{"id":132,"date":"2019-08-05T10:03:56","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T09:03:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/marketing\/?p=132"},"modified":"2019-08-05T12:39:06","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T11:39:06","slug":"reducing-broken-links-and-page-not-found-messages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/2019\/08\/05\/reducing-broken-links-and-page-not-found-messages\/","title":{"rendered":"Reducing broken links and page not found messages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Many of you will be familiar with 404 page not found messages. They\u2019re the incredibly frustrating pages you see when you\u2019re trying to find something on the web, but it isn\u2019t where you expected it to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You\u2019ll see 404s for a number of reasons, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>You click a link to a page that\u2019s been deleted or moved<\/li><li>You\u2019ve been emailed a link with a typo<\/li><li>You type an incorrect link into the web browser\u2019s address bar<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While we can\u2019t do much to stop people guessing URLs or making typing errors, we can try to reduce the number of broken links on our website.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past 18 months we\u2019ve made it easier for people to let us know about errors using a form on our 404 page, and we\u2019re running more automated and manual checks to find broken links across our site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As a result, <strong>we\u2019ve reduced the number of times that visitors to the York website have seen a 404 message by 34%<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">However, in the last 12 months, our website visitors have still seen our 404 page over 150,000 times, so there\u2019s definitely more work to be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How you can help<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Making it easier for people to report problems is a good start, but ideally we\u2019d like for there to be fewer broken links in the first place. There are a number of ways to achieve this, with the help of web authors across the University.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Within the Web CMS<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Use section links<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you\u2019re using the CMS, and linking to another page within the CMS, make sure you <a href=\"https:\/\/wiki.york.ac.uk\/display\/DM\/Links\">use a section link<\/a>, rather than copying and pasting the web address.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">One of the benefits of the University using a Web CMS is that if a page is moved, all of the section links will automatically update. And if a section is deleted, the person deleting the page will see a list of other CMS pages which are linking to it, giving them the chance to edit the relevant pages, or contact the page owner to let them know<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can link to any page within the CMS, not just the ones that you have access to edit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Linking to external pages<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re linking to an external page from the CMS, remember to include http:\/\/ or https:\/\/, or the link won\u2019t work and will result in a 404.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Email links<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re adding in someone\u2019s email address as a link, use the \u2018Insert\/edit link\u2019 option, and add \u2018mailto:\u2019 at the start of the address, <br>eg \u2018mailto:marketing-support@york.ac.uk\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"323\" height=\"232\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/marketing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/08\/mailto.png?resize=323%2C232&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-133\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/08\/mailto.png?w=323&amp;ssl=1 323w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/08\/mailto.png?resize=300%2C215&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 323px) 100vw, 323px\" \/><figcaption>Adding a mailto link in the CMS<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Creating or updating page names and web addresses<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When you create a new page, you have the option to set the URL, using the Output URI field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you leave this blank, the CMS will use what\u2019s in the Name field, after stripping out any capital letters and spaces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You should always fill in the Output URI field, rather than allowing the CMS to create the URL automatically. Keep it short, and add dashes between words.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">So, for example, a page with the name \u2018My page about some stuff\u2019 would automatically have a URL ending in \/mypageaboutsomestuff<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you set the Output URL to \u201csome-stuff\u201d, the URL would instead be \/some-stuff, which is much shorter and easier to read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"776\" height=\"241\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/marketing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/08\/output-uri.png?resize=776%2C241&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-134\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/08\/output-uri.png?w=776&amp;ssl=1 776w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/08\/output-uri.png?resize=300%2C93&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/08\/output-uri.png?resize=768%2C239&amp;ssl=1 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 776px) 100vw, 776px\" \/><figcaption>Setting the output URI<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Be careful! If you change the name of a page, and haven\u2019t set the Output URI, the <strong>web address will change<\/strong> to be the new name. If you have set an Output URI, your URL will stay the same unless you specifically change it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you do change the URL of your page, any section links will update automatically, but if people haven\u2019t used section links, or have linked to your page from elsewhere, these links will break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Check your live pages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Remember to check your pages once they\u2019ve published, paying close attention to any links you&#8217;ve included.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">You can install a web browser extension such as <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/check-my-links\/ojkcdipcgfaekbeaelaapakgnjflfglf?hl=en-GB\">\u2018Check my links\u2019 for Chrome<\/a> to help you quickly check any live web page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Redirects for high profile pages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Don\u2019t move or rename pages unless it\u2019s absolutely necessary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you think you need to move a page or change its URL, contact <a href=\"mailto:marketing-support@york.ac.uk\">marketing-support@york.ac.uk<\/a> to discuss the implications, and to arrange redirects if needed. A redirect will forward people from the old web address to the new one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Emailing links to other people<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you\u2019re emailing a large number of people, and your message contains a link, always double check that it\u2019s working before you press send. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With a little bit of extra care, we can hugely improve the experience of visitors to our site, and help them to find the information they need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Many of you will be familiar with 404 page not found messages. They\u2019re the incredibly frustrating pages you see when you\u2019re trying to find something on the web, but it isn\u2019t where you expected it to be.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":135,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-digital"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/08\/404withemoji.jpg?fit=825%2C510&ssl=1","uoy_author":{"name":"Aimee Phillips","bio":"I'm a User Experience Designer in Communications at the University of York. My role includes carrying out usability testing, and ensuring accessibility is at the heart of everything we produce.","image":{"src":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=200&d=mm&r=g","width":200,"height":200,"alt":""}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.york.ac.uk\/communications\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}