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

Step 1
Use spreadsheet

Step 2
Find broken link

Step 3
Copy the broken link and go to: https://archive.org// This website has what is called a Wayback Machine. The Wayback Machine has a history of what a URL used to contain.

Step 4
In the Wayback machine URL field, delete the http:// and paste your link in. Then press the “Browse History” button



Step 5
You will now see a calendar that lists when the webpage was archived. Choose a date that has a blue circle around it to see what the page looked like. It is suggested to try a day in the previous year. If the page shows up as a broken link, then try a date 6 months earlier until you see a web page.

[[Image:Wayback1.png|center|450x400px]] Step 6
If the Wayback machine does NOT have an original version of the page, try CachedPages.com to see if it contains a copy. Go to: http://www.cachedpages.com/

Delete the http:// in the Enter URL field and paste the broken URL.



Step 7
Once you find the old webpage, go to Google and searching for the new URL. Try taking the beginning portion of the URL to locate a possible page. Also try googling some key words on the old page along with the first part of the URL. For the broken link: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/marriage.html from the way back machine You see the words: the name of the website: Illinois State Archives and the database it’s linking to: Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763-1900 Type in google: Illinois state archives statewide marriage index 1763-1900 Try out each of the URLS until you find a good match. For this example, the correct match is: http://www.ilsos.gov/isavital/marriagesrch.jsp

Step 8
With the correct new URL, Replace the new URL replacing the broken URL.

Step 9
Record on your spreadsheet the new URL and the day it was fixed.