multiple erroneous reports

Hi @jkengineer ,

I hope you’re doing well.

The issue that you’re getting is related to the Broken Link Checker being blocked by the page reported, the 403 means a forbidden status – https://wpmudev.com/docs/wpmu-dev-plugins/broken-link-checker/#403-forbidden

Anyways, as I’m able to visit the URL, I would point more to the site blocking bot traffic as explained here – https://wpmudev.com/docs/wpmu-dev-plugins/broken-link-checker/#scanned-skipped

While we do try to skip all the traffic to sites that block bot traffic, it is still possible to get those blocks as you’re doing right now.

In case you are able to check with the support from that service, you can try to whitelist the Broken Link Checker User Agent – https://wpmudev.com/docs/wpmu-dev-plugins/broken-link-checker/#troubleshooting-notes

In case it is not possible for you and you confirm that it’s working, you can ignore the links from being reported on the Broken Link Checker – https://wpmudev.com/docs/wpmu-dev-plugins/broken-link-checker/#broken-link-list

I hope this helps and please let us know if you need further help.

Best regards,
Williams Valerio

Thank you for the fast response.

I am not clear on how to set the plugin to ignore certain types of links. For the link I cited to hotpads.com I hit the three dot menu on its right and selected Ignore Link. The webpage with that link still shows the strikethrough. (I did do an F5 refresh and also tested in incognito.)

How do I fix this?

How do I tell BLC to not check links to sites I have now found you get blocked from? I see on the documentation that you have a list of sites you have learned to ignore (I assume you don’t test them at all). How do I add, for example, hotpads.com or zillow.com to that list?

Your report cites https://www.google.com/calendar/render in >7,000,000 places. Your docs show that you are not checking play.google.com or https://www.google.com/drive. How do I tell it to also not check google.com/calendar, for example?

Hello @jkengineer

Hope you’re doing well today! Thank you for your response.

The webpage with that link still shows the strikethrough. (I did do an F5 refresh and also tested in incognito.)

It seems that the strikethough could be coming from the Local version of BLC which you must have used in the past, to fix this, could you please navigate to the WP Admin Backend >> Link Checker >> Local (old) >> Settings >> General and “Uncheck” the “Link Tweaks” option >> Save

Here is a screenshot that you can refer from my lab site:
https://monosnap.com/file/QTg3PUHu4WLECZznMalgXHD1cTRinr

How do I tell BLC to not check links to sites I have now found you get blocked from? I see on the documentation that you have a list of sites you have learned to ignore (I assume you don’t test them at all). How do I add, for example, hotpads.com or zillow.com to that list?

Indeed, we don’t scan the links mentioned here https://wpmudev.com/docs/wpmu-dev-plugins/broken-link-checker/#scanned-skipped at all and are skipped in each of the BLC scan. However, as of now, there isn’t a direct way from the User interface to add custom URLs to that list, similar to what you are trying to achieve with hotpads.com or zillow.com or even with google.com/calendar

For now, you will need to ignore the URLs manually so that they will be skipped in the next scans https://wpmudev.com/docs/wpmu-dev-plugins/broken-link-checker/#broken-link-list

However, we already have an improvement task about this and we have plans to bring this feature. Unfortunately, I cannot share an exact ETA as to when it will be released. But you can follow our roadmap so you are notified when we release an update: https://wpmudev.com/roadmap/

Your report cites?https://www.google.com/calendar/render?in >7,000,000 places.

If you check the link it renders a calendar and each date has a link to include an event for example hence many instances are highlighted for the link, For this, you can ignore the link as mentioned above so that it is skipped from Scan in the subsequent Scans made by BLC.

Hope the information helps. In case you have any further queries, please feel free to reply back. We will be glad to help you further.

Kind Regards,
Saurabh

Hi Saurabh,

I don’t think I ever visited the Settings page!

I made the changes in the Tweaks under settings and Saved. I marked one of the links reported as Not Broken. It is still crossed out on the site’s page. It’s this one:

“Apartment and Home information from Hotpads.com

Broad Area Search with Multiple types of Dwellings? This link will

on https://www.vcjewishcenter.org/about-us/our-community/moving-to-van-cortlandt-village-real-estate-info/ “

I did the same for one of the zillow links. Same problem.

