Wikipedia:External links

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This page documents an English Wikipedia style guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts: WP:EL WP:LINKS WP:FANSITE

This page in a nutshell: External links to an article can be helpful to the reader, but they should be kept minimal, meritable, and directly relevant to the article.

Wikipedia articles may include links to web pages outside Wikipedia, but must conform to certain formatting restrictions. Such pages could contain further research that is accurate and on-topic; information that could not be added to the article for reasons such as copyright or amount of detail; or other meaningful, relevant content that is not suitable for inclusion in an article for reasons unrelated to its accuracy.

Some external links are welcome (see "What should be linked", below), but Wikipedia's purpose is not to include a comprehensive list of external links related to each topic. No page should be linked from a Wikipedia article unless its inclusion is justifiable.

The subject of this guideline is external links that are not citations of article sources. If the website or page to which you want to link includes information that is not yet a part of the article, consider using it as a source for the article, and citing it. Guidelines for sourcing, which includes external links used as citations, are discussed at Wikipedia:Reliable sources and Wikipedia:Citing sources.

[edit] Important points to remember

1. This guideline does not apply to inline citations, which appear in the "References" or "Notes" section.
2. External links should not normally be used in the body of an article. Instead, include appropriate external links in an "External links" section at the end and/or in the appropriate location within an infobox or navbox.
3. Links in the "External links" section should be kept to a minimum. A lack of external links, or a small number of external links is not a reason to add external links.
4. In the "External links" section, try to avoid separate links to multiple pages in the same website; instead, try to find an appropriate linking page within the site.
5. This guideline does not apply to links to non-English Wikipedia articles; they are added after External links according to Wikipedia:Layout.

[edit] Restrictions on linking

For policy or technical reasons, editors are restricted from linking to the following, without exception:

1. Material that violates the copyrights of others per contributors' rights and obligations should not be linked. Linking to websites that display copyrighted works is acceptable as long as the website has licensed the work. Knowingly directing others to material that violates copyright may be considered contributory infringement. If you know that an external Web site is carrying a work in violation of the creator's copyright, do not link to that copy of the work. Linking to a page that illegally distributes someone else's work sheds a bad light on Wikipedia and its editors. This is particularly relevant when linking to sites such as YouTube, where due care should be taken to avoid linking to material that violates its creator's copyright.
2. Sites that match the Wikipedia-specific or multi-site spam blacklist without being whitelisted. MediaWiki's code will automatically block any edits that contain such links.

[edit] What to link

There are several things that should be considered when adding an external link.

• Is the site content accessible to the reader?
• Is the site content proper in the context of the article (useful, tasteful, informative, factual, etc.)?
• Is the link functional and likely to remain functional?

Each link should be considered on its merits, using the following guidelines. As the number of external links in an article grows longer, assessment should become stricter. When in doubt about the appropriateness of adding new links, make a suggestion on the article's talkpage and discuss with other editors.

[edit] What should be linked

1. Wikipedia articles about any organization, person, web site, or other entity should link to the subject's official site, if any.
2. An article about a book, a musical score, or some other media should link to a site hosting a copy of the work if none of the "Links normally to be avoided" criteria apply.
3. Sites that contain neutral and accurate material that cannot be integrated into the Wikipedia article due to copyright issues, amount of detail (such as professional athlete statistics, movie or television credits, interview transcripts, or online textbooks) or other reasons.

[edit] Links to be considered

1. For albums, movies, books, and other creative works, links to professional reviews.
2. Very large pages should be considered on a case-by-case basis. Worldwide, many use Wikipedia with a low-speed connection. Unusually large pages should be annotated as such.
3. A well-chosen link to a directory of websites or organizations. Long lists of links are not acceptable. A directory link may be a permanent link or a temporary measure put in place while external links are being discussed on the article's talk page. The Open Directory Project is often a neutral candidate, and may be added using the [Template: dmoz] template.
4. Sites which fail to meet criteria for reliable sources yet still contain information about the subject of the article from knowledgeable sources.

