--- title: "Handle links with QA" date: "2025-01-27T08:37:29+00:00" summary: "Find and fix broken links easily with our Quality Assurance feature. Step-by-step guide for content editors and developers." image: type: "page" url: "/web-governance/handle-links-qa" id: "c9da9d35-69cd-4e70-b121-8cf4d355ffff" --- Introduction ------------ This document provides instructions on how to find and repair broken links with the Quality Assurance feature. Instructions ------------ To navigate to the Quality Assurance module: 1. Click **Quality Assurance** (the checkbox icon), on the window toolbar. ![The location of the Quality Assurance button on the domain toolbar.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/a306b968-cff0-4f43-b41a-35a3fe25ea5d/web/Mon_Opt_Dashboard-QualityAssurance.png) 2. The _Quality Assurance_ page opens. ![The landing page for the Quality Assurance feature.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/e06d8970-ed20-495b-8912-223738ca3360/web/Mon_Opt_QA-Dashboard.png) 3. Click **Links** from the menu on the left. ![The location of the Links button on the left sidebar.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/e7ab3b24-38ad-4f5f-bb37-ef696fdae22a/web/Mon_Opt_QA-LeftMenu-Links.png) 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. ![The location of the Content with Broken links option, under the Links menu on the left sidebar.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/aa609f03-6c70-49ba-bdae-1de93dafe656/web/Mon_QA-LeftMenu-Links-ContentWithBrokenLinks.png) * 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, visit [Issue priority](/node/58621) * **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. ![The location of the Open Issue Page button on the same row as a broken link.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/cfe66da2-d541-4bf7-b727-328fcb408839/web/Mon_QA-IssueView-BrokenLinks-OpenIssuePageButton.png) For more information, visit [Issue view](/node/58626). * **Open page details** (webpage icon): On the same row as a page, click **Open Page Details**. ![The location of the Open Page Details button on the same row as an issue.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/989515e9-43ab-49c7-866b-2b659e6d4e36/web/Mon_Opt_Accessibility-PagesWithFailingChecks-OpenPageDetails.png) The details page opens. ![The page details view. The default selection shows Broken Links.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/c63d6103-ab77-4ded-b822-294a5bea8f96/web/Mon_PrioritizedContent-PageDetails-BrokenLinks.png) ### Broken Links Click this option in the _Links_ submenu on the left side of the page to see the overview and status of broken links. ![The location of the Broken Links button on the left menu bar of the Quality Assurance page, under Links.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/118fe16b-7075-47e5-ae43-df6d65c4d407/web/Mon_Opt_QA-LeftMenu-Links-BrokenLinks.png) * 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 information, visit [PageCorrect](/node/58966). * **Response code**: This column shows the error code that is received for the link. * **Type**: This column lists the type of link that is detected, for example link, email, JavaScript, image, and so on. * **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 following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore: * Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans * Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error. Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again. For information on how to set up the scan to exclude a link so that it is never considered, visit [Path constraints and link exclusions](/node/58571). For more information, visit [Ignored links](/node/58806). ### 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. ![The location of the Broken Images option, under the Links menu on the left sidebar.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/a615e345-9c13-44c2-b763-a87edf454dfe/web/Mon_Opt_QA-LeftMenu-Links-BrokenImages.png) _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. * 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, visit [PageCorrect](/node/58966). * **Response code**: This column shows the error code that is received for the link. * **Type**: This column lists the type of link that is detected, for example link, email, JavaScript, image, and so on. * **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 following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore: * Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans * Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error. Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again. For information on how to set up the scan to exclude a link so that it is never considered, visit [Path constraints and link exclusions](/node/58571). For more information, visit [Fix broken links](/node/58606). ### Broken links on sitemap Click this option in the _Links_ sub-menu on the left-hand side of the page to view the list of links that are located on the sitemap. ![The location of the Broken Links on Sitemap option, under the Links menu on the left sidebar.](https://acquia.widen.net/content/57d96542-85d4-4391-a15f-a40621a443c5/web/Mon_Opt_QA-LeftMenu-BrokenLinksOnSitemap.png) * 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. * **Response code**: This column shows the error code that is received for the link. * **Type**: This column lists the type of link that is detected, for example link, email, JavaScript, image, and so on. * **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. Note The following is the crucial difference between the issues that you mark as fixed and issues that you mark as ignore: * Issues that are marked as fixed are flagged upon future scans * Issues that are set to ignore are permanently omitted from future scans and future compliance score calculations, as long as the link gives the same broken error. Ignored links are displayed on the scan again if the status of the link changes. For example, a link previously marked as broken with a 404 status and ignored is reset if the link later receives a new "Ok" status, such as 200. If the same link starts to return a 404 error in the future, it is displayed on the broken links report again. For information on how to set up the scan to exclude a link so that it is never considered, visit [Path constraints and link exclusions](/node/58571). For more information, visit [Fix broken links](/node/58606).