FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Fixing broken links

Current Projects page

Fixing broken links

Purpose

This project will help you determine find the correct link to replace broken links found on Wiki pages.

Broken Links List

Broken Links List

Project Instructions

Before you Begin

If you are finding and fixing broken links at the same time, please note that the Check my Links app will automatically log you out of the Wiki. It is suggested you have two Chrome browsers open, one of them being an incognito browser. The regular browser can be used to check the links and the incognito browser to log into the Wiki and fix the links.

• How to open an incognito Chrome browser

Step 1 - Sign up and check link

1. Go to the Broken Links Google Sheet and choose a broken link to fix from the list. You can choose to fix links on any tab. Put your name in column J so no one else will work on the link.

2. Look at the name of the Wiki page where broken link is found. If it is an agenda item or a previous Rootstech or instructor handout, just make a note of it in column N and move on to next listed link.

3. Click on the broken link Google Sheet and check to see if the link is still broken. (Some links can appear to be broken when their websites are down for short time.)

4. If the link is still broken go to Step 2. A broken link can be a 404 error on the page, or actually going to a new website that has nothing to do with genealogy. Or, it might be a redirect to another page. Be sure to review the content to make sure it is broken and needs to be replaced.

Step 2 - Check Archive.org

1. A trick to finding the replacement for a broken link is to see what the website used to look like. We will use the Wayback Machine on https://archive.org/web/. The Wayback Machine is a digital archive that takes a snapshot of websites and stores them by date. It allows the user to go “back in time” and see what websites looked like in the past.

2. Click on https://archive.org

3. In the Wayback Machine URL field at the very top of the page, paste in your link from the Google Sheet.

When the Wayback Machine does NOT have a result

1. There can be many reasons the Wayback Machine does not have a result.

• The website never existed. Such a link that goes to a Wikipedia page that is spelled incorrectly.
• The website is obscure or a foreign language that the Wayback machine does not cover.
  
  

2. To help find the correct link, you can try googling some key words from the URL to see if a correct link can be found.

3. If a link cannot be found, go to the Google Sheet and enter "No" in column L. You can also add a note in column N stating why it couldn't be replaced. This can include, "could not find the replacement link" or "website is now gone."

When the Wayback Machine has a result

4. If the Wayback Machine has a version of the website in its database, you will see a calendar that lists the dates the website was archived.

5. It is best to choose two or three years before the last date the website was recorded to see what it looked like before the website changed.

6. Click on that year and locate a date on the calendar. Be sure to click on the link on the dialogue box.

Step 3 - Find the New Link

1. Once you find a copy of the old website, review the old page and determine key words to use for when you use Google to locate the new URL. In this example, you could use the key words, Alameda County California clerk recorder's office birth marriage death certificates"

2. Review the results and see if any are close to what you think is the same thing.

Please note: Sometimes a website page no longer exists and there is not a good substitute. In this situation, remove the link completely and make a note on the Google Sheet in column N - "Notes or reason why the link could not be fixed:" - for example: "Defunct and no replacement found", and move on to the next broken link.

Use Google to find the new URL:

• Google the beginning portion of the URL to locate a possible page.
• Google the title of the page with additional details that might be useful.

EXAMPLE

• For the broken link: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/marriage.html the Wayback Machine gave the original web page
• The title of the page is: Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900 and you can see it is on the Illinois State Archives
• Google: Illinois state archives "Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900"
• The first result on the list is: https://www.ilsos.gov/isavital/marriagesrch.jsp and you will see that it is the same page as found in the Wayback Machine.
  
  

Step 4 - Replace the Link

1. With the correct new URL found on Google, go to the Wiki page and locate the section on the Wiki the broken link is in.

2. Click on Edit Source link and you will see the wikitext code. In this example, we will replace URL http://www.acgov.org/auditor/clerk/bdm_online.htm from the line with the new URL.

3. If the new URL is: https://www.acgov.org/auditor/clerk/bdm/index.htm.

The code should now read:

[https://www.acgov.org/auditor/clerk/bdm/index.htm Alameda County Clerk Recorder - Vital Records]. Make sure the name of the link matches the organization and website. For example, in this case, if the information is now on a different website than Alameda County Clerk Recorder, you need to change the link name, too. If there is other text included to explain the link (such as navigation instructions, or available records), you may need to update that as well.

Step 5 - Check Your Work

1. Click show preview.

2. Click the link you just added to make sure it works and it's the right one.

3. You can now save the page by typing in the summary field, fixed link and then click on the Save page button.

4. Return to the Google Sheet, record the date in column K and paste a copy of new URL you used on the Wiki page in column M. You can use column I to add any notes.

5. You can now choose another broken link to fix from the Google Sheet.