How To Fix “The Link You Followed Has Expired” WordPress Error
How To Fix “The Link You Followed Has Expired” WordPress Error
There’s no need to panic if this error pops up- after all, you’re armed with this helpful guide 💪
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If you run a WordPress site for any length of time, it’s bound to happen at some point – you’re going to run into an error. Most often, an error will pop up after you’ve made an update or inserted a code snippet somewhere.
Sometimes this occurs after using a third-party API or adding form variables. Other times, it happens when customizing a bit of HTML. Regardless, the panic that ensues can be a tad overwhelming. Understandably so!
However, just because an error occurs isn’t a cause to panic. In fact, all it means is it’s time to put on your problem-solving hat and get down to work.
In this video, we’ll be discussing the “The Link You Followed Has Expired” WordPress error, what triggers it, and what you can do to fix it should it occur.
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🕘Timestamps
0:00 Intro
0:54 How To Fix “The Link You Followed Has Expired” WordPress Error
2:12 Values to Use
2:25 Sky-High Limits Should Be Avoided
3:29 Use functions.php
4:57 Use .htaccess
5:55 Use php.ini
7:23 Check for Plugin Conflicts
📚 Resources
🛠 How To Fix “The Link You Followed Has Expired” WordPress Error (Code blocks)
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#WordPressError
Content
0 -> Hello, I'm Maria,
1.17 -> and today I'm going to show you
2.49 -> how to fix "The link you followed has expired"
5.31 -> WordPress error.
6.473 -> (upbeat music)
12.15 -> If you run a WordPress site
13.44 -> for any length of time,
14.82 -> it's bound to happen at some point.
16.68 -> You're going to run into an error.
19.02 -> Most often, an error will pop up
21.06 -> after you've made an update
22.47 -> or inserted a code snippet somewhere.
24.75 -> Now, just because an error occurs,
26.88 -> isn't a cause to panic.
28.44 -> In fact, all it means is it's time to put on
31.38 -> on your problem solving hat and get back to work.
34.44 -> And that's what we wanna help you do today.
36.72 -> But before we get too far,
38.28 -> I wanna let you know
39.24 -> there will be links to more resources
40.77 -> in the video's description.
42.3 -> And remember, subscribe and ring that bell
44.73 -> to get notifications for future helpful content.
47.4 -> Now, let's fix "The link you followed has expired" error.
56.61 -> First, let's conduct a bit of troubleshooting
59.31 -> and information gathering.
60.93 -> Verify upload size vs. file size.
63.78 -> If you tried to upload a file
65.37 -> and were met with this error,
66.84 -> make note of the size of the file,
69.21 -> then verify what your site's
71.07 -> current maximum upload limit is.
73.2 -> Back up your WordPress site.
75.09 -> Many of the solutions offered here
76.8 -> involve editing your site's code directly.
79.23 -> To avoid potential issues,
81 -> data loss or additional errors,
83.16 -> back up your sites before attempting any fix.
85.98 -> Most of the fixes presented in this video
88.35 -> involve manually changing a few values
91.08 -> within your website's core files.
93.12 -> Upload max file size.
94.77 -> This tells your website the maximum file size
97.71 -> that it will accept for uploading.
99.33 -> Max post size.
101.01 -> This tells your website the maximum file size
103.59 -> for each blog post.
105.3 -> If this limit is too low,
107.1 -> increasing the file size won't matter.
109.41 -> Max execution time.
111.24 -> This tells your website
112.32 -> the maximum amount of time
113.76 -> it should spend attempting to upload a file.
116.37 -> If you change the upload max file size value
118.83 -> to something larger,
120.18 -> you'll need to modify max execution time too.
123.3 -> As it stands to reason,
124.62 -> larger files take longer to upload.
126.9 -> It's recommended that you set the values to the following.
129.57 -> You can set a higher file size limit
131.91 -> if you regularly upload videos
134.1 -> or super high resolution images.
136.53 -> However, keeping it under 100 megabytes is typically best.
140.61 -> It is important to note, however
142.05 -> that setting these values too high could cause problems.
