ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:Link rot - ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ

ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:Link rot - ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ
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ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ‌ରୁ
Project page discussing issue of external pages going down over time, breaking links
ଛାଞ୍ଚ:SHORTDESC:Project page discussing issue of external pages going down over time, breaking links
ଏହି ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗଟି (primarily) link rot in
external links
ବାବଦରେ ।
broken section links within Wikipedia,
Wikipedia:Database reports/Broken section anchors
ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗଟି ଦେଖନ୍ତୁ ।
internal links which point to deleted or non-existent articles,
WP:REDLINKS
ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଦେଖନ୍ତୁ ।
other uses,
Wikipedia:Citing sources#Preventing and repairing dead links
ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଦେଖନ୍ତୁ ।
"WP:LR" redirects here. For Lua requests, see
Wikipedia:Lua requests
To request URL changes, see
WP:Link rot/URL change requests
This page is a
how-to guide
detailing a practice or process on the English Wikipedia.
Shortcuts
WP:LR
WP:404
WP:ROT
WP:BADLINK
WP:LINKROT
This page in a nutshell:
Steps may be taken to reduce or repair dead external links.
Like most large
websites
, Wikipedia suffers from the phenomenon known as
link rot
, where external links go dead (become
dead links
), as the linked web pages or complete websites disappear, change their content, or move. This presents a significant threat to Wikipedia's
reliability
policy and its
source citation
guideline.
In general, do not delete cited information
solely
because the URL to the source does not work any longer. Tools, procedures, and processes are available as outlined in this document.
Preventing link rot
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Shortcut
WP:PLRT
Automatic archiving
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Links added by editors to the English Wikipedia mainspace are automatically saved to
Wayback Machine
within about 24 hours (nb. in practice not every link is getting saved for various reasons). This is done with a program called
"NoMore404"
which Internet Archive runs and maintains; other language wiki sites are included. It scans the IRC feed channels, extracts new external URLs and adds a snapshot to the Wayback. This system became active sometime after 2015, though previous efforts were also made. Also, sometime after 2012,
archive.today
attempted to archive all external links then existing on Wikipedia at that time. This was incomplete but a significant number of links were added to archive.today during this period making it a major archival source filing in gaps of coverage. Archive.today is still making some automated archives as of 2020, though the extent of coverage and frequency is unknown.
As of 2015, there is a Wikipedia bot and tool called
WP:IABOT
that automates fixing link rot. It runs continuously checking all articles on Wikipedia if a link is dead, adding archives to
Wayback Machine
(if not yet there), and replacing dead links in the wikitext with an archived version. This bot runs automatically but it can also be directed by end users through its web interface. It is available when viewing any page's history, located near the top of the page on the line of "External Tools", with the "Fix dead links" option.
As of 2015, the periodic bot
WP:WAYBACKMEDIC
checks for link rot in the archive links themselves. Archive databases are dynamic and changing, archives go missing, move, new ones added etc.. this bot maintains existing archive links on English Wikipedia.
Manual archiving
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Suggestions for ways to manually improve archiving:
Avoid
bare URLs
. Use citation templates such as
cite web
for citations, and
webarchive
for external links sections.
Use a
web archiving
service such as
Internet Archive
or
Archive.is
. A complete list is available at
WP:List of web archives on Wikipedia
. Within citation templates, put the archive URL in
archive-url
and add an
archive-date
. If the link is still valid, include
url-status
live
, otherwise set
url-status
dead
If the link is still live but not yet archived, visit the web site of the archive service of your choice and request that the page be archived.
Run
WP:IABOT
on pages via its user interface.
Alternative methods
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Most
citation templates
have a
quote
parameter that can be used to store text quotes of the source material. This can be used to store a limited amount of text from the source within the citation template. This is especially useful for sources that cannot be archived with web archiving services. It can also provide insurance against failure of the chosen web archiving service. Storing the entire text of the source is not appropriate under
fair use policies
, so choose only the most important portions of the text that most support the assertions in the Wikipedia article. Where applicable,
public domain
materials can be copied to
Wikisource
Repairing a dead link
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Shortcut
WP:DEADLINK
"WP:DEADLINK" redirects here. For the guideline on what