[wp-meta] [Making WordPress.org] #5381: Prevent broken internal links in plugin readme content

[Making WordPress.org]

#5381: Prevent broken internal links in plugin readme content
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 Reporter:  jonoaldersonwp    |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect            |     Status:  new
 Priority:  low               |  Milestone:
Component:  Plugin Directory  |   Keywords:  seo
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 Plugin authors occasionally include broken/malformed links to
 wordpress.org URLs in their readme content.

 This harms our UX and SEO.

 We can (partially) prevent this by checking for the presence of broken
 'internal' links when a plugin is updated.

 Specifically, on plugin update we should:
 - Make a request to each link in the text which has a hostname matching
 wordpress.org or a wordpress.org subdomain.
 - If it returns a 404, transform the `<a>` to a `<s>` (maintaining tag
 attributes and content).
 - Notify the plugin author (details/mechanism TBD).

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Ticket URL: <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/5381>
Making WordPress.org <https://meta.trac.wordpress.org/>
Making WordPress.org