Broken Link Notifier

1. 

   Page load scan results on back-end

2. 

   Page load scan results on front-end in dev console

3. 

   Omitted links

4. 

   Omitted pages

5. 

   Detailed single page scan

6. 

   Multi-Scan running scans on multiple pages in WP List Tables

7. 

   Find broken links easily on front-end with a glowing animation and red border

8. 

   Settings

9. 

   Developer hooks on Help tab

Will this plugin slow down my site?

No — The plugin is designed to have minimal impact on performance by only scanning content after the page has fully loaded for a visitor. This means it doesn’t interfere with the page render or user experience. Additionally, in version 1.2.5, we introduced a link caching option that can further improve performance.

If enabled (via the Settings page), caching good links will prevent the same working links from being rechecked repeatedly for a set period of time. This reduces unnecessary HTTP requests and improves scan efficiency on high-traffic sites.

You can set the cache duration in seconds — common values include:
– 28800 for 8 hours
– 43200 for 12 hours
– 86400 for 24 hours

Adjust this based on your site’s traffic and how frequently your links change.

Why do some links show as broken when they are not?

If the link works fine and it’s still being flagged as broken, then it is likely either redirecting to another page or there is an issue with the page’s response headers, and there’s nothing we can do about it. If it is a redirect on your own site due to permalink modification, then it’s better to fix the link instead of unnecessarily redirecting. You may use the Omit option to omit false positives from future scans as well. If you are seeing a pattern with multiple links from the same domain, you can go to Broken Link Notifier > Omitted Links to add a domain with a wildcard (*), which will omit all links starting with that domain.

If you feel that there is another issue at hand, We are happy to look into it further with you.

What causes a link to give a warning?

Warnings mean the link was found, but they may be unsecure or slow to respond. If you are getting too many warnings due to timeouts, try increasing your timeout in Settings. This will just result in longer wait times, but with more accuracy. You can also disable warnings if you have too many of them.

What is status code 666?

A status code of 666 is a code we use to force invalid URL code 0 to be a broken link in case warnings are disabled. It is not an official status code.

Can I omit links and pages from scans?

Yes, you can omit links from being checked for validity by using the “Omit” link in the scan results, or by entering them in manually under Omitted Links. Likewise, you can omit pages from being scanned from the results page or Omitted Pages. Wildcards (*) are accepted.

When I click on “Find On Page,” I cannot find the link. Where is it?

Sometimes links are hidden with CSS or inside modals/popups. To find hidden links, go to the page and either open your developer console or view the page source and search for the link. This will show you where it is and which element to look in. Then you can edit the page accordingly. This is more advanced and may require some assistance, so feel free to reach out to us for help.

Why does the dev console show more links that what is scanned on the Multi-Scan?

The Multi-Scan link count does not include links that are filtered out from the pre-check.

What pre-checks are used to filter out broken links?

We skip links that start with # (anchor tags and JavaScript) or ? (query strings), non-http url schemes (such as mailto:, tel:, data:, etc. ), and any links you have omitted.

What can I do if I have the same broken link on a lot of pages?

There are other plugins such as Better Search Replace by WP Engine that will quickly replace URLs on your entire site at once.

Why does my multi-scan page stop loading halfway down?

There is likely an issue with the content on that page causing a redirect. We cannot intercept all redirected content unfortunately. If that is the case, you can omit the page being scanned so you can continue scanning the entire page the next time you try.

Are there hooks available for Developers?

