Internet Archive and Automattic launch Link Fixer for WordPress

This week, the Internet Archive, a nonprofit organization devoted to archiving the internet, and Automattic, the company behind WordPress, partnered to launch Link Fixer. The new WordPress plugin is designed to help the world’s users combat “link rot”—the phenomenon where online articles become populated by broken links, or URLs that once led to active pages but now result in error messages. The partnership brings together the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, which indexes the web through widespread snapshotting, and Automattic’s publishing platform to preserve digital context for future generations.

The tool addresses a significant issue in digital publishing. According to a 2024 Pew Research study, nearly 40% of links that existed in 2013 were no longer active by 2024. This digital decay occurs across a broad diversity of web pages, from news and government sites to Wikipedia pages and social media posts, leaving readers with dead ends and broken references.

To combat this decay, the Link Fixer plugin automatically scans WordPress posts for outbound links and cross-references the Wayback Machine. According to Automattic, the plugin perpetually checks a web page’s links. If no archived version of a link exists, the tool automatically takes a new snapshot of the page to preserve it. Should a linked web page go offline, the plugin redirects readers to the archived version on the Wayback Machine, ensuring there is no drop in service. If an original link that went offline is later resurrected, the plugin will automatically revert to redirecting users to the original page instead of the archived version. The tool also archives a user’s own posts to help ensure their longevity.

A write-up on Github shows that the plugin’s controls are relatively easy to maneuver and offer convenient customization for site administrators. For instance, users can specify how often they want the plugin to scan a link for validity. The default scan frequency offered by the program is every three days, allowing site owners to manage the frequency of checks based on their specific needs.

Why it matters

This partnership addresses the fragility of the web by automating the preservation of outbound links, ensuring that content remains accessible even when original pages go offline.