How To Monitor And Fix Broken Links In xCloud
Updated October 30, 2026 · 5 min read
Broken links hurt your visitors’ experience and make it harder for search engines to crawl your WordPress site. xCloud’s Broken Link Monitoring scans a site for broken pages, links, images and redirects, lets you create redirects from the findings, and alerts you by email and in your chat apps when a scan finds new problems.
In this guide, you will learn how to enable Broken Link Monitoring, start a scan, follow live scan progress, review detected issues, create a redirect for a broken page, and choose where broken-link alerts go.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, make sure you have:
- A WordPress site connected to xCloud.
- Permission to manage the site’s monitoring tools.
- Access to Sites from the xCloud dashboard.
- For chat alerts: Slack, WhatsApp, Telegram, Discord or a webhook connected to your account (optional). Discord and webhooks also need their switch on under Site Notifications.
Step 1: Open Broken Link Monitoring
From your xCloud dashboard, open the WordPress site you want to check. Go to Site Monitoring and select Broken Links.
The Broken Link Monitoring page shows the scan status, issue counts, link health, coverage, filters, and the findings table in one place.
Step 2: Enable scheduled scans and choose a frequency
At the top-right of the Broken Link Monitoring panel, turn on the Enabled toggle. Then choose how often xCloud should run the managed scan.
Use the Scan now button when you want to run a scan immediately instead of waiting for the next scheduled scan.
Step 3: Run a scan and watch the live progress
After you start a scan, xCloud updates the scan progress while the scan is running. The Coverage card shows how many pages have been scanned and how many links have been checked.
If you started the scan by mistake or need to stop it, use Cancel Scan while the scan is still running.
Step 4: Review the scan results
When the scan finishes, review the results in the findings table. Each row shows:
| Column | What it means |
|---|---|
| Source page | The page where xCloud found the issue. |
| Status | The detected issue type, such as a soft 404. |
| Findings | The number or type of broken-link findings on that page. |
| Open | Opens the finding details for closer review. |
| Create redirect | Starts the redirect flow when the finding can be fixed with a redirect. |
| Ignore | Hides a finding you do not want to act on. |
Use the search box and filters to narrow the results by URL, issue type, or resource type. You can also enable Show ignored to include ignored findings in the table, or use Export CSV when you need to share the scan data outside xCloud.
Step 5: Create a redirect from a broken page finding
For eligible page issues, click Create redirect from the findings table. xCloud opens a redirect form with the broken URL pattern already filled in.
Enter the working destination in the To field, choose the redirect type, and click Create redirect. You see Redirect created. while xCloud applies the redirect to your site.
Step 6: Choose where broken-link alerts go
When a scan finds new broken links or images, xCloud alerts you so you don’t have to check the page yourself. Alerts can arrive by email and in your connected chat apps, and each has its own setting.
Chat apps and webhooks: go to Settings → Notifications. Below Vulnerability Notifications, turn on the Broken Link Notifications switch, then click Save Changes at the top of the page. You see Notifications Updated Successfully. Slack, WhatsApp and Telegram alerts start right away. For Discord or a webhook, also turn on Discord or Webhook under Site Notifications on the same page.
New accounts start with the switch on. Accounts created earlier keep the setting they had, which may be off. If you stopped getting broken-link alerts in Slack or Telegram, turn this switch on. The team owner’s Broken Link Notifications setting decides whether the team gets these alerts.
Email: broken link emails are not controlled by this switch. Scroll down to Email Preferences on the same page, click Customize email types under Sites, and turn the Broken Links Report switch on or off. Turning off Receive Optional Emails stops optional emails, including these, across all your teams.
To connect a channel first, see Slack, Telegram, WhatsApp or Discord and webhooks. For all email settings, see Manage email preferences.
Options and settings
| Option | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Enabled | You want xCloud to run scheduled broken-link scans for the site. |
| Frequency | You want to control how often scheduled scans run, such as daily. |
| Scan now | You want to start a scan manually. |
| Cancel Scan | A scan is running and you need to stop it. |
| Search | You want to find results for a specific URL or source page. |
| All issues | You want to filter by issue category. |
| All resources | You want to filter by resource type. |
| Show ignored | You want ignored findings to appear in the results. |
| Export CSV | You want to download the scan results. |
| Broken Link Notifications | You want alerts in Slack, WhatsApp or Telegram (Settings → Notifications). Discord and webhooks also need Discord or Webhook on under Site Notifications. |
Notes and limits
- Broken Link Monitoring is available from the site’s Site Monitoring → Broken Links section.
- xCloud keeps scan counters visible while the scan runs, so you can see progress without refreshing the page.
- The scan can report broken links, broken images, pages that could not be verified, and page-level issues such as soft 404s.
- Redirect creation is available only for findings that xCloud can safely convert into a redirect pattern. For other redirects, see Set up redirection.
- When several of your sites are scanned around the same time, their new findings arrive together in one alert.
- The Broken Link Notifications switch is not shown in white label client portals.
Frequently asked questions
Why am I not getting broken-link alerts in Slack or Telegram?
Open Settings → Notifications and check that the Broken Link Notifications switch is on, then click Save Changes. New accounts start with it on. Accounts created earlier keep their old setting, which may be off. The channel itself must also be connected: the Notifications page shows a Connect integrations link when one is missing. For Discord or a webhook, also check that Discord or Webhook is turned on under Site Notifications on the same page. The team owner’s settings decide whether the team gets these alerts.
Does the Broken Link Notifications switch turn off emails too?
No. The switch only controls chat app and webhook alerts. Discord and webhook alerts also need Discord or Webhook turned on under Site Notifications. Broken link emails are managed under Email Preferences on the same page, as the Broken Links Report email type.
Do I need to keep the page open while the scan runs?
No. The scan runs in the background. If you stay on the page, xCloud shows live progress as the scan updates.
Can I hide findings that I do not want to fix?
Yes. Use Ignore on findings that should not be included in your active review list. Use Show ignored if you need to view them later.
Can I run a scan manually even if scheduled scans are enabled?
Yes. Use Scan now whenever you want to start a scan immediately.
Can I export the findings?
Yes. Use Export CSV from the Broken Link Monitoring page to download the current scan results.
If you run into any issues, feel free to reach out to our support team.