Expired invites: find and remove dead WhatsApp group links

Nothing frustrates a visitor more than tapping Join group and landing on "This invite link was reset". Group admins reset links to stop spammers, groups fill up, and some are simply deleted. In a directory of a few thousand links, dozens can stop working every week.

Why it matters

• Visitors leave. Two or three dead links in a row and they search elsewhere.
• Search engines notice. Pages that lead nowhere earn fewer clicks and lose rankings over time.
• Featured customers complain. Paid placement on a dead link is money returned.

How the Link Health Checker works

A working invite has a public preview page with the group's name. When a link is reset, that page no longer shows it. The Link Health Checker extension opens each link's preview page and sorts links into working, look expired and not checked yet. Links of types without a public preview page, such as business chats, are skipped.

While it checks, it can also refresh member counts and fill in missing pictures, so your listings stay up to date without anyone editing them.

Three ways to run it

1. By hand: press Check next batch under Admin › Link health.
2. By cron: add one hourly job — php artisan links:check --limit=50 — and forget about it.
3. At submission: switch on Refuse links that look expired or revoked so dead links never enter the directory.

What happens to a dead link

You choose. Expired links can stay listed with a clear "may be expired" notice, or be hidden from the public site automatically. Hidden links are not deleted: you find them under Admin › Link health, where you can remove them for good. When the owner shares a new invite, it is submitted as a new link.

Visitors help too

The first reason on the report form is The link is expired, revoked or full. Combined with automatic hiding after a few reports, your visitors catch dead links between checks.

A healthy directory sells itself

The admin dashboard shows the health of your directory at a glance. Keep the "look expired" number near zero and your visitors will keep coming back — and recommending you.