Regional University Computing Center Kaiserslautern-Landau

How to fix link errors

Example element from the frontend: The error 404 - Page not found is shown. In the right part of the image there is a picture with a lighthouse standing on a rock. To the left of it there is the sea. The picture was taken at night.
Example element from the frontend: Error 404 - Page not found
Link errors occur for various reasons:

Internal links are lost when ...

  • the link target has been deleted
  • the link target has been deactivated

External links can be wrong, because

  • the target URL was specified incorrectly
  • the target URL has changed
  • the page of the target URL has been removed

Faulty links always lead to an interruption of the page visit and to a negative perception on the part of the page visitor. Often a page is then left altogether and the page visitor searches for an alternative way to the desired information.  This should be avoided.

Avoid link errors proactively:
  • Wherever possible, work with internal links. In Typo3, you can link _anything_ internally as long as it is in a common Typo3 instance.
  • Before deleting a page, file, or, more rarely, a content element, see how many elements link to it. (Click on "Info" in the element's context menu, then look under "References to this object.")
  • It's better not to type an external URL yourself. ;)
  • Copy external URLs from your browser's address bar after viewing the target page and use that URL.
  • Use the link validator regularly to find any link errors that may have occurred.
  • The link validator may also tell you when an external URL is redirected. This means that the actual URL has changed. Then please exchange the URL with the newest address of a page. Redirects are usually only temporary.

Instructions