This chapter gives information on how to use the quality assurance feature to locate and handle broken links.

Instructions¶

To navigate to the Quality Assurance module:

1. Click Quality Assurance (the checkbox icon), on the Dashboard toolbar.

   

2. The Quality Assurance page opens.

   

3. Click Links from the menu on the left.

   
4. The menu expands with the following options:
   • Content with Broken Links
   • Broken Links
   • Broken Images.

Content with Broken Links¶

Click this option in the Links sub-menu on the left side of the page to view the URLs of any pages that contain broken links. This is the default page that opens when Links is selected.

• Navigate between All, Pages, PDF Documents, and Text Documents.
• Click Export to export the list.

  • A dialog box opens. Select your export file:

    • Broken Links with Page Count
    • Broken Links Per Page.

    A message informs that, "Your export is currently being generated, You will receive an email when the export is ready." To view the progress, click the avatar icon on the main toolbar and select My Exports, or click Go to My Exports.

• Click Filter (the funnel icon) to filter for:
  • Labels
  • Type
  • Response code
  • Internal or external.
• Search: Click in the dialog box and type a search string.
• The table with the results has the headers:
  • Title and URL: This is the title and URL of the content that has been targeted with errors. Click the URL. The Broken Links pane slides open.
  • Notifications: Click to expand a quick-info box on the notifications for the URL.

  • Priority: Low, Medium, High as determined by the number of page views.

    For more information, see the user guide article:

    Issue priority

  • Views: Approximate number of page views since the last scan. This information is only available when Statistics is enabled.

  • Open Issue Page: On the same row as an issue on the right, click Open Issue Page (an i for information icon) on the same row as an issue.

    

    For more information about Issue View see the user guide article:

    Issue view

  • Open page details (webpage icon): On the same row as a page, click Open Page Details.

    

    The details page opens.

    

Broken Links¶

Click this option in the Links sub-menu on the left-hand side of the page to see the overview and status of broken links.

• Filter for All broken links, ignored, and Marked as fixed.
• Click Export to export the list.

  • A dialog box opens. Select your export file:

    • Broken Links with Page Count
    • Broken Links Per Page.

    A message informs that, "Your export is currently being generated, You will receive an email when the export is ready." To view the progress, click the avatar icon on the main toolbar and select My Exports, or click Go to My Exports.

• Click Filter (the funnel icon) to filter for:
  • Labels
  • Type
  • Response code
  • Internal or external.
• Search: Click in the dialog box and type a search string.
• The table with the results has the headers:
  • Broken Link: This is the link that is broken. Click the URL. The Broken Links page opens.
  • PageCorrect: Click to navigate to PageCorrect to view and correct the error. For more instructions, see the user guide article: 
    PageCorrect
  • Response code: This column shows the error code that is received for the link.
  • Type: This column lists the type of error that is detected.
  • Pages: This column gives information on where the broken link is located.
    • Documents: The broken link is found in this many documents.
    • Pages: The broken link is found on this many pages of the website.
  • Action: Click the button to expand the list of actions to take for the link. Select from the following:
    • Mark as fixed: Marks the link as fixed. It will be included in subsequent scans and if the error returns, it will appear again in the broken links list. Select this option when the error is actually fixed by the web team on the HTML code of the webpage, or if it is a temporary (for example, in an unpublished state) known issue.

    • Mark as ignored: Ignore the link. Use this option if you know the link is not broken. Ignored links are not included in subsequent scans and will not show up as broken.

      Note

      • The difference between Mark as Fixed and Mark as Ignored is that issues marked as Fixed are still included in future scans and can be flagged again if the error persists. Issues that are set to Ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and compliance scores.
      • Ignored links will appear on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link that was marked broken as 404 and ignored will reset if the same link gets a new Ok status of, for example, 200. If in the future that link starts returning a 404 error again, it will reappear on the broken links report.

For more information, see the user guide article:

Links that the Scan Automatically Ignores.

Broken Images¶

Click this option in the Links sub-menu on the left-hand side of the page to view the list of images that have broken links.

Tip: An example of a broken image could be an icon button with a broken path.

• Click Open Issue Page (an exclamation point icon) to see all of the broken image links on a single page.

  Note

  Although the Quality Assurance Module is a highly effective way to find broken links on images, false positives can occur. For best results, it is important to manually review the findings.

  • Navigate between All broken images, ignored, and Marked as fixed.
  • Click Export to export the list.

    • A dialog box opens. Select your export file:

      • Broken Images with Page Count
      • Broken Image Links Per Page

      A message informs that, "Your export is currently being generated, You will receive an email when the export is ready." To view the progress, click the avatar icon on the main toolbar and select My Exports, or click Go to My Exports.

  • Click Filter ( the funnel icon) to filter for:
    • Labels
    • Type
    • Response code
    • Internal or external
  • Search: Click in the dialog box and type a search string.
  • The table with the results has the headers:
    • Broken Link: This is the link that is broken. Click the URL. The Broken Links page opens.
    • PageCorrect: Click to navigate to PageCorrect to view and correct the error. 
      For more information, see the user guide article: 
      PageCorrect
    • Response code: This column shows the error code that is received for the link.
    • Type: This column lists the type of error that is detected.
    • Pages: This column gives information on where the broken link is located.
      • Documents: The broken link is found in this many documents.
      • Pages: The broken link is found on this many pages of the website.
    • Action: Click the button to expand the list of actions to take for the link. Select from the following:
      • Mark as fixed: Marks the link as fixed. It will be included in subsequent scans and if the error returns, it will appear again in the broken links list. Select this option when the error is actually fixed by the web team on the HTML code of the webpage, or if it is a temporary (for example, in an unpublished state) known issue.

      • Mark as ignored: Ignore the link. Use this option if you know the link is, in fact, OK. Ignored links are not included in subsequent scans and will not show up as broken.

        Notes

        • The difference between Mark as Fixed and Mark as Ignored is that issues marked as Fixed are still included in future scans and can be flagged again if the error persists. Issues that are set to Ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and compliance scores.
        • Ignored links will appear on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link that was marked broken as 404 and ignored will reset if the same link gets a new Ok status of, for example, 200. If in the future that link starts returning a 404 error again, it will reappear on the broken links report.

For more information, see the user guide article:

Quick Guide: Fix Broken Links.

Quality Assurance Reports¶

The available reports for the Quality Assurance module are:

• Quality Assurance Report
• Pages with Quality Assurance Errors Report
• Broken Links Report
• Misspellings Report
• Pages with Misspellings Report
• Potential Misspellings Report
• Readability Score Report
• Broken Links Per Page Report
• Misspellings Per Page Report.

1. Click Schedule This Report (calendar icon) on the same row as the report to receive the report as an email attachment. Multiple selection is allowed. See the Schedule a Report section in this document for instructions.
2. Click Open Report (eye icon) to get the newest report. See the View a Report section in this document for instructions.
3. Click Report Administration (gear icon) to add other users to receive the report. See the Add Users to Receive a Report section in this document for instructions.

Troubleshooting¶

We have collected the answers to some common issues that you might encounter regarding broken links found by the scan.

For more information, see the user guide articles:

• FAQ Broken Links Troubleshooting
• Ignored links

Additional resources¶

• Quick Guide: Fix broken links.