Link Maintenance

We all know the Web is extremely dynamic, with content constantly being created, relocated and removed. As old pages go away, links to them will break, and when someone clicks that link, they will often see the following message: "Error: 404 - page not found." This process, known as "link rot," has been studied—as many as one in every 200 links will go 'bad' every week.

The UBCMS actively manages its internal links, and whenever possible keeps them current. So when an author moves or deletes a page, the UBCMS will attempt to update the links on all linked pages. But there are several common situations where this auto-correction will be unsuccessful:

• If the author who moves or deletes the page does not have publisher permissions for your site, the link on your page will NOT be updated. And if they do not have any publisher permissions, no pages will be updated.
  
• If the link is buried within the text of a component (e.g. Body Text), it will not be updated.
  
• If the link is buried in a Fixed List, it will not be updated. (The link will remain in the list component in author, but will disappear from the published version.)
  

Here's a link to a page that no longer exists on another Web server (link).

• The link remains clearly visible and a link checker or a careful check of the page's links will reveal the problem.
  

Here's a link to a page that has been deleted from the UBCMS (link).

Because the UBCMS knows the link is invalid:

• In the author environment, the link is shown in red brackets and preceded by a chain icon (see screenshot at right).
  
• In the page's published view, the original link text is displayed as normal words and the hyperlink is disabled.
  

This means that your site visitors will be protected from clicking on a bad link, but a link check will NOT reveal any problems. You will need to also look at your page in author mode to catch any link rot.

We encourage you to assign someone to check the links in your pages on a regular basis. For example, University Communications monitors the links on its main pages on a regular basis and makes proactive system-wide updates whenever we learn important pages have been moved.

Every site in the UBCMS has access to SiteImprove, a site management platform that checks for broken links, usability, and other useful tests including spelling. SiteImprove is managed by the office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion.

For quick, immediate link checks, most browsers provide free plugins or extensions.