Kandeshop Broken Links Checker

Table of Contents

• Description
• Features
• Installation
• Usage
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Changelog
• Author
• Support
• License

Description

The Kandeshop Broken Links Checker is a WordPress plugin designed to identify and list broken or non-functional external links. It scans through your site in batches and organizes links into five tabs:

1. Broken/Unreachable Links: Shows all links (internal and external) that return an error (404, 500) or are unreachable (timeout).
2. Working External Links: Shows all links that are NOT on your own domain and return a successful status.
3. Pages Checked: Lists all posts and pages that have been scanned in your current session.
4. Guide & Limitations: A simple "how-to" guide with important warnings about how the plugin works.
5. Status Code Explanations: A full explanation of what each error (404, 403, 999, cURL 28) actually means.

The plugin now intelligently categorizes errors and features a real-time progress indicator that shows you exactly which post is being scanned.

Features

• Scans all public post types (posts, pages, custom post types) in batches.
• Fetches the full rendered HTML of each page to scan all links (in headers, footers, and content).
• Provides a real-time progress indicator showing which post is currently being scanned (e.g., "Scanning 1 of 20...").
• An intuitive admin interface with 5 tabs to organize results.
• Broken/Unreachable Links Tab: Lists all links that returned an error or timed out.
• Working External Links Tab: Lists all links not on your domain that returned a success code.
• Pages Checked Tab: Lists all posts and pages scanned in the current session.
• Guide & Limitations Tab: Provides clear "how-to" instructions and warnings.
• Status Code Explanations Tab: Explains the difference between "Broken" (404), "Blocked" (403), and "Unreachable" (Timeout) links.
• Results are saved in your browser's session, so you can run multiple batches.
• Includes a "Clear All Results" button to reset the scan.

Installation

1. Download the plugin ZIP file.
2. Upload the kandeshop-broken-link-check folder to your /wp-content/plugins/ directory, or install the plugin through the WordPress plugins screen directly.
3. Activate the plugin through the 'Plugins' screen in WordPress.

Usage

1. Go to the admin dashboard.
2. Find the 'Broken Links' option in the main menu and click it.
3. Read the Guide & Limitations tab to understand how the plugin works.
4. On the 'Broken Links Checker' page, set the number of posts/pages per batch (a small number like 10-20 is recommended).
5. Click the 'Check Next Batch' button.
6. A real-time progress bar will appear, showing you which post is currently being scanned.
7. Results will be added to the appropriate tabs as they are found.
8. Click "Clear All Results" to reset the scan and start over.

Important: You must keep the browser tab open for the scan to complete. It is managed by your browser and will stop if you close the tab.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a batch?

A batch refers to a set of posts or pages that the plugin scans at a time. You can set the number of posts/pages in a batch in the admin dashboard.

Does the plugin automatically fix the broken links?

No, the plugin only identifies and lists the broken links. You will need to fix the links manually.

Why does it say a link is "Blocked" or "Unreachable" when I can open it?

This is not a bug. Your server is checking the link as an automated script (a bot). Many sites (like LinkedIn, Reddit, etc.) will block bots to prevent scraping.

• Blocked (403, 429): The site sees your server is a bot and is blocking it. The link is fine for real users.
• Unreachable (Timeout): Your server's firewall is likely blocking the request. The link is fine, but your server cannot verify it.

See the "Status Code Explanations" tab in the plugin for a full guide.

Changelog

1.4.1

• Fix: Corrected a fatal JavaScript syntax error that prevented the script from loading, which broke the tabs and buttons.
• Best Practice: Bumped script versions to force cache-busting.

1.4.0

• Feature: Added a "Guide & Limitations" documentation tab to the admin page.
• Feature: Added a "Status Code Explanations" tab to explain what 404, 403, and cURL errors mean.
• Best Practice: Bumped script versions to force cache-busting.

1.3.0

• Feature: Reworked the entire scanning architecture to be more stable and provide real-time feedback.
• Feature: The progress indicator now shows exactly which post is being scanned (e.g., "Scanning (1/20): 'My Post Title'...").
• Fix: Changed the scan from one long request per batch to many small requests (one per post) to prevent server timeouts.
• Best Practice: Added a new AJAX endpoint kblc_ajax_get_batch_posts to feed the queue.
• Best Practice: kblc_ajax_check_links now only scans a single post ID.

1.2.4

• Feature: Added detailed explanations for anti-bot status codes (403, 429, 999, 460).
• Feature: These "Blocked" links are now styled in blue to distinguish them from "Broken" (red) and "Unreachable" (yellow) links.
• Fix: Cleaned up link normalization to remove URL fragments (#) before checking.

1.2.3

• Feature: Added a spinner and dynamic text (e.g., "Checking batch 2...") to the "Checking..." notice for better user feedback.
• Fix: Changed the HTML for the notice to include a dedicated paragraph for text, improving layout.

1.2.2

• Feature: Scanner now fetches the full rendered HTML (header, footer, etc.) instead of just the post content.
• Feature: Scanner now warns about "Loopback Request Failed" errors if the server blocks it from scanning its own pages.
• Fix: Scanner now correctly finds all publicly queryable post types, including custom post types.

1.2.1

• Feature: The scanner now automatically detects and checks all public post types (e.g., 'portfolio', 'products') instead of just posts and pages.
• Fix: Excludes 'attachment' post type from the scan by default.

1.2.0

• Feature: Added a tabbed interface (Broken, Working External, Pages Checked).
• Feature: Added "Working External Links" tab to show only 200/300 status links not on the local domain.
• Feature: Added "Pages Checked" tab to list all scanned posts/pages.
• Feature: Results are now persistent in the browser's sessionStorage.
• Feature: Added "Clear All Results" button to reset the session.
• Fix: AJAX now returns a full JSON object instead of simple HTML/codes.
• Best Practice: Added jquery-ui-tabs as a dependency.

1.1.0

• Feature: Differentiated between "Broken Links" (404s, DNS errors) and "Unreachable Links" (cURL timeouts).
• Feature: Unreachable links are now displayed as a warning with an explanation.

1.0.3

• Fix: Increased cURL timeout from 5 to 10 seconds to help with slow servers.

1.0.2

• Fix: Force cache-busting for JavaScript file.
• Fix: Add console logging for easier debugging.

1.0.1

• Security: Added Nonce validation for all AJAX requests.
• Fix: Correctly handles HTTPS links in addition to HTTP.
• Fix: Improved link checking to detect all HTTP error codes (400+) instead of just 404.
• Fix: Removed a fatal PHP error (stray brace).
• Best Practice: Refactored all functions with kblc_ prefix.
• Best Practice: Enqueued and localized script properly.
• Best Practice: Escaped all output and internationalized strings.

1.0

• Initial release of the plugin.

Author

• D Kandekore

Support

For support, issues, or suggestions, please open an issue in the plugin's repository.

License

This plugin is licensed under the GPL-2.0-or-later. See the license.txt file (or https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html) for more information.