Hi @magicpowers
I’m really sorry that we caused so much frustration and trouble to you. I sincerely apologize for all the confusion and misunderstanding.
The word “check” means (among other meanings) to “a) to inspect, examine, or look at appraisingly or appreciateively […] b) to compare with a source, original or authority […] c) to look at (something) to obtain information […] d) to look or reach into (something) to find what is there […]” according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.
The same dictionary define “monitor” (verb) as “to watch, keep track of, or check usually for a special purpose”.
So yes, “to monitor” can also be “to check” but not necessarily. Basically, “to check” is a “one time act”, repeated or not, while “to monitor” is a continuous activity. Also, “to check” as in “d) to look or reach into (something) to find what is there” is precisely what “Check each link” option does.
I’m sorry if I said something that’s obvious for you and please accept my apology if it sounds too blunt. It is not my intention. Not being a native English speaker I just find it easier to continue with explanation of these options with these definitions at hand – that’s my only reason for quoting them here.
Getting back to these options then.
1) “Link monitor”
This is the “engine”. It’s the function that scans site for links and that also checks if these links (URLs) are valid. If it detects a new link on site it checks it and saves to the database along with result of the test (or “check”) that it conducted.
It is also “cycling” through all those links that are were already added to the database and checks them (tests their validity) from time to time. This is where the “Check each link” option comes to play but I’ll get back to it in a moment.
To sum it up – the “Link monitor” is the heart of the plugin that keeps watching the site for new links and keeps checking status/validity of already detected links.
It can be:
a) switched off – when both “Run continuously while…” and “Run hourly in the backgroun d” options are disabled
b) it can run only when the dashboard of the site open in browser – when “Run continuously while the Dashboard is open” option is enabled; note: if dashboard is not kept open in browser, Link monitor will not run which is pretty much the same as plugin being temporarily disabled
c) it can also run automatically, in background, every hour – when “Run hourly in background” option is enabled; in such case it will be executed automatically each hour based on cron regardless whether the dashboard is kept open or not.
Now, when Link Monitor is run it scans the site for new links (and validates them right away then saves them to the database) and it also reads the list of links (that were already detected) from the database and checks them.
2) “Check each link every X hours”
This option applies to that part of the action when Link Monitor “reads the list of links from the database and checks them”. Each link has “timestamp” of “last check”. When link monitor goes through that list it looks at that timestamp (date/time) and compares it against the “Check each link every…” setting:
– let’s say it’s set to “every 3 hours”.
– link monitor is set to run hourly in background
– Link A was saved (and validated for the first time) to the database at 10am
– Link B was saved (and validated for the first time) to the database at 8am
– it’s 8.10am currently
– link monitor is fired next time at 9am – Link A and Link B are not checked again, their status will be the same as it was initially
– link monitor is fired again at 10am – Link A and Link B are not checked again, their status will be the same as it was initially
– link monitor is fired again at 11am – Link A is not checked again and maintains its status; Link B is checked again and its status (broken or not and related information) is updated if it has changed
– link monitor is fired again at noon – Links A and B are not checked again and they keep their status
– link monitor is fired again at 1pm – Link B is not checked (it will be checked at 2pm) but Link A is checked again to validate its status.
This process isn’t as “precise” as the description above suggests but it is essentially how it works in general. I hope this sheds some light on that but if not, I’m sorry for causing another confusion.
Once again, I apologize if this all sounds a bit “blunt” – that was never my intention but I just found it easier to explain the way these settings work this way, especially that we didn’t really ever come across any that specific/detailed doubts or questions about what these options mean (I can’t say for the past when it wasn’t our plugin but certainly not ever since we adopted it) so that’s why we kind of assumed that they are pretty self-explanatory.
As for Amazon links. I don’t really have much to add to what my colleagues wrote earlier. The reason why they fail to validate is because Amazon detects that the check was “automatic” or “robotic”, so to say, and simply doesn’t allow such connection. It’s quite possible that it wasn’t happening in the past but it seems they just weren’t that “strict” on their content access policy.
You are right, however, that it’s not a “new” or “unknown” issue. As mentioned previously, we already have Amazon integration on a features list for the plugin and it will come in future but I don’t have an ETA on it.
Kind regards,
Adam