Yes, there are plenty. The following hooks are available:
* blnotifier_html_link_sources ( Array $sources ) — Filter where the links are found in the content’s HTML
* blnotifier_omitted_pageload_post_types ( Array $post_types ) — Filter the post types that you don’t want to scan on page load
* blnotifier_omitted_multiscan_post_types ( Array $post_types ) — Filter the post types that you don’t want to allow for Multi-Scan option
* blnotifier_link_before_prechecks ( String|Array|False $link ) — Filter the link before checking anything
* blnotifier_status ( Array $status ) — Filter the status that is returned when checking a link for validity after all pre-checks are done
* blnotifier_http_request_args ( Array $args, String $link ) — Filter the http request args
* blnotifier_remove_source_qs ( Array $query_strings ) — Filter the query strings to remove from source url on page load scans
* blnotifier_url_schemes ( Array $schemes ) — Filter the URL Schemes skipped during pre-checks
* blnotifier_suggested_offsite_checkers ( Array $checkers ) — Filter the list of suggested offsite checkers on Multi-Scan page
* blnotifier_notify ( Array $flagged, Int $flagged_count, Array $all_links, String $source_url ) — Action hook that fires when notifying you of new broken links and warning links that are found on page load
* blnotifier_email_emails ( String|Array $emails, Array $flagged, String $source_url ) — Filter the emails that the email notifications are sent to
* blnotifier_email_subject ( String $subject, Array $flagged, String $source_url ) — Filter the subject that the email notifications are sent with
* blnotifier_email_message ( String $message, Array $flagged, String $source_url ) — Filter the message that the email notifications are sent with
* blnotifier_email_headers ( Array $headers, Array $flagged, String $source_url ) — Filter the headers used in the email notifications
* blnotifier_discord_args ( Array $args, Array $flagged, String $source_url ) — Filter the Discord webhook args
* blnotifier_msteams_args ( Array $args, Array $flagged, String $source_url ) — Filter the Microsoft Teams webhook args
* blnotifier_strings_to_replace ( Array $strings_to_replace ) — Filter the strings to replace on the link
* blnotifier_force_head_file_types (Array $file_types, Boolean $docs_use_head) — Filter the list of file types that should force a HEAD request, with the $docs_use_head variable determining whether document types should be included

Where can I request features and get further support?

We recommend using our website support forum as the primary method for requesting features and getting help. You can also reach out via our Discord support server or the WordPress.org support forum, but please note that WordPress.org doesn’t always notify us of new posts, so it’s not ideal for time-sensitive issues.

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1.3.7.4

• Fix: Added support for Elementor when replacing links from results page (props @nazrinn)
• Update: Added good links and status on console results

1.3.7.3

• Fix: Undefined properties
• Fix: Blog pages that are skipped are showing as an invalid source error

1.3.7.2

• Tweak: Remove links on rescan by ID instead of link hash lookup
• Tweak: Added actual error message to front-end scan if there is an error so we can figure out what the actual problem is

1.3.7.1

• Tweak: Skipping internal pagination and reply links
• Tweak: Performance update to not call get_current_user_id() on every link
• Fix: Reporting sources that don’t exist if bots are trying to go somewhere that don’t exist and get a 404 page without redirecting

1.3.7

• Update: Changed storage of broken links from custom post type to custom database table
• Update: Add option to cleanup on uninstall
• Fix: Error when blnotifier_link_before_prechecks hook returns status

1.3.6

• Update: Added option for Max Links Per Page to help prevent attacks and timeouts
• Fix: Unauthorized access vulnerability (props Nabil Irawan/Patchstack)

1.3.5

• Tweak: Added results page link to the email notifications (props @nazrinn for suggestion)
• Fix: Removed broken link indicator from admin bar if role does not have access

1.3.4

• Tweak: Change “Delete” action link on omitted links/pages to “Remove Omission” (props Diane for suggestion)
• Tweak: Highlighted the admin bar count red

1.3.3

• Fix: Settings error causing missing fields and submit button (props @DLLHell)

1.3.2

• Update: Added support for additional roles to have capability of managing broken links; removed blnotifier_capability hook

1.3.1.1

• Fix: preg_replace() deprecation error (props @venutius)

1.3.1

• Fix: Improper Neutralization of Formula Elements in a CSV File (props @jfriedli/Wordfence)
• Fix: SSRF vulnerability by validating all URLs before remote requests using is_url_safe() (props @jfriedli/Wordfence)

1.3.0

• Update: New support links

1.2.6.1

• Fix: Option in settings to show good links on results page was set to true by default; turned it off

1.2.6

• Update: Added an option in settings to show good links on results page (props to @colnago1 for suggestion)
• Update: Added an export page (props to @colnago1 for suggestion)

1.2.5.3

• Fix: Link search not finding some URLS
• Fix: Undefined array key “min”

1.2.5.2

• Fix: Function wpdb::prepare was called incorrectly. Unsupported value type (array).

