Link Checker

Managing Broken Links in Drupal

Drupal’s built-in Link Checker proactively monitors your site for broken internal and external links. Regular review of this report ensures a seamless experience for your visitors and protects your site’s SEO ranking.

Accessing and Using the Report

To access the report, navigate to Reports > Link Checker in the CMS admin menu.

Understanding the Data Fields:

  • URL: The specific web address that is failing or being redirected.
  • Last Checked: The most recent timestamp of the link validation.
  • Status Code: The numeric response from the destination server (e.g., 404 or 500).
  • Found Here: Identifies the specific component or block where the broken link resides.
  • Edit: A direct shortcut to fix the link in the CMS editor.

How to Filter Results

To find urgent issues quickly, use the Result dropdown:

  1. Select "Failed" from the dropdown menu.
  2. Click Apply. This view hides successful links and only displays pages requiring immediate attention.

Understanding HTTP Status Codes

Status codes are three-digit responses from a web server. They are generally categorized into Success (2xx/3xx) and Failure (4xx/5xx).

Successful Requests

  • 200 (Success): The page was found and loaded correctly.
  • 302 (Moved Temporarily): The link works, but the server is redirecting the user to a different address.
    • Optimization Tip: Ensure your URLs end with a trailing slash (e.g., example.com/) if it is a homepage. This prevents the server from needing a "second try" to find the page, improving load speed.

Failure Requests

Errors are typically split into Client Errors (issues with the link itself) and Server Errors (issues with the destination website).

Client-Side Errors (4xx Series)

  • 404 (Not Found): The most common error. The page or file no longer exists at that address. Action: Update or remove the link.
  • 401/403 (Unauthorized/Forbidden): The link points to a restricted area that requires a login or specific permissions.
  • 429 (Too Many Requests): The destination server is blocking the link checker due to high activity.

Server-Side Errors (5xx Series)

  • 500 (Internal Server Error): A general failure on the destination website.
  • 503 (Service Unavailable): The destination site is temporarily down for maintenance or overloaded.
  • Note: If you see consistent 5xx errors on internal Syracuse links, please contact the support team for investigation.