FamilySearch Wiki:WikiProject Finding broken links on U.S. county pages

Checking for Broken Links on County Pages
When doing this task, it is not necessary for you to know anything about genealogy records for a specific locality. It is not even necessary that you be comfortable with editing links on the wiki.

Step one: The first step is to go to the project page task list and complete the information for the county you will be working on. You will enter the information before you begin working on that county, and can come back when you finish and enter the date completed.

Step two: Once you have a locality, you will need to keep a list of any links on the page that might be bad (broken). You will keep this information in a Google spreadsheet (see information below on completing the Google spreadsheet).

Step three: The best way to check the links is to simply click on each link that has an arrow at the end of it. This indicates it is an external link. You do not need to check links that go to other wiki pages (links with no arrow). The following link is an example of an external link: Rhode Island, Births, 1636-1930


 * If the link takes you to a working page with information on it, please take a quick look at the page and see if it looks like it does have the records we described on the county page.


 * Example: If I click on the link Tennessee Births and Christenings 1828-1939, I find the page on the FamilySearch website that is titled Tennessee Births and Christenings 1828-1939, so it is the page I would expect. If instead I went to a page that said Tennessee Obituaries, I would know that that this link is probably misdirected and I would add it to my list.


 * Be sure to look at the linked page to be sure it doesn’t say something like “the page you are visiting has moved” (it may or may not redirect you after 5-10 seconds. If this is the case, include this link as bad on your list so we it can be fixed.
 * If you click on the link and get any error message from the site, or a “404” message, then you know the link is bad and include it on your list.


 * Once you have completed the state, return to the Wiki task page and put the date you completed the state. Finding broken links on U.S. county pages/task list

You are now ready for a new locality!!

Completing the Google Spreadsheet
Step one: Open a copy of the County Page Link Checks Spreadsheet.

Step two: You will first want to make a copy of the page to use for your work. Do this by clicking on the word “File” on the task bar. When that pull down menu opens, choose the 5th option “Make a Copy” and click on it. You will be asked to name your spreadsheet. Name your spreadsheet with a two word title. The first word should be the name of the state you are working on, and the second word should be your last name. If I was copying a sheet to use for checking links in Illinois, I would name the copy Illinois Jane. Once you have named your copy, it will be open on your desktop. Google automatically saves all work you do on the spreadsheet, so you don’t have to worry about saving the page, or losing edits should you accidentally close the sheet.

Step three: The first column is State. You can enter the state name once, and then don’t worry about re-entering it on each line.

Step four: The next column is County. You can enter the county once and then don’t worry about re-entering it on each line. You would only need to edit this column when starting a new county.

Step five:  The next column is the URL for the county page. You can also enter this once and not worry about re-entering it on each line.

Step six: The next column is Header. This is the name of the section on the county page where you found the broken link, such as Biographies, Maps, etc.

Step seven: The next column is Link Name. This is the wording that shows on the county page line where the link is broken.

Step eight: The next column is URL. This is the actual URL that is broken on the page. To find the actual URL of the broken link, hover over the blue wording on the page and then right-click your mouse. Choose “Copy the link address” and it will automatically copy the URL for you. Then just go to the URL column on the spreadsheet and right click again. This time choose the “paste” option and that URL will appear in the column.

Step nine: The final column is Notes. If there is anything special you feel that you need to add, enter it here.