Also:

I saw that the settings had a box for excluding links with specific text. See screenshot. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ha17u8eq20dvw7kv5ffhl/Local-Broken-Link-Checker-Van-Cortlandt-Jewish-Center-WordPress_001874.jpg?rlkey=5vlfyz59aatoefln0wyu17kcb&st=t42zbuvi&dl=0 Is this a way to avoid having BLC work on links to sites that it cannot actually get to? Will it apply to both local and cloud?

I did the “nuclear option” of clearing the database and running a new scan. While I am not sure it is done, I am not seeing as many broken links.

Zillow and hotpads links are not being reported. So I guess the exclusion worked. Is it safe to use it?

The strikethrough links are still there. Using Inspect, I see:

<a  target="_blank" rel="noopener" class="broken_link">Nearby Homes&nbsp;</a>

It has class=”broken_link”. which is, no doubt, why it has the strike through. How do I fix this?

The links being reported now don’t seem to have the strike through, which is a good thing! That was really my biggest concern.

Hi @jkengineer

Is this a way to avoid having BLC work on links to sites that it cannot actually get to? Will it apply to both local and cloud?

Yes, that should exclude the URLs from the scan result. The settings only work for Local. Both Local & Cloud works differently, so settings configured under Link Checker > Local is only meant for Local. It doesn’t apply any settings to cloud.

Zillow and hotpads links are not being reported. So I guess the exclusion worked. Is it safe to use it?

Yes, looks like that was the case.

It has class=”broken_link”. which is, no doubt, why it has the strike through.?How do I fix this?

The above is part of the plugin settings ie under Link Checker > Local > General as shown in the following screenshot:
https://i.imgur.com/AL5f8pe.png

You can enable/disable it, or tweak the CSS by clicking the “Edit CSS” link as seen in the above screenshot.

Regards,

Nithin

Hi Nithin,

Thanks.

I have revisited the page that had the strikethrough on the “bad” links. They are now shown normally, so that is a good thing! I’m not sure why it changed – perhaps because I ran scans again from Local.

With the Tweaks settings all unchecked and, for now, zillow.com and hotpads.com excluded for Local checking, the results are now much better. Far fewer reported bad links and no strikethrougs. Of course, if there is a bad zillow or hotpads link I will no longer know it. That is a problem. Perhaps I will remove them from the exclusion list and keep the Tweaks turned off. That way only I will see the “bad” links and can confirm them manually as necessary. The visitors won’t see anything untoward.

Can the settings I applied to Local be applied to Cloud? I don’t see a place to do it. If not, I will be forced to continue to use Local.

Jack

Hi @jkengineer,

I hope you are doing well today!

Thanks for the update and we are glad to hear the issues have been resolved with Local version.

Unfortunately, Local and Cloud versions of the plugin operate on distinct architectures, preventing the seamless transfer of settings between them.

Kind regards,
Zafer

Is there a place in Cloud to duplicate the settings?

Hi @jkengineer

I am afraid it isn’t possible,

As Zafer explained, Cloud and local are isolated from each other and the settings are site level, meaning if you connect a different site to HUB you would need to configure / apply the settings to Cloud and Local manually.

Best Regards
Patrick Freitas

I understood that. I could not find a the link in Cloud to enter the settings for Cloud. Please point me at it.

Thanks,

Jack

Hello @jkengineer,

The Cloud version doesn’t have exactly the same options, that’s why you can’t spot them in the Hub.

It’s mostly currently limited to configuring schedule scan options, and display options:
https://prnt.sc/Dy-Mx-gxSfHf

Our developers are working on adding more features in future versions. In order to be updated on new changes, you can monitor the changelog on the Development tab of the Broken Link Checker page, or subscribe to the updates at the bottom of the roadmap page here. If you’d like particular ones to be implemented, please let us know.

Best Regards,
Dmytro

Thanks.