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Cannot Add Site

Introduction

This guide provides solutions for common errors that may arise when adding a site to AAArdvark. If these steps don’t resolve your issue, our support team is here to help.

Error messages include:

  • “The entered URL could not be reached.”
  • “example.com is not a valid URL.”
  • “Access Denied: Access to the page was denied”

URL or Site Could Not Be Reached

If you encounter the following errors:

  • ‘The entered URL could not be reached’
  • ‘Host Resolution Error’
  • ‘Connection Failed’
  • ‘SSL/TLS Connection Error’
  • ‘Empty Response’
  • ‘Connection Interrupted’
  • ‘Invalid SSL Certificate’

Then follow these troubleshooting steps:

  1. Check for typos:
    Ensure the domain name is spelled correctly, with no missing extensions.
  2. Verify server status:
    Open the URL in a browser to confirm the site is live. If it’s down, contact your hosting provider.
  3. Avoid server overload:
    Ensure your server isn’t overloaded with requests or processes that make it unresponsive.
  4. Resolve DNS issues:
    Confirm the URL points to a live, registered domain. AAArdvark cannot scan locally hosted sites.
  5. Check page availability:
    Make sure the page exists and hasn’t been moved or deleted.
  6. Check the site’s SSL certificate:
    Ensure the site has a valid SSL certificate.
Site could not be reached due to a host resolution error, and therefore could not be validated.

URL Is Not Valid

If you encounter the error ‘[your site] is not a valid URL,’ try these solutions:

  1. Check for Invalid Characters:
    Remove spaces or unsupported symbols from the URL.
  2. Ensure Proper Formatting:
    Follow the format: “https:// + domain + top-level domain (e.g., .com, .org).”
  3. Use HTTPS Protocol:
    Verify that the URL uses the HTTPS protocol for secure access.

Examples of invalid URLs:

  • https://example…com – Contains extra dots before the top-level domain.
  • https://ex amp le.com – Includes spaces, which are not allowed in URLs.
  • https://example – Missing a top-level domain (e.g., .com or .org).

Access Denied or Request Timeout

The error ‘Access Denied: Access to the page was denied’ or ‘Request Timeout: The site took too long to respond and validation could not complete’ typically occurs when your site’s security settings block bot traffic.

To resolve this, follow our guide on allowlisting AAArdvark requests.

Access Denied error, “Access to the page was denied”.

Local or Non-Public URL

AAArdvark is a cloud-based scanner, which means it can only access sites that are publicly available on the internet. If you enter a local or non-public URL, you’ll see an error message.

An error returned when adding a site with URL Not Publicly Accessible
An error returned when adding a site with URL Not Publicly Accessible

This error appears when the URL entered is a local development environment address that AAArdvark’s scanner cannot reach from the internet. Common examples include:

  • localhost URLs – for example, http://localhost:3000 or http://127.0.0.1
  • Local development domains – for example, .local, .test, or .dev domains used by tools like MAMP, DDEV, or Lando (e.g., mysite.lndo.site, mysite.ddev.site)
  • Private IP addresses – for example, http://192.168.1.10 or http://10.0.0.5
  • File paths – for example, file:///Users/yourname/mysite/index.html

To resolve this, deploy the site to a publicly accessible staging or production URL, then add it to AAArdvark from there.

Workspace Limit Reached

When the workspace limit is reached, you cannot add any more sites to your workspace. To resolve this, the workspace will need to be upgraded.

Still stuck?

File a support ticket with our five-star support team to get more help.

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