[edit] Links normally to be avoided

Except for a link to an official page of the article's subject—and not prohibited by restrictions on linking—one should avoid:

1. Any site that does not provide a unique resource beyond what the article would contain if it became a Featured article.
2. Any site that misleads the reader by use of factually inaccurate material or unverifiable research, except to a limited extent in articles about the viewpoints which such sites are presenting.
3. Any site that attempts to surreptitiously install malware onto a visitor's computer.
4. Links mainly intended to promote a website. See External link spamming.
5. Links to web pages that primarily exist to sell products or services, or to web pages with objectionable amounts of advertising. For example, in the mobile phone article, don't link to web pages that mostly promote or advertise cell-phone products or services.
6. Links to sites that require payment or registration to view the relevant content, unless the site itself is the subject of the article, or the link is a convenience link to a citation.^[1] See below.
7. Sites that are inaccessible to a substantial number of users, such as sites that only work with a specific browser or in a specific country.
8. Direct links to documents that require external applications (such as Flash or Java) to view the relevant content, unless the article is about such rich media. If you do link to such material make a note of what application is required.
9. Links to any search results pages, such as links to individual website searches, search engines, search aggregators, or RSS feeds.
10. Links to social networking sites (such as MySpace and Facebook),^[2] chat or discussion forums/groups (such as Yahoo! Groups), Twitter feeds, USENET newsgroups or e-mail lists.
11. Links to blogs, personal web pages and most fansites, except those written by a recognized authority (this exception is meant to be very limited; as a minimum standard, recognized authorities always meet Wikipedia's notability criteria for biographies).
12. Links to open wikis, except those with a substantial history of stability and a substantial number of editors.
13. Sites that are only indirectly related to the article's subject: the link should be directly related to the subject of the article. A general site that has information about a variety of subjects should usually not be linked to from an article on a more specific subject. Similarly, a website on a specific subject should usually not be linked from an article about a general subject. If a section of a general website is devoted to the subject of the article, and meets the other criteria for linking, then that part of the site could be deep-linked.
14. Lists of links to manufacturers, suppliers or customers.
15. Links to sites already linked through Wikipedia sourcing tools. For example, instead of linking to a commercial bookstore site, consider the "ISBN" linking format, which gives readers an opportunity to search a wide variety of free and non-free book sources. Wikipedia:Map sources can be linked by using geographical coordinates.
16. Links that are not reliably functional, or likely to continue being functional. For example, links to temporary internet content, where the link is unlikely to remain operable for a useful amount of time.
17. Affiliate, tracking or referral links i.e. links that contain information about who is to be credited for readers that follow the link. If the source itself is helpful use a neutral link without the tracking information.
18. Placing external links on Wikipedia navigation pages such as disambiguation, redirect and category.

[edit] Advertising and conflicts of interest

It is true that a link from Wikipedia to an external site may drive Web traffic to that site. But in line with Wikipedia policies, you should avoid linking to a site that you own, maintain, or represent—even if WP guidelines seem to imply that it may otherwise be linked. When in doubt, you may go to the talk page and let another editor decide. This suggestion is in line with WP's conflict-of-interest guidelines.

A few parties now appear to have a spambot capable of spamming wikis from several different wiki engines, analogous to the submitter scripts for guestbooks and blogs. If you see a bot inserting external links, please consider checking the other language wikis to see if the attack is widespread. If it is, please report it on Meta; they can put in a Wikimedia-wide text filter. Sysops will block unauthorized bots on sight.

[edit] In biographies of living people

In biographies of living people, material available solely in questionable sources or sources of dubious value should be handled with caution, and, if derogatory, should not be used at all, either as sources or via external links. External links in biographies of living persons must be of high quality and are judged by a higher standard than for other articles. Do not link to websites that contradict the spirit of WP:BLP or that are not fully compliant with this guideline.

[edit] Sites requiring registration

Sites that require registration or a paid subscription should be avoided because they are of limited use to most readers. Many online newspapers require registration to access some or all of their content, while some require a subscription. Online magazines frequently require subscriptions to access their sites or for premium content. If old newspaper and magazines articles are archived, there is usually a fee for accessing them.

