Automattic, in collaboration with the Internet Archive, has released a new WordPress plugin called Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer, aimed at tackling link rot.
What the Plugin Does
The Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer plugin, developed by Automattic Special Project Teams along with Internet Archive, scans posts for outgoing links and verifies whether archived versions exist on the Wayback Machine. If no archive is found, it automatically saves a snapshot to ensure the content remains available in the future, as highlighted, “ It automatically scans your post content—on save and across existing posts—to detect outbound links. For each one, it checks the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine for an archived version and creates a snapshot if one isn’t available.”
When a linked page is taken down or moved, the plugin redirects users to the archived version instead of displaying a broken link.
In a recent post, WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg reflected on his long-standing concern with broken links, saying, “One of the things I hate most on the internet, and part of the reason I started WordPress, was to fight linkrot.”
In his post announcing the plugin, he mentioned that what was once a manual effort to repair old links can now be done automatically, “ I’ve been doing this manually on my old archives, fixing broken links and tending the garden. But we can make it all automatic.”