Monday, January 23, 2017

88 Errors on the Trump White House Website



On Friday, January 21, 2017, I heard the news that our new President’s administration had significantly changed whitehouse.gov website.  I knew that while the President was being sworn in, people were busy at the actual White House, moving out Obama and moving in Trump.  After thinking about it, it made sense that during the transition, the new President had a staff that was preparing all-sorts of things, including updated website content.  So, I took a tour of the website.  What I did not expect to find were so many errors.  Not factual errors, but overlooked content and coding errors. 

I wandered around and look at various pages.  I saw the section on history and clicked one of my favorite Presidents, Harry Truman.  I scrolled down to the “Did you know?”  And, read “Today the Obama Administration continues to strive toward upholding the civil rights of its citizens, repealing Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”   I am certain that had the person or team working on the website seen this sentence they would have scrubbed it.  I presume since they phrase “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” is hyperlinked and that link dead.  If you click on that link you would find this page deleted: https://c/Documents%20and%20Settings/zhang_j3/Desktop/%E2%80%A2%09http:/www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/12/22/repealing-dadt-history-making

I only looked at the presidential history section of the website and hear is a listing of the obvious errors (42 and 43 are my favorites):

1.      Truman page link to “DADT.”
2.      Martha Washington link back to George “404 page not found”
(All of the mistakes from First Lady back to her husband are as a result of a similar mistake.  The code from the president is 1600/presidents/georgewashington and back link /about/presidents/georgewashington)
3.      Abigail Adams link back to John “404 page not found”
4.      Martha Jefferson to Thomas “404 page not found”
5.      Dolly Madison to James “404 page not found”
6.      Elizabeth Monroe to James “404 page not found”
7.      Louisa Adams to John “404 page not found”
8.      Rachael Jackson to Andrew “404 page not found”
9.      When you are on Andrew Jackson (President No. 7), if you click on next president you get Andrew Johnson (No. 17).  This is a coding/design error resulting from the original list likely being alphabetical and someone not taking care when translating to historical precedence.
10.  Hannah Van Buren to Martin “404 page not found”
11.  Anna Harrison to William “404 page not found”
12.  Letitia Tyler to John “404 page not found”
13.  Julia Tyler to John “404 page not found”
14.  Sarah Polk to James “404 page not found”
15.  Margaret Taylor to Zachary “404 page not found”
16.  Abigail Filmore to Millard “404 page not found”
17.  Jane Pierce to Franklin “404 page not found”
18.  Franklin Pierce no link to the next president.
19.  James Buchanan’s link to his niece who served as First Lady is “404 page not found.”  The link is to about/first-ladies/harrietlane and should be 1600/first-ladies/harrietlane
20.  Mary Lincoln to Abraham “404 page not found”
21.  Eliza John to Andrew “404 page not found”
22.  Julia Grant to Ulysses “404 page not found”
23.  Lucy Hayes to Rutherford “404 page not found”
24.  Hayes (No. 19) “Next President” link is to Tyler (No. 10)
25.  Lucretia Garfield to James “404 page not found”
26.  Chester Arthur no link to “Next President”
27.  Ellen Arthur to Chester “404 page not found”
28.  Grover Cleveland to Frances “404 page not found”
29.  Caroline Harrison to Benjamin “404 page not found”
30.  Cleveland was our only President to serve two non-consecutive terms.  He is listed as No. 22 and 24.  So, his first listing has a bad link to his spouse.  On his second listing the link to his spouse is good, but the link from his spouse back to him is “404 page not found”
31.  Ida McKinley to William “404 page not found”
32.  Edith Roosevelt to Theodore “404 page not found”
33.  Helen Taft to William “404 page not found”
34.  Ellen Wilson to Woodrow “404 page not found”
35.  Edith Wilson to Woodrow “404 page not found”
36.  Florence Harding to Warren “404 page not found”
37.  Grace Coolidge to Calvin “404 page not found”
38.  The “Did you know” section of Calvin Coolidge says “President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc..  Since they were scrubbing everything from Obama, they should have caught this also.
39.  Lou Hoover to Herbert “404 page not found”
40.  Herbert Hoover “Did you Know” says “President Obama is committed to making sure that the VA, the second-largest cabinet department, serves the needs of all veterans.”  This probably should have been scrubbed.
