📌 Requirements: Pressbooks Enterprise network with the Content Toolkit enabled. This tool is not available on Pressbooks Self-Publisher (pressbooks.pub).

The Link Checker allows you to easily locate all broken or unreachable links within your book, so that you can know exactly which links to fix to ensure a smooth experience for your readers.

Check Links

If your network has the Content Toolkit enabled and you have the user role of Administrator in a book, you’ll see an option in the left sidebar of your book dashboard, Content Toolkit > Link Checker. Navigating there will bring you to an interface where you can request a new scan or view the results of the most recent scan for broken links in your book.

To run a scan, click the Start Scan button. The tool will then comb through your book, systematically checking every link. While the scan is running, you can leave the page and return later. You can also opt to receive an email when the scan has completed.

Understand the Report

Once the scan completes, a report will appear on the Link Checker page under Most Recent Report. You can view it here or click the Download Report (CSV) button to download the report as a CSV file.

The report lists all broken or unreachable links in your book. The results can be sorted in various ways using the Filters available in the interface. You can limit results to specific chapters in the Chapter dropdown menu; to Public or Private chapters, from the Visibility dropdown menu; and to kinds of flagged link issues from the Status dropdown menu, pressing Apply Filters to update the returned results.

For each listed link:

• The Chapter column shows the book chapter, front or back matter where the broken link was found. You can click the page title to navigate directly to the editor for that page.
• The Visibility column shows the whether the book chapter, front or back matter where the broken link was found is Public (“Show in Web” selected) or Private.
• The Link column shows the broken link itself.
• The Link Text column shows the text, in your book, that points to the broken link.
• The Status column shows the HTTP status code that was returned when the link checker attempted to navigate to the link.

Common status codes:

• 401 Unauthorized: the resource you’ve linked to requires login or authentication in order to be viewed.
• 403 Forbidden: the web server hosting the linked resource is forbidding access; a permissions issue.
• 404 Not Found: the page doesn’t exist at the given address.

Video: Use the Link Checker