New "Link Fixer" Plug-in Tackles Link Rot for WordPress Sites

The Internet Archive and Automattic have partnered to release a new WordPress plug-in named Link Fixer. This tool addresses "link rot," a phenomenon where online article links become broken or lead to inactive pages.

Link rot is a prevalent issue;

A 2024 Pew Research study indicated that nearly 40% of links from 2013 are no longer active across various web pages, including news, government sites, and Wikipedia.

The Link Fixer plug-in operates by scanning WordPress posts for outbound links. It then references the Wayback Machine for archived versions of these links. If no archived version exists, the plug-in automatically creates new snapshots of the relevant articles.

Should a linked web page become unavailable, the feature redirects users to its archived counterpart, ensuring continuity of service. The tool also archives a user's own posts, contributing to their long-term availability.

The plug-in is designed to maintain access to the best available version of a web page. It continuously checks link validity; if an original link that was offline becomes active again, the plug-in reverts to directing users to the original page instead of the archived version.

Users can customize the plug-in's settings, such as specifying the frequency of link scans. The default scan interval is every three days.