Robust Links - Links that Refuse to Die

Last updated: July 10, 2015


Without Robust Links

With Robust Links
This is a link: https://s115a.com/ This is a link with added Robust Link: https://ukti.blog.gov.uk/
   
😀 This link leads to content as it is when you click. 😀 This link leads to content as it is when you click.
   
😱 When this link dies, you see nothing but a 404 Not Found. 😀 When this link dies, the Robust Link remains operational.
   
😞 And what was the linked content when the page was created? 😀 The Robust Link yields content as it was around page creation.
   


Are you an author of web pages and you don't want your links to die? Here is a really easy way to achieve just that: The result? Each link, except the ones excluded through modification of the JavaScript, will be augmented with the ability to see the linked resource as it was around creation time of the page. This is achieved by resolving links using the Memento Time Travel infrastructure that aggregates web archives, worldwide. At any time, even when a link breaks, the Robust Link will lead to archived content.

Even better link robustness can be achieved if you are willing to put in some additional work. Interested? Read the Motivation for Robust Links and the Link Decoration document.