Nothing frustrates a visitor more than tapping Open channel and landing on "Sorry, this username doesn't exist" or an invite that no longer works. Owners revoke invite links to stop spammers, rename their channels, or delete them. In a directory of a few thousand links, dozens can stop working every week.
Why it matters
- Visitors leave. Two or three dead links in a row and they search elsewhere.
- Search engines notice. Pages that lead nowhere earn fewer clicks and lose rankings over time.
- Featured customers complain. Paid placement on a dead link is money returned.
How the Link Health Checker works
A working Telegram link has a public t.me page with the chat's name. When a username is given up or an invite is revoked, that page no longer shows it. The Link Health Checker extension opens each link's page and sorts links into working, look expired and not checked yet. Types without a readable page, such as sticker packs and chat folders, are skipped.
While it checks, it can also refresh member and subscriber counts and fill in missing pictures, so your listings stay up to date without anyone editing them.
Three ways to run it
- By hand: press Check next batch under Admin › Link health.
- By cron: add one hourly job —
php artisan links:check --limit=50— and forget about it. - At submission: switch on Refuse links that look expired or revoked so dead links never enter the directory.
What happens to a dead link
You choose. Dead links can stay listed with a clear "may be expired" notice, or be hidden from the public site automatically. Hidden links are not deleted: you find them under Admin › Link health, where you can remove them for good. If a later check finds the link working again, it comes back by itself.
Visitors help too
The first reason on the report form is The link is expired, revoked or deleted. Combined with automatic hiding after a few reports, your visitors catch dead links between checks.
A healthy directory sells itself
The admin dashboard shows the health of your directory at a glance. Keep the "look expired" number near zero and your visitors will keep coming back — and recommending you.
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