As a WordPress user, you may face the issue of links with strikethrough in WordPress. This can be frustrating and may adversely affect your website’s appearance as well as search engine rankings. The Broken Link Checker plugin is often the cause of this problem. In this article, we will delve deeper into the causes of this issue and provide you with a solution to fix it.
The Broken Link Checker Plugin
The Broken Link Checker plugin is a valuable tool that automatically scans your website, identifying broken links, and reporting them. Although this plugin saves time and effort, it can create problems when the code conflicts with the website. It has the ability to modify the links it discovers on your site.
How Strikethrough Occurs
Whenever the Broken Link Checker plugin discovers a broken link, or one that is no longer accessible, it adds a strikethrough to indicate that it is damaged. Unfortunately, sometimes the plugin may mistakenly add strikethrough to a working or valid link. The issue is not with the link but with the change that the plugin makes. The plugin adds a style attribute to the link, which adds the strikethrough — and removing this styling can be a headache.
How to Fix Strikethrough Issues
Disabling the “Apply custom formatting to broken links” feature in the Broken Link Checker plugin’s settings is the remedy for strikethrough issues. Doing this will prevent the plugin from modifying working links and adding the strikethrough to them.
You only need to follow a few simple steps to disable this feature in the settings:
- Open your WordPress dashboard
- Go to the “Settings” tab
- Select the “Link Checker” option.
There you will see various options for the Broken Link Checker plugin. - Since you need to disable the “Apply custom formatting to broken links” option, uncheck it
- Save changes
After these steps the plugin will stop messing with your links, thus eliminating the strikethrough issue.
Conclusion
The Broken Link Checker plugin is an effective method of scanning a WordPress site for broken links, but it can create issues such as strikethrough. However, with a few simple steps of disabling the “Apply custom formatting to broken links” feature in the settings, you can promptly solve the problem. So, if you’re experiencing the strikethrough issue on your WordPress website, you now understand the cause and solution to this problem.