The idea: a 'tool' that checks the web for broken links & sends the owner of a website a mail when it found one
Steps:
1. a script that follows every link it finds and registers when a link is broken (status 404 and only external links)
2. it inserts the data into a database (e.g. microsoft access) - the data needed would be:
2.1 the url of the page where it found the broken links
2.2 the url of the broken page (status 404)
2.3 a mail address it found on the contact page
3. in the database, it checks if a mail has been sent before - if not, it sends a 'template' e-mail containing the needed data
Please let me know 'how' you would approach this project.
Hello,
I can create such a tool using PHP (you will need either a webserver, or a computer with WAMP installed).
I will be using an sqlite database.
My problem is with 'a mail address it found on the contact page'. This can't be done properly as one needs to detect the contact page and the email address is not necessarily listed there in an easily reader format (may be an image or just a contact form).
I can't imagine why you would check for outgoing broken links instead of your own 404 errors...DO you need this for your sites only or?...