The Internet Archive launches a WordPress plugin that automatically fixes broken links by redirecting to archived versions, preserving digital content for future readers.
San Francisco: The Internet Archive has created a new tool to fix broken links on websites. The Wayback Machine team worked with WordPress makers Automattic to build the Link Fixer plug-in. This tool helps people keep their website links working even when web pages disappear.
The plug-in scans WordPress posts for links that might stop working. It checks if archived versions exist in the Wayback Machine. If not, it takes snapshots of those pages. When a link breaks, the plug-in sends readers to the saved version instead.
Studies show that almost 40% of links from 2013 no longer work. This causes “link rot” where articles have many broken links. The new tool stops this problem by always checking links and updating them. It also saves your own articles to make them last longer.
Users can control how often the plug-in checks links. The default is every three days. If a broken link starts working again, the plug-in switches back to the live page. This keeps visitors reading the best version of any web page.