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Troubleshooting False Positives in Broken Link Checker: A Comprehensive Guide

15 threads Sep 10, 2025 Plugin → Broken link checker

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If you're seeing a flood of 'broken' links in your WordPress dashboard that work perfectly fine when you click them, you're not alone. This common issue, known as a 'false positive,' can be frustrating and time-consuming. This guide will walk you through the most common reasons for these false alarms and provide practical steps to resolve them.

What Are False Positives?

A false positive occurs when the Broken Link Checker plugin incorrectly flags a functioning link as broken. This is typically indicated by an HTTP code of 0, 404, or 503, often accompanied by specific error logs mentioning SSL, connection resets, or an inability to follow redirects.

Common Causes and Their Solutions

1. SSL and cURL Connection Errors (Error #35, #56)

This is perhaps the most frequent cause. You'll see errors like Unknown SSL protocol error, Connection reset by peer, or SSL_ERROR_SYSCALL. These often happen when the plugin tries to check an HTTPS link but encounters a problem during the secure handshake.

  • Solution: This can be a server-level issue. Contact your hosting provider and ask them to ensure that your server's cURL and OpenSSL libraries are up-to-date and properly configured. They may also need to whitelist the IP addresses the plugin uses to make outbound requests.

2. Overly Restrictive Server Configuration

Many hosting providers disable certain PHP functions for security reasons. If functions like curl_exec, proc_open, popen, or parse_ini_file are disabled, the plugin cannot perform its checks correctly, leading to widespread failures.

  • Solution: Check your server's php.ini file for a disable_functions directive. If key functions are listed there, you will need to request that your hosting provider enable them for the plugin to work. The 'Broken Link Checker' team suggests that functions like curl_exec are essential for operation.

3. Access Restrictions and Redirects

If your site or the site you are linking to has access restrictions, the plugin may be blocked.

  • Member-Only Content: If your site uses a plugin to hide content from non-logged-in users, the link checker (which runs as an anonymous visitor) will be denied access, resulting in 404 or 403 errors.
  • DDoS Protection (e.g., Cloudflare): Many security services may interpret the rapid, automated link checks as a malicious attack and temporarily block the request.
  • Solution: For member-only sites, you may need to adjust the settings of your membership plugin or configure the link checker to run while you are logged into the dashboard. For sites behind DDoS protection, manually marking the links as 'Not Broken' is often the only workaround.

4. Specific Link Types (tel:, Facebook, Amazon)

The plugin can struggle with non-standard links.

  • tel: Links: The plugin may incorrectly try to check tel:211 links as if they were web URLs, generating errors. These should be manually marked as not broken.
  • Social Media Links: Platforms like Facebook and Amazon often return 404 errors for direct profile links when accessed by a 'headless' bot instead of a full browser, due to their complex redirects and cookie requirements.
  • Solution: Manually verify these links in a web browser. If they work, you can right-click them in the Broken Link Checker interface and select 'Mark as not broken' or 'False positive'.

How to Manually Verify a Link

Before assuming a result is a false positive, it's good practice to verify it manually:

  1. Right-click the reported link and copy the address.
  2. Paste it into a new browser tab in an incognito/private window (to avoid cached results).
  3. If the page loads, it's a false positive. Right-click the link in the plugin's list and mark it accordingly.

By understanding these common causes, you can more effectively diagnose and resolve the false positives plaguing your link check reports, saving you time and ensuring your site's integrity.

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