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Free Plugin by Internet Archive v1.4.2

Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer

Automatically fix broken links by replacing them with archived versions from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine.

Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer

The facts

Rating
3.8★ from 8
Active installs
1k+
Price
Free
Last updated
3 Jun 2026
Added
Oct 2025
Requires WP
6.4
Tested up to
WP 7.0.4
Requires PHP
7.4
Downloads
18,617

Our analysis

AI-assisted

The Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer is a WordPress plugin that addresses link rot by scanning your post content for outbound links. It checks the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine for archived versions and creates snapshots if none exist. The plugin also redirects users to archived versions of broken links and archives your posts whenever they are updated.

This plugin is suitable for website owners who want to maintain the reliability of their content and ensure a good user experience by preventing broken links. It automates the archiving process, making it easier to manage content over time.

Best for: Website owners looking to preserve content and manage broken links effectively.

What it does well

  • Automatically scans for outbound links
  • Creates new snapshots if no archive exists
  • Redirects broken links to archived versions
  • Archives posts on updates
  • Helps maintain long-term content reliability

Where it falls short

  • Limited information on user experience or support
  • No specific details on compatibility with other plugins

Verdict

This plugin offers a practical solution for managing link rot and preserving content. It is particularly useful for those who want to enhance their site's reliability without significant manual effort.

From the developer

Internet Archive's own description of Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer, lightly tidied.

Internet Archive Wayback Machine Link Fixer is a WordPress plugin designed to combat link rot—the gradual decay of web links as pages are moved, changed, or taken down. It automatically scans your post content—on save and across existing posts—to detect outbound links. For each one, it checks the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine for an archived version and creates a snapshot if one isn’t available.

When a linked page disappears, the plugin helps preserve your user experience by redirecting visitors to a reliable archived version. It also works proactively by archiving your own posts every time they’re updated, creating a consistent backup of your content’s history.

Protect your links, preserve your content, and automate the archiving process—all with minimal effort.

Key Features

  • Automatically scans for outbound links in post content
  • Checks the Wayback Machine for existing archives
  • Creates new snapshots if no archive exists
  • Redirects broken or missing links to archived versions
  • Archives your own posts on updates
  • Works on both new and existing content
  • Helps maintain long-term content reliability and SEO

External Services

This plugin connects to external services provided by the Internet Archive to provide its core functionality. The following information details what data is sent, when, and why:

Internet Archive Wayback Machine API (web.archive.org)

What the service is and what it is used for:
The Internet Archive Wayback Machine is a digital archive of the World Wide Web. This plugin uses their API to check for existing archived versions of web pages, create new snapshots of pages, and verify the status of archiving jobs.

What data is sent and when:

  • System Status Check: No personal data is sent. Used to verify if the Wayback Machine service is online.
  • User Account Validation: When you configure an API key, your access key and secret key are sent in the Authorization header to validate your account and retrieve usage statistics (available snapshots, daily limits, etc.).
  • URL Archiving: URLs from your website content are sent to create new snapshots in the Wayback Machine. This includes both external links found in your content and your own post URLs when auto-archiving is enabled.
  • Snapshot Status Checks: Job IDs are sent to check the status of archiving requests.
  • Existing Snapshot Lookups: URLs are sent to search for existing archived versions of web pages.

Service Terms and Privacy Policy:

Internet Archive Bot API (iabot-api.archive.org)

What the service is and what it is used for:
This service checks if web pages are accessible and retrieves final URLs after redirects. It’s used to determine if links are broken and need to be replaced with archived versions.

What data is sent and when:

Read the full description on the official page →

Tagged as

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