[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #36638: Detect broken URLs in the editor

[WordPress Trac]

#36638: Detect broken URLs in the editor
--------------------------------------------+-----------------------
 Reporter:  iseulde                         |       Owner:  azaozz
     Type:  task (blessed)                  |      Status:  assigned
 Priority:  normal                          |   Milestone:  4.6
Component:  Editor                          |     Version:
 Severity:  normal                          |  Resolution:
 Keywords:  needs-unit-tests needs-testing  |     Focuses:  ui
--------------------------------------------+-----------------------
Changes (by azaozz):

 * keywords:  needs-unit-tests needs-testing needs-patch => needs-unit-tests
     needs-testing


Comment:

 I'm having some "second thoughts" about this.
 1. We return an error only when we are sure the URL is wrong: either the
 domain name cannot be resolved or it returns 404. This leaves several
 other common cases out, for example:
  - server is unreachable
  - bad request (400)
  - authentication error (401, 403)
  - Internal Server Error and the rest of the 5xx codes, etc.\\
  Even if we add some of there, there is no good way to account for all
 (some may be temporary, etc.).
 2. Many web servers block the `WordPress` user agent for different
 reasons. We probably could use something else in the UA, but... Doesn't
 sound right.

 In these terms we will miss a lot of broken URLs. This makes it an
 unreliable check. Furthermore immediately after inserting a link the URL
 is visible in the inline link toolbar. If in doubt the user can test it
 very easy by clicking on it.

 Perhaps it will be better to just do a quick regex test for malformed
 URLs.

--
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/36638#comment:28>
WordPress Trac <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/>
WordPress publishing platform