpress Site Must Have | WordPress says:
      July 2, 2013 at 01:59

      […] 4. Broken Link Checker […]

    19. WordPress Plugins for Small Business Websites | Bradshaw IT ConsultingBradshaw IT Consulting says:
      July 6, 2013 at 00:08

      […] Broken Link Checker – This plugin does exactly what it says!  Broken Link Checker will scan your website and notify you of any links that lead to dead or missing pages.  This plugin is a great way to ensure your links are current and up to date. […]

    20. Steven Vachon says:
      July 7, 2013 at 08:26

      “Whoops! We couldn’t find that plugin. Maybe you were looking for one of these?”
      http://wordpress.org/plugins/broken-link-checker/

      What gives? Is this plugin dead?

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