145.92 -> Keeping them as low as possible
147.66 -> is thought to be the rule of thumb.
149.52 -> And you should really only
150.72 -> increase them enough to solve the issue.
152.88 -> Making a blanket adjustment
154.53 -> and allowing for super large file uploads
156.84 -> and long execution times
158.28 -> is problematic for a number of reasons,
160.41 -> including it can slow your site down considerably
163.41 -> when processing a large upload.
165.305 -> It can bog down the back end of your site
167.718 -> which is an issue if multiple people work on it at once.
172.38 -> Allowing larger files can give hackers more opportunities
175.23 -> to upload malicious code or larger malware.
178.14 -> Neither of which is good.
179.49 -> If you attempt any of the methods I described to you,
182.34 -> and your WordPress site is still throwing the same error,
185.31 -> the issue might be with your web host itself.
188.19 -> In fact, they may have locked
189.93 -> the upload values on their end.
191.79 -> In such a situation,
193.17 -> you'll need to contact your web hosting provider
195.48 -> directly about the issue.
197.31 -> In some cases,
198.6 -> this may require that you
199.77 -> upgrade your hosting plan
201.36 -> to one that allows for larger file sizes,
204.3 -> or you may even need to switch
206.49 -> to a different web host that offers more resources.
209.46 -> One of the easiest ways
210.6 -> to fix "The link you followed has expired error"
213.18 -> is to make a few quick changes
214.83 -> to your site's functions.php file.
217.62 -> Accessing this is super easy.
219.39 -> Just navigate to the theme file editor
221.67 -> that's built into your WordPress site.
224.04 -> You can get there by clicking on appearance,
226.29 -> then theme file editor.
228.36 -> When you click it,
229.32 -> you'll be taken to the theme style sheet editor first.
232.26 -> In this case, we're editing the 2022 theme.
235.74 -> You should then click on the link
237.06 -> that says Theme functions
238.47 -> on the right-hand side of the screen.
240.36 -> It's easy to edit functions.php,
242.668 -> but you will need to bear in mind
244.44 -> that your changes will be erased
246.21 -> should you update your theme at some point.
248.64 -> The same applies if you ever change your current theme.
251.61 -> That's why it's recommended to use a child theme.
254.34 -> So code changes you make
256.08 -> will be saved regardless of updates.
258.21 -> Once you've found the functions.php file,
260.76 -> you just need to copy and paste
262.47 -> a small code snippet into it
264.36 -> to adjust the appropriate values for file size,
267.3 -> post max size, and execution time.
270.03 -> Here's the code snippet.
273.03 -> And it should look like this in the code.
276.12 -> Once you're happy with your changes,
277.77 -> click update file to save your changes.
280.29 -> The error should be fixed at this time.
282.78 -> If you don't wanna mess around with a child theme,
284.97 -> you can proceed to the next option,
286.86 -> which is to edit the htaccess file for your site.
290.13 -> Regular WordPress updates will not overwrite this file,
293.55 -> which means your edits are locked in place.
296.25 -> Another way to fix this issue,
297.63 -> is to edit the htaccess file.
300.03 -> To change this one,
301.26 -> you'll need to access your site's files via ftp.
304.95 -> To start, log into your hosting provider account,
307.59 -> and access the C panel or file manager.
310.24 -> You find the htaccess file
312.33 -> located in the route folder
313.68 -> of your website's directory.
315.51 -> If you can't find it,
316.74 -> it might be currently hidden.
319.05 -> To make it visible,
320.22 -> select the public html folder,
322.35 -> then click on settings in the upper right hand corner.
325.26 -> From there, check the box next to show hidden files,
328.74 -> then click save.
330.15 -> Once you've located the file,
331.86 -> open it in your favorite text editor.
334.35 -> Then paste the following lines of code at the bottom,
337.59 -> adjusting the values as you see fit of course.
340.71 -> Save your changes,
341.73 -> then upload the edited htaccess file
344.49 -> back to your site's route directory.
346.65 -> Then test your site again
347.94 -> in the same way you did
349.05 -> when you saw the error in the first place.