1.2.5.1

• Fixes: Sanitizing and unslashing some variables

1.2.5

• Update: Added option for caching good links (enable in settings)

1.2.4.2

• Fix: If no link is found, omit it

1.2.4.1

• Tweak: Updated “Did not pass pre-check filter” error to provide more information

1.2.4

• Tweak: Added minified versions of results-front.js and results-front.css
• Tweak: Removed omitted links and omitted pages hooks from readme.txt since they were moved to their own pages

1.2.3

• Update: Auto-switch user agent for X/Twitter links if a custom user agent isn’t provided
• Update: Updated author name and website again per WordPress trademark policy

1.2.2

• Update: Changed author name from Apos37 to WordPress Enhanced, new Author URI
• Tweak: Optimization of main file
• Fix: Undefined variable $redirect_detected

1.2.1

• Update: Added a method column to the results page
• Fix: Links being added from invalid sources
• Tweak: Links without a source will be automatically removed
• Fix: Some links are being added to results without a source
• Update: Added option to pause auto-verification on results page
• Update: Admin bar count is reduced in real time if results are removed
• Tweak: Update notice on results page from “trash” to “clear” (props @cantabber for pointing it out)

1.2.0

• Update: Added code 413 to warnings and automatically code files larger than 10 MB with 413 when using GET requests (allowing redirects option)
• Update: Added an option for forcing documents to use HEAD requests
• Fix: Gifs, videos, and other large files timing out (props @mrphunin)
• Update: Added a Replace Link action to link column on results page (props a4jp-com for suggestion)
• Update: Added a Trash Page action to source on results page; must enable it in Settings (props @mrphunin for suggestion)
• Fix: Sometimes no permission for trash error; changed Clear Result action to use ajax instead
• Tweak: Renamed all other action links on link and source columns on results page
• Tweak: Changed Edit link to “Edit Page” (props a4jp-com)

1.1.4.2

• Tweak: Added support for translations on some other info boxes
• Update: Added an info box to the top of the results page with clarification on trashing results
• Fix: Undefined array key “HTTP_REFERER”

1.1.4.1

• Update: Added an option to pause front-end scanning (props @ravanh)
• Update: Added status codes to settings, allowing you to change types, deprecated hooks will only work if codes in settings have no been saved: blnotifier_bad_status_codes, blnotifier_warning_status_codes

1.1.4

• Update: Added field for user agent and option to mark status code 0 as broken instead of warning (props @ravanh)

1.1.3.8

• Update: Allowed max redirects to be 0 to show redirect status code instead of the final status code

1.1.3.7

• Fix: Multi-Scan redirecting if content is not found or if pages have shortcodes that redirect

1.1.3.6

• Update: Added settings for allowing redirects and setting max redirects amount (props @ravanh)

1.1.3.5

• Fix: Fatal error on helpers.php at line 1001

1.1.3.4

• Fix: Fatal error when trying to uncheck all post types in settings (props @ravanh)

1.1.3.3

• Fix: Added support for links starting with // (props pauleipper)

1.1.3.2

• Fix: Added full path to multi scan links to support multisite (props oddmoster)

1.1.3.1

• Fix: Added full path to “Edit” link to support multisite (props oddmoster)

1.1.3

• Update: Added a link search page

1.1.2

• Fix: Warnings from Plugin Checker

1.1.1

• Update: Auto-delete omitted links on Results page
• Fix: Some links not being deleted due to special characters

1.1.0

• Fix: YouTube links showing broken

1.0.9

• Fix: Umlauts in links showing broken (props ralf d)
• Tweak: Removed donate link, nobody donates anyway, working on premium version instead

1.0.8

• Update: Added demo to readme.txt

1.0.7

• Fix: Results page rescan not working on some links
• Fix: Offsite checker links broken XD

1.0.6

• Fix: wp_mail_failed logging error
• Update: Added a string replace for "×" => "x", which is being converted in images with sizes (ie _100x66.png)
• Update: Added a new filter blnotifier_strings_to_replace for replacing simple characters

1.0.5

• Update: Added a re-scan verification when loading results page as some false-positives occur with poor connections
• Tweak: Updated plugin tags
• Update: Added other plugins to bottom of help page
• Update: Added an option in settings to include/exclude image src links
• Tweak: Changed default timeout to 5 seconds

1.0.4.2

• Fix: Emailing empty content if already added to results; stopped duplicate emails

1.0.4.1

• Fix: MS Teams integration error with logging

1.0.4

• Fix: Undefined variable on help page
• Update: Added support for checking YouTube video links (props shirtguy72)
• Update: Added support for iframe links (props shirtguy72)
• Update: Added support for image source links

1.0.3.1

• Tweak: Fix minor issues found by WP repo plugin reviewer

1.0.3

• Tweak: Updates recommended by WP repo plugin reviewer
• Fix: Settings saved notification not echoing
• Tweak: Removed links post type and help docs post types if installed

1.0.2

• Tweak: Added nonce to Page Scan JS
• Update: Added Multi-Scan and Page Scan results to results page
• Tweak: Changed “Full Scan” references to “Multi-Scan”

1.0.1

• Deployment