Title: unable to detect broken links inside embedded shortcodes
Last modified: October 29, 2025

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# unable to detect broken links inside embedded shortcodes

 *  Resolved [MrPhunin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mrphunin/)
 * (@mrphunin)
 * [5 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unable-to-detect-broken-links-inside-embedded-shortcodes/)
 * Hi there,
 * I’m really happy with how the **Broken Link Notifier** plugin works — it detects
   normal broken links beautifully!
 * However, I’ve noticed that it doesn’t seem to detect broken links inside embedded
   shortcodes.
   For example, this broken embedded link goes unnoticed:
 * `[evp_embed_video url="https://storage.googleapis.com/gtv-videos-bucket/sample/
   BigBuckError.mp4"]`
 * It looks like the plugin doesn’t currently scan URLs that are part of shortcode
   attributes (like inside `[evp_embed_video]`). _Easy Video Player plugin_
 * Would it be possible to add support for checking URLs inside shortcodes as well?
   
   That would make the plugin even more complete and super helpful for people embedding
   videos or other media.
 * Thanks a lot for your great work on this tool![

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

 *  Plugin Support [Aristocles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aristocles/)
 * (@aristocles)
 * [5 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unable-to-detect-broken-links-inside-embedded-shortcodes/#post-18699918)
 * Hi again, [@mrphunin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mrphunin/)! 🙂
 * The plugin scans pages via JavaScript and AJAX after the page loads and the shortcodes
   are rendered, so it would not be able to see links inside shortcode parameters.
   The only way I can think as a general workaround would be to add the URL to a
   hidden element underneath the shortcode. For example: `<a href="https://yoururl.
   com" style="display: none;">Name of Link for Reference</a>`. The plugin still
   finds broken hidden links. Not sure if that helps.
   I thought about adding support
   for it in the multi-scan; however, it’s more important to scan the rendered shortcodes,
   and it’s performance-heavy to scan the page twice (pre-rendered and then post-
   rendered), so I nixed the idea.If you share a link with me to a page that has
   the video shortcode, or share the rendered code output with me, I can look at
   it and see if I can add support for the video embed, though. I’ve done that with
   a couple of video viewers. Let me know. If you’re sharing a private link, you
   can jump on Discord ([https://discord.gg/3HnzNEJVnR](https://discord.gg/3HnzNEJVnR))
   or email me (support@pluginrx.com).Ari
 *  Thread Starter [MrPhunin](https://wordpress.org/support/users/mrphunin/)
 * (@mrphunin)
 * [5 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unable-to-detect-broken-links-inside-embedded-shortcodes/#post-18700014)
 * Hi Ari,
 * Thank you so much for the detailed explanation, that makes perfect sense regarding
   how the plugin handles JavaScript and shortcode rendering. I really appreciate
   you taking the time to clarify that.
 * Interestingly, I tried three different external scanners, and two of them — **
   Dead Link Checker** and **Dr Link Check** — were actually able to detect the 
   broken embedded `.mp4` links on my site. That helped me confirm which ones needed
   fixing, and those same links were also highlighted in the _plugin’s **Multi-Scan**
   section._
 * Thanks buddy!, again for your help and for offering to look into shortcode support—
   that’s very kind of you!
 *  Plugin Support [Aristocles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aristocles/)
 * (@aristocles)
 * [5 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unable-to-detect-broken-links-inside-embedded-shortcodes/#post-18700216)
 * Oh good. For sure. Let me know if you need anything else. 🙂

Viewing 3 replies - 1 through 3 (of 3 total)

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 * ![](https://ps.w.org/broken-link-notifier/assets/icon-256x256.png?rev=3067171)
 * [Broken Link Notifier](https://wordpress.org/plugins/broken-link-notifier/)
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## Tags

 * [broken link](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/broken-link/)

 * 3 replies
 * 2 participants
 * Last reply from: [Aristocles](https://wordpress.org/support/users/aristocles/)
 * Last activity: [5 months, 3 weeks ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/unable-to-detect-broken-links-inside-embedded-shortcodes/#post-18700216)
 * Status: resolved