A site that requires registration or a subscription should not be linked unless the web site itself is the topic of the article or is being used as an inline reference.^[1]

[edit] Non-English language content

Links to English language content are strongly preferred in the English-language Wikipedia. It may be appropriate to have a link to a non-English-language site, such as when an official site is unavailable in English; or when the link is to the subject's text in its original language; or when the site contains visual aids such as maps, diagrams, or tables—per the guideline on non-English-language sites.

When linking to a site in a non-English language under the exceptions above, label the link with a language icon, available for most languages, using two-letter language codes: for example, {{es icon}}, {{fr icon}}, etc. Place the language label after the link (i.e. [http://de.wikipedia.org German Wikipedia] {{de icon}}).

[edit] Redirection sites

URL redirection sites are not to be used. Examples of these sites include tinyurl.com and tiny.cc. Most of these sites are listed in the m:Spam blacklist because they are frequently abused by link spammers, which means that it is not possible to save a page that contains such a link. Because URL redirection sites are added to the blacklist whenever abuse occurs, you may create problems for future editors by using them. Adding links to web proxies is prohibited for a similar reason. Instead, one should add a link to the original URL.

It is generally preferred to link to the exact destination of a link. For instance, if example.com is an automatic redirect to tripod.com/example, it is better to link to the exact page, even if the webmaster considers the redirect address to be more official.

[edit] Rich media

It is acceptable to link to pages rendered in normal HTML or plain text, but this is not always the case with pages using rich media formats (which may be incompatible with many users' settings and browsers). Check that the content type of the linked page is "text/html", "text/plain", or "application/xhtml+xml" (or another XHTML content type) as some pages may instead be rendered solely by platform-dependent plugins. Try to avoid directly linking to any content that requires special software, or an add-on to a browser. It is always preferred to link to a page rendered in normal HTML that contains embedded links to the rich media.

In an instance where a link to rich media is deemed appropriate, an explicit indication of the technology needed to access the content must be given, as in the following examples:

• Interview (along with Lenny Kaye) November 11, 2005 on KEXP; 53 minutes, includes three songs. (Windows Media Player, RealPlayer).
• Berkowitz, Joel, Avrom Goldfaden and the Modern Yiddish Theater: The Bard of Old Constantine (PDF), Pakn Treger, no. 44, Winter 2004, 10–19.

[edit] Linking to user-submitted video sites

There is no blanket ban on linking to YouTube or other user-submitted video sites as long as the links abide by the guidelines on this page (see Restrictions on linking and Links normally to be avoided). Many videos hosted on Youtube or similar sites do not meet the standards for inclusion in External links sections, and copyright is of particular concern. Many YouTube videos of newscasts, shows or other content of interest to Wikipedia visitors are copyright violations. Each such link must be evaluated for inclusion with due care on a case-by-case basis. These links must also identify the software necessary for readers to see the content.

[edit] Avoid undue weight on particular points of view

On articles with multiple points of view, the number of links dedicated to one point of view should not overwhelm the number dedicated to other equal points of view, nor give undue weight to minority views. Add comments to these links informing the reader of their point of view. If one point of view dominates informed opinion, that should be represented first. For more information, see Wikipedia:Neutral point of view—in particular, Wikipedia's guidelines on undue weight.

[edit] Longevity of links

It is very important to consider if the link is likely to remain relevant and acceptable to the article in the foreseeable future. For example, it is not useful to link to a homepage that changes often and merely happens to have a relevant picture or article on its front page at the moment.

[edit] What can be done with a dead external link

Links to dead URLs in a list of external links are of no use to Wikipedia articles. Such dead links should either be updated or removed. Note however, that the matter is different for references: see Wikipedia:Citing sources#Dead links.

Note that some dead links are caused by vandalism (for example, a vandal disabling links to products competing with the vandal's favored product): it is worth checking to see if there is a working version of the link in an earlier version of article. Some vandalism of this type is quite subtle, such as replacing ASCII letters in the URL with identical-looking Cyrillic letters.

