TDX Knowledge: Check for Referring Links

Before archiving a Knowledge Base article, you need to check for other articles that link to it and either remove those links or update them to avoid breaking those links.

In this article:

Checking for Referring Links on an Internal Article

If you are archiving an Internal Article, check TDX for referring links by following Checking the TDX Knowledge Base for References to an Article below.

Checking for Referring Links on a Published Article

If you archiving a Published Article, (Restricted or Unrestricted, check TDX, Technology Help, and Atlas for referring links by following each of the sections below:

Directions for Specific Websites

Checking the TDX Knowledge Base for References to an Article

You can easily generate a report of all articles (both published and internal) that contain links to the article in question. The resulting report will include the Group that owns any linked articles, which makes it easy to figure out who to notify about the pending change.

  1. Go to the Editors: Check KB Article Links report. The report opens with a Body like text box pre-populated with the text ArticleDet?ID=3095.
    Report with pre-populated Body like field. The article ID number is highlighted.
  2. Replace the pre-populated Article ID number with the page you are checking.
    1. Identify TDX articles that reference other TDX articles.
      1. Example: For the TDX article with ID 3569, the text box would say ArticleDet?ID=3569.
    2. Published Articles Only: Identify TDX articles that reference Technology Help pages. Replace the pre-populated article number with the it.umn.edu link for the article you are checking links for.
      1. Example: For the Technology Help page Training Hub: Enroll in Training, the text box would say https://it.umn.edu/services-technologies/how-tos/training-hub-enroll-in-training.
  3. Click Run Report. A list of linked articles appear if there are any.
    Example of report after it has been run.
  4. If you can edit the articles that contain links to the article being retired, then update or remove the links yourself. If you cannot edit the articles, then notify the article owners so they can make the needed edits.

Checking the Technology Help and Atlas Websites for References to an Article

You can generate a list of links to a published article on the Technology Help website using a Google LookerStudio report. Other than Knowledge Base articles, a published article may be linked to from other locations, such as:

  • Self-Help Guides (SHG) on the Technology Help Website
  • Other Technology Help website pages
  • Atlas
  1. Copy the link of the page you are searching for references to.
    1. To check for references to a Technology Help page, copy the Technology Help link. This will show you the other Technology Help and Atlas pages that reference your page.
      1. Example link: https://it.umn.edu/services-technologies/how-tos/training-hub-enroll-in-training
    2. To check for references to a TDX article, copy the TDX link. This will show you the other Technology Help and Atlas pages that reference your article.
      1. Example link: https://tdx.umn.edu/TDClient/31/Portal/KB/ArticleDet?ID=3569
    3. To check for references to an Atlas page, copy the Atlas link. This will show you the other Technology Help and Atlas pages that reference your page.
      1. Example link: https://atlas.umn.edu/technology-portfolio/technologies/training-hub
  2. Go to IT@UMN Link Report
    • Note: This table is updated approximately every 4 weeks. Search results may include references to Drupal pages where a link to the article has already been removed.
  3. In the Destination menu, enter the article link into the Enter a value search field.
    • Note: If the Source list is empty, there are no pages on the Technology Help website that link to your article.
    • Note (Optional): Click the Source column heading to sort the list if there are results.
      IT@UMN Link Report search results. The link being checked is in the Destination bar. Search results show source, anchor, and anchor link used.
  4. Keep the report open so you can copy the source link(s). Review the results to check if there are any non-KB links. KB links are the how-to pages (which contain "how-to" in their URLs) and you accounted for those in other sections of this article.
    • If the report has only KB links, no further action is required.
    • If the report has Explore page links, no action is required for those Explore page links. The Explore pages automatically pull other relevant pages.
    • If the report contains non-KB links and you do not have edit access the pages, open an OIT Digital Content and Communications operational ticket with the list of non-KB links to let them know the article is being retired.
      • If you have edit access to the pages, edit the pages as needed to remove the referring link(s). Leave appropriate Revision log message(s) and work with collaborators as appropriate.

Checking for References to an Article from Sites External to TDX, Technology Help Website, and Atlas

An article may also be linked to from other public locations, such as:

  • Other UMN pages, e.g., a college, departmental, or another system campus website
  • PDFs or non-web-based documentation
  • Non-UMN pages

You can search the web to find links to the article from external locations, but the chances of useful results are rare. Do NOT spend a lot of time and effort attempting to find links external to our it.umn.edu site. If you find any links from external sites, contact the appropriate Department, College, or unit.

If you have many URLs to check (10 or more), you can fill out a request to run a bulk link report. Fill out the OIT Digital Content and Communications Request.

Additional Resources

Last modified

TDX ID

2620