Docs: implement dead link checker for external URLs
Problem to solve
- Check for dead links in the
doc/directory of CE and EE - Follow-up from https://gitlab.slack.com/archives/C16HYA2P5/p1537391564000100
Further details
- Having our docs linking to a 404 on the about website recently caused us some backlash on HN
- 404s are bad UX anyway; we should check the docs to assure we don't have them
- Note that we have a lint checking for internal links but we lack one for external URLs
Proposal
Implement a dead link checker, preferably in a job (not allowed to fail) that runs with the entire CE/EE pipeline and with the pipeline for docs-* branches
What does success look like, and how can we measure that?
Links / references
- Asking for the same implementation for the about website: gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com#2344
- Backlash on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18027577
cc/ @gl-docsteam for follow-up
Edited by Marcia Ramos