41.  On Hoover page, the phrase “serves the needs of all veterans” is “404 page not found”
42.  On Herbert Hoover page Michelle Obama is hyperlink to a page on Melania Trump.  (My favorite error)
43.  On Herbert Hoover page Jill Biden is linked to Karen Pence (My “second” favorite error)
44.  On Herbert Hoover page, the phrase “joining forces” is linked to an Obama archive page (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/joiningforces)
45.  Anna Roosevelt to Franklin “404 page not found”
46.  On the Franklin Roosevelt page in the Did you Know section, is says “On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today the Obama Administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security will be there for future generations.”  This should have been scrubbed.
47.   On the Franklin Roosevelt page in the “Did you know” section, the phrase “protect seniors and ensure Social Security is hyperlinked to “404 page not found”
48.  On the Franklin Roosevelt page in the Did you Know section, the phrase “future generations is hyperlinked to an Obama archive page: (https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2011/03/07/social-security-101-it-s-there-you)
49.  Elizabeth Truman to Harry “404 page not found”
50.  Mamie Eisenhower to Dwight “404 page not found”
51.  The link to the Dwight Eisenhower Library and Museum is a bad link.
52.  Jacqueline Kennedy to John “404 page not found”
53.  Kennedy “Did you know?” section should have been scrubbed. 
54.  Kennedy “Did you know?” section Peace Corps link is an Obama archive.
55.  Kennedy “Did you know?” section President Proclamation link is an Obama archive.
56.  Claudia Johnson link to Lyndon “404 page not found”
57.  Lyndon Johnson “Did you know?” section should have been scrubbed.
58.  The Lyndon Johnson “Did you know? section links to Obama Care!
59.  Patricia Nixon to Richard “404 page not found”
60.  The Richard Nixon “Did you know?” section should have been scrubbed.
61.  In the Richard Nixon “Did you know?” section the link to President Carter is “404 page not found”
62.  In the Richard Nixon “Did you know?” section the link to Obama’s goals is an archived page.
63.  Elizabeth Ford to Gerald is “404 page not found”
64.  Rosalyn Carter to Jimmy is “404 page not found”
65.  The Jimmy Carter “Did you know?” section should have been scrubbed.
66.  In the Carter “Did you know?” section the link to “innovation and energy” is “404 page not found”
67.  In the Carter “Did you know?” section the link to “above all” is an Obama archive.
68.  On the Reagan page the link to Nancy is “404 page not found”
69.  The Reagan “Did you know?” section should have been scrubbed.
70.  In the Reagan “Did you know?” section the link to the MLK holiday is an Obama archive.
71.  In the Reagan “Did you know?” section the link to “honor this tradition” is “404 page not found”
72.  In the Reagan “Did you know?” section the link to “participating in service” is an Obama Archive.
73.  In the Reagan “Did you know?” section the link to “buffet rule” is “404 page not found”
74.  On the George H.W. Bush page the link to the George Bush Library and Museum is a bad link.
75.  Barbara Bush to George HW is “404 page not found”
76.  The George H.W. Bush “Did you know?” section should have been scrubbed.
77.  In the George H.W. Bush “Did you know? section the phrase “Champions of Change” is “404 page not found”
78.  In the George H.W. Bush “Did you know? section the phrase “fostering civic participation” is “404 page not found”
79.  Hillary Clinton to William is “404 page not found”
80.  The William Clinton “Did you know?” section should have been scrubbed.
81.  In the William Clinton “Did you know? section the phrase “do-gooder in chief” is “404 page not found”
82.  In the William Clinton “Did you know? section the phrase “announcing a 4$ Billion” is an Obama archive.
83.  In the William Clinton “Did you know? section the phrase 43rd President Bush” is “404 page not found”
84.  On George W. Bush’s page, the link in the middle of the article to his father is ““404 page not found”
85.  Laura Bush to George is “404 page not found”
86.  The George W. Bush “Did you know?” section should have been scrubbed.
87.  In the George W. Bush “Did you know” section the phrase ‘enhanced live stream” is “404 page not found”
88.  In the George W. Bush “Did you know” section the link to Clinton is “404 page not found”

I hope the President’s staff gets better with “attention to detail” before they go about “repealing and replacing.”


Raymond E. Foster


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