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<html><head><title>Why does it say a URL isn’t working when it is?</title></head><body>
<b>Why does it say a URL isn’t working when it is?</b><br />
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Whenever you set up a tracking link or add a URL to a rotator, ClickMagick will check to make sure that the URL is valid and working properly.<br />
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This is to prevent you from entering URLs with typos, or URLs that just aren’t working properly due to a technical problem – both of which would waste your clicks.<br />
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Keep in mind that sometimes a link may stop working for just a minute or two. So unless you get an error code that starts with a 4 – codes 401, 403 or 404, which indicate a serious problem that’s not going to fix itself – the first thing to do is just wait a sec and try adding it again.<br />
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Obviously, you’ll also want to check the URL for typos, missing “<code>www</code>”, or any other obvious problems.<br />
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Also, please understand that just because a link works for you, it does NOT mean that it works for everyone.<br />
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Many problems result in some people being able to access a link, with lots of others who can’t.<br />
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<b>What if I want to add the URL anyway?</b><br />
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For tracking links just go into the Advanced Settings and check the box that says <b>Skip URL verification.</b> This will skip the URL check and allow you to add it.<br />
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For rotator URLs it’s the same – just check the same box on either the Add URL or Edit URL screen.<br />
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Here’s a list of the most common errors you’ll see, and a brief description of what they mean.<br />
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<b>401 Authorization Required / Unauthorized</b><br />
This URL requires authentication i.e. a username and password, so our monitoring system is unable to access it.<br />
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<b>403 Forbidden</b><br />
The server hosting the URL you’re promoting is operational but it refused our request. This could be due to a configuration error, or they could have blocked the IP address of our <strong><a href="/user/profile.cgi" target="_blank">Link Monitoring System</a></strong>.<br />
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<b>404 Not Found</b><br />
The requested URL does not exist.<br />
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<b>500 Timeout / Timed Out</b><br />
The URL took longer than 20 seconds to load (and might as well be down!)<br />
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<b>500 Bad Hostname</b><br />
Generally means the URL/domain is not configured properly, usually due to a DNS problem.<br />
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<b>500 Connection Refused</b><br />
The server refused the connection. This is usually due to some type of configuration problem.<br />
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<b>500 No Route To Host</b><br />
This is a configuration problem with the server hosting the URL you’re promoting.<br />
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<b>500 Internal Error / Server Error</b><br />
The server hosting the requested URL responded with a generic error message.
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