351.12 -> Another way to fix the,
352.233 -> "The link you followed has expired error"
354.51 -> is to make changes to php.ini.
357.99 -> This is a good option for those
359.55 -> who don't want to deal with htaccess in any way,
362.91 -> as well as a suitable choice for Kinsta users.
365.76 -> Go ahead and access your site's route directory
368.1 -> as already described.
369.69 -> If it's present, php.ini
372.63 -> should be listed in this directory.
374.85 -> If not, you may need to create this file yourself.
378.21 -> This is commonplace for those using a shared hosting plan.
381.42 -> In some cases, the file may exist,
384.15 -> but on shared hosting plans,
386.22 -> it's not editable in any way.
388.86 -> In such cases,
390.15 -> you could attempt to create
391.44 -> a blank php.ini file yourself
394.53 -> and upload it to your site's route directory.
397.53 -> In C Panel, you can do this by clicking add file
400.53 -> on the left hand side of the top navigation bar.
403.95 -> Then you can give your new file a name.
406.26 -> Make sure it's set to be added
407.82 -> to your site's route directory.
409.89 -> Then click create new file.
412.11 -> Once you've located the file or made it yourself,
414.99 -> you simply need to download it
416.58 -> and then paste a code snippet into the file
419.1 -> with the custom values you prefer.
421.71 -> It should look something like this
423.27 -> in a simple text file.
426.84 -> Save this new file
427.98 -> and upload it back to your site's route directory.
430.8 -> It should then appear in this file list as normal.
434.07 -> Then, go back to your WordPress site
436.32 -> and try to upload a file again,
438.27 -> or complete whatever action that triggered the error
440.94 -> to confirm it's now fixed.
442.83 -> Now, if you're seeing this error
444.84 -> when not uploading files,
446.73 -> it's likely due to a plug-in conflict of some sort.
450.03 -> Perhaps you just updated
451.41 -> a handful of plug-ins and this error appeared.
454.29 -> It's frustrating to be sure, but totally fixable.
457.32 -> The quickest way to remedy this problem,
459.18 -> is to disable all plugins one by one,
461.88 -> and check to see if the error keeps occurring.
464.67 -> If the error goes away after disabling a plugin,
467.4 -> it's likely it was caused
469.41 -> by the plugin you just disabled,
471.54 -> or it may be the result of two plugins
474.39 -> conflicting with each other.
475.56 -> It's sometimes good to follow a checklist
477.63 -> for diagnosing plugin conflicts and issues in this way.
480.9 -> So if you turned off plugins A, B, C, and D,
484.59 -> and the error disappeared after turning off plugin D,
487.83 -> you'd then need to turn off E and turn back on C.
492.12 -> To see if the issue reappears,
494.25 -> you'd need to go back through
495.99 -> each of the plugins you turned off
497.91 -> to see if there's an interaction between them.
500.19 -> Or you may find that it's just
502.41 -> one plugin that's to blame.
503.94 -> In such a case,
504.99 -> simply disable the plugin in question,
507.18 -> roll back the update that caused the issue,
509.43 -> and reactivate it to see
510.81 -> if the problem error returns or not.
513.24 -> It might just be
514.11 -> that the updated plugin
515.25 -> hadn't been thoroughly tested
516.57 -> by the WordPress community yet.
518.37 -> In a future bug fix,
519.66 -> we'll repair this problem.
522.57 -> Kinsta's WordPress hosting
523.83 -> can speed up your website by up to 200%.
526.74 -> And you'll get 24-7 support
528.169 -> from our expert WordPress engineers.
530.88 -> We offer two months free with any annual plan,
534.09 -> a 30 day money back guarantee,
536.25 -> and unlimited free basic migrations from any host.
539.88 -> Head over to kinsta.com/plans to get started.
543.15 -> Thank you so much for watching.
544.89 -> If you found this video helpful,
546.36 -> please don't forget to like, subscribe,
548.67 -> and hit the notification bell
549.84 -> for more tutorials, explainers,
551.85 -> and helpful content like this.
553.258 -> (upbeat music)
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkC3XWobl9g