Introduction¶

There are several ways to locate and repair broken links. This article gives instructions on each of the methods.

Walkthrough¶

For a clickable walkthrough, see the presentation:

Quality Assurance Clickable Walkthrough

PageCorrect¶

List and repair broken links with PageCorrect.

1. Navigate to the domain dashboard.

2. Click PageCorrect (shield with a checkmark icon) on the window toolbar. The PageCorrect dashboard opens.

   

3. Click List from the menu on the left side of the page.

   

   The PageCorrect Content page opens. The results are in a table format.

• Filter: On the toolbar above the results list, select to filter for Links.
• The columns are:
  • Issue: The icon for the type of issue, either a broken chain link icon or a broken image icon, along with the title for the issue (Broken Link or Broken Image) and the URL for the issue.
  • Changed to: The last change that was done to the issue.
  • Updated at: The date that the issue was updated last.
  • Created at: The date that the issue was created.
  • Action button: Click to expand the list of options: Update or Remove.
• Click Action on the same row as a broken link. The menu expands. Select:

  • Update to update the issue. A dialog opens:

    

    The dialog has a field with the existing URL and the instructions: "Please insert correct URL:"

  • Enter the correct URL in the field provided. The URL must start with a protocol such as http://.

    Note

    All links that lead to the same destination are listed. The first five are displayed, but the full number of URLs discovered is shown. Click the number to expand them.

  • Click Save. This fixes the broken link in all instances throughout the website.

    Note

    If the Acquia Optimize subscription ends, the error will still be present in the website HTML. Acquia Optimize recommends that a web developer fixes the issue within the HTML code. Make a note of the location(s) of the broken link and send it to the web developer for a permanent fix.

  • Remove to remove the issue from the list.

    Select this choice if you know the link is correct and the error occurred due to, for example, a server outage at the time of the last scan.

    Note

    If the error persists, it will be flagged again.

For more information, see the user guide article:

PageCorrect.

Prioritized Content¶

List broken links, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the Prioritized Content module.

1. Navigate to the domain dashboard.

2. Click Prioritized Content (bell icon), on the menu bar.

   

   The Prioritized Content page opens.

   

3. Click Notifications on the same row as a domain. The menu expands.

   

4. Click to select Broken Links. The Broken Links page opens.

   
   1. The number on the right tells you how many broken links the URL has.
   2. The columns on the list have these headers:
      • Broken Link: the URL for the link.
      • PageCorrect: Click to navigate to the PageCorrect module, where it is also possible to fix the highlighted link. Instructions are in the next section of this document.
      • Response code: The error code that the URL returns.
      • Type: The type of error (in this case, link).
5. Click Action. The menu expands with the following options:
   • Set to Fixed: Use this option when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans.

   • Mark as Ignored: Use this option if links are incorrectly marked as broken.

     Notes

     • The difference between Fixed and Ignore 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.
   • Inspect (Magnifying glass icon): Click to navigate to the Web Browser Extension view of the page, where it is possible to fix the highlighted link. Skip to Web Browser Extension instructions.

For more information, see the user guide article:

Prioritized Content

Web Browser Extension¶

Find broken links and their location, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the web browser extension.

1. Open the website and start the Web Browser Extension.

2. Click to select Content Issues (insect icon) on the web browser extension toolbar.

   

3. Select Quality Assurance in the expanded menu.

   
4. Click the arrow to expand the menu further. The issues list opens.

5. Click See Issues in the Broken Links / Broken Images section.

   

   The Broken Links pane opens. Here is a list of broken links and broken image links.

   

6. Mark as Fixed (checkmark icon): Click to mark the issue as fixed. Do this when the issue is fixed on the CMS/HTML code of the website. Items that are marked as fixed are included in future scans.

   

7. Mark as Ignored (eye with a line through it icon): Do this when the link is not broken, but flagged by the scan for an unknown reason.

   
   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.

8. HTML (</> icon): Click to view the location of the broken link within the page HTML code.

   

   The HTML code view opens and the broken link is highlighted.

   

   Tip: Send this to the web development team, so that they can quickly find and repair the error within the HTML code.

9. Highlight (magnifying glass icon): Click to view the location of the broken link on the page.

   

   The page view scrolls to the location of the link and the broken link is highlighted.

   

For more information, see the user guide article:

Web Browser Extension.

Examine Links for Accessibility Issues¶

1. On the web browser extension toolbar, click to select Toolkit (tools icon). The Acquia Optimize Toolkit opens.

   

2. Click to turn on the Links button to see a list of all links on the website.

   
3. Click on a link in the list to see the location on the website.

4. Hover the cursor over a link on the page for more information about it.

   

   See the following information about the link:

   • Link Text
   • Link Title
   • Link URL
   • Aria-label
   • Link Length
   • Link Target.
5. Click on a link on the page to see the link behavior as a user experiences it.

For more information, see the user guide article:

Web Browser Extension

Quality Assurance: Links¶

List broken links, Ignore a link, or mark a link as Fixed with the Quality Assurance module.

1. Click Select Domain to expand the Domains list.

   

2. Select the domain to open.

   

3. Alternatively, from the Domain Overview page, click Open on the same row as the domain name. 

   

4. The Dashboard for the domain opens.

   

5. Click Quality Assurance (the checkbox icon), on the window toolbar.

   

6. The Quality Assurance page opens.

   

7. Click Links from the menu on the left.

   
8. 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-hand 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 to view the location or type of content containing broken links.
• 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 use the provided button 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.
  • Views: Approximate number of page views since the last scan. This information is only available when Statistics is enabled.

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

    

    The details pane slides open. View the issues on the page, rated per severity, as determined by the last scan.

    

Broken Links¶

Click this option in the Links sub-menu on the left-hand side of the page to see the overview of broken links, including broken links that have been marked as ignored or fixed.

• Navigate between All broken links, ignored, and Marked as fixed to view the location or type of broken links.
• 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 use the provided button 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 pane slides open.

  • 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 (number of) 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: This option 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.

Broken Images¶

Click this option in the Links sub-menu on the left 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 on the blue circle to see all of the broken links on a single page.

• Navigate between All broken images, ignored, and Marked as fixed to view the location or type of broken links on images.
• 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 use the provided button 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 pane slides open.
  • PageCorrect: Click to navigate to PageCorrect to view and correct the error.
  • 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 (number of) 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: This option 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:

Quality Assurance: Links

Policies for Links¶

It is sometimes necessary to set up a policy to tell the scan how to handle special or troublesome links. Acquia Optimize has several pre-made links policies that you can use.

For more information, see the user guide article:

Policy links

Troubleshooting¶

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

For more information, see the user guide article:

FAQ Broken Links Troubleshooting.

Additional Resources¶

For more information, see the user guide articles:

• Quality Assurance: Links
• Policies: Links
• How does the scan work on my website
• FAQ Broken Links Troubleshooting
• Links that the Scan Automatically Ignores.