[edit] Hijacked and re-registered sites

Occasionally a site will either be "hijacked" or be re-registered for a different purpose after a registration expires. In either case, while the URL is still valid it points to a page with different or altered content, which can lead to inappropriate content being linked, including in some cases pornography sites.^[3] Sites that have been hijacked or changed after reregistration should not be linked; they should be handled in the same manner as dead links.

[edit] How to link

Link with no text (code and example output):

[http://example.com/]

[1]

Link containing text:

[http://example.com/ The RFC-mandated example.com website]

The RFC-mandated example.com website

All text following a space is taken as the text to use for the link. Embedding wikilinks into the link text is incorrect; instead choose the appropriate words to link.

"The [[RFC]]-mandated [http://example.com/ example.com website]". 

"The RFC-mandated example.com website".

[edit] External links section

If an article has external links, the standard format is to place them in a bulleted list under a primary heading at the end of the article. External links should identify the link and briefly summarize the website's contents and why the website is relevant to the article. The heading should be "External links" (plural) even if there is only a single link listed. If several external links are listed and the subject of the article is a living person, organization, web service, or otherwise has an official website, it is normal practice to place the link to that site at the top of the list (if it is not already in an appropriate infobox).

If you link to another website, you should give your reader a good summary of the site's contents, and the reasons why this specific website is relevant to the article in question. If you link to an online article, try to provide as much meaningful article information as possible. For example:

== External links ==
* [http://example.com/link_1 Link 1]
* [http://example.com/link_2 Link 2]

Most external links should present different details than citations. For instance, a concise description of the contents and a clear indication of its source is more important than the actual title of the page, and access dates are not appropriate in the external links section. Because citation templates were not designed for use in the External links section, editors that use citation templates in this section should be careful to ensure the resulting description is appropriate for an external link.

[edit] References and citation

Sites that have been used as sources in the creation of an article should be cited in the article, and linked as references, either in-line or in a references section. Links to these source sites are not "external links" for the purposes of this guideline, and should not normally be duplicated in an external links section. Exceptions (i.e. sites that can be both references and External Links) include an official site of the article's subject, or a domain specifically devoted to the article's subject which contains multiple subpages and which meets the above criteria.

[edit] Linking to databases

When linking to large database-driven sites like the Internet Movie Database, try to use an external link template. If the url format of the database ever changes, it is then possible to change the template to fix all links using it.

[edit] Maintenance and review

Inappropriate and duplicative links may be deleted; if the reason for the deletion is not obvious, please explain on the article's talk page.

Templates may help organize a link maintenance project. The {{linkfarm}} template is for providing notice that the list of links may have grown to an inappropriate length or contain inappropriate links. {{Too many links}} is useful when the primary concern is the length of the list. {{Cleanup-spam}} warns of suspected non-compliant links.

Inline templates may be useful for flagging individual links that you want to further discuss on the article's talk page:

• {{Copyvio link}}—to mark links suspected of violating copyrights
• {{Off-topic-inline}}—to mark links that seem off-topic or irrelevant
• {{Deadlink}}—to mark links that do not appear to be working

If a page attracts many links or inappropriate links, a note in the external links section such as {{subst:NoMoreLinks}} may discourage the addition of links.

[edit] Searching for external links

Special:Linksearch is a tool for searching for links from Wikipedia articles to sites outside Wikipedia. For example, all Wikipedia pages linking to Yahoo.com

[edit] See also

For more detailed information regarding Wikipedia policy toward and appropriate syntax for external links, see:

• Wikipedia:How to edit a page#Links and URLs
• Wikipedia:Manual of Style (links)
• m:When should I link externally
• Wikipedia:Guide to writing better articles
• Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines
• Wikipedia:Links
• Category:External link file type templates

Maintenance coordination

• {{External links}}
• Wikipedia:Dead external links
• WikiProject Spam helps to coordinate Wikimedians' efforts against external link spamming.
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup
• WikiProject External links helps to make sure that all articles follow the above policy.
• Wikipedia:Linking to external harassment

[edit] References