SALTED: A Smart Link Checker for Superior Performance and Accuracy
Broken hyperlinks can be detrimental to user experience and negatively impact your website’s SEO. To tackle this problem head-on, we introduce SALTED – the smart, asynchronous link checker with a database backend. SALTED is designed to check the validity of external links in HTML, Markdown, and TeX files, ensuring your website has impeccable link integrity. What sets SALTED apart from other link checkers are its key advantages, including its smart caching mechanism, lightning-fast performance, and versatility in usage.
Smart Caching for Efficient Checks
SALTED utilizes a configurable cache that improves the efficiency of link checking. If SALTED detects broken links during a check and you fix them within the cache’s lifetime (default: 24 hours), subsequent runs will only check the changed links. This smart caching mechanism not only saves time but also optimizes resource utilization.
Lightning-Fast Performance with Asynchronous Workers
Unlike many other link checkers that work in a linear fashion, SALTED leverages the power of asynchronous worker threads that run in parallel. This approach significantly speeds up the link checking process, allowing SALTED to check dozens of links per second, depending on your internet connection. By freeing up resources while waiting for server responses, SALTED ensures optimal performance without compromising accuracy.
Versatility in Usage
SALTED can be used as a stand-alone tool or seamlessly integrated into a continuous integration (CI) pipeline. The results of the link check can be outputted to the command line or written to a file, offering flexibility in how you access and utilize the information. SALTED also provides the option to raise an exception for broken links, allowing for automated error handling. Whether you prefer using SALTED as a library or a command line script, it offers unparalleled convenience and adaptability.
Compatibility with Various File Formats
SALTED supports a range of file formats, making it suitable for diverse web development projects. HTML files with standard hyperlinks or anchors can be easily checked. Markdown files, including both the pandoc version and GitHub flavored markdown, are fully supported. Additionally, SALTED recognizes links in TeX files using the \url{url} and \href{url}{text} formats. While SALTED currently does not check relative links, it excels at validating external links in these popular file formats.
Installation Made Easy
Getting started with SALTED is a breeze. Simply ensure you have Python 3.8 or newer installed, as SALTED relies on features introduced in Python 3.8. You can verify your Python version by running the command python3 -v or python -v. Once you have the correct Python version, installing SALTED is as easy as running the command sudo pip3 install salted. This command installs the SALTED library and registers it as a command line script, enabling you to use SALTED directly from your terminal.
SALTED as a Python Library
If you prefer to use SALTED as a Python library within your code, it’s as simple as importing the necessary modules and initializing the SALTED object. You can then set specific parameters and call the check() function to start the link checking process. SALTED provides various parameters for customization, allowing you to tailor the link checking process to your specific requirements. Whether you use SALTED as a command line script or a Python library, rest assured that SALTED will deliver exceptional performance and accuracy.
Style the Output and Write to File
One of SALTED’s standout features is the ability to style the output and customize the result format. SALTED provides built-in templates for command line output (default.cli.jinja) and markdown output (default.md.jinja), making it easy to choose the desired formatting option. Additionally, you can use your own custom templates by specifying the template search path and template name. SALTED also allows you to write the result to a file, giving you the flexibility to analyze and share the link check results as needed.
Conclusion
SALTED is a game-changer in the realm of link checking, offering a combination of smart features, lightning-fast performance, and versatile usage options. With SALTED, you can effortlessly ensure the integrity of external links in your HTML, Markdown, or TeX files. Whether you’re a web developer, SEO specialist, or content creator, SALTED is an invaluable tool for maintaining impeccable link quality and optimizing user experience. Install SALTED today and take control of your website’s hyperlinks.
Source: Github – RuedigerVoigt/salted
Category: Web Development
Tags: link checker, broken hyperlinks, SEO, user experience, performance, command line script, Python library, file formats, stand-alone, CI pipeline
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