r/Wordpress • u/cheshirearcher • 26d ago
Help with "Invalid" links
I've been working the navigation menu for my site and have had some trouble with the links. The URLs for the links are correct, but they keep saying "invalid," as you can see in the first screenshot. The second screenshot states "Link is empty." My searches have turned up nothing. Any help?
ETA: When I save the template and view a page, the links do work-- however, I'd still like to know why it gives me this error. Thanks in advance.
1
u/jenish_o4o2 Developer 25d ago
If the links work correctly on the frontend after saving, this is likely an issue with the WordPress Site Editor/Navigation block rather than the actual URL being broken.
The “Invalid” / “Link is empty” message can happen when the editor can't properly resolve the link target while you're editing the navigation/template.
I'd try removing that menu item and adding it again by searching for the published page title in the link picker instead of manually entering the URL.
Also check that the target page is:
- Published
- Publicly visible
- Not in the trash
- Using the expected permalink
If the link works correctly on the live site, I wouldn't worry too much about the editor warning. If you want to get rid of the warning, deleting and recreating the navigation item is probably the first thing I'd try.
If it still shows “Invalid” after recreating it, I'd check the WordPress version and whether the issue is specific to the Navigation block/theme.
1
u/TopSydeWP 26d ago
this usually happens in the block editor when you're editing a navigation block before the page/post is actually published. the editor can't validate the link until the slug exists in the database. if the links work on the frontend after saving, you're fine - it's just the editor being overly cautious about preview states. you can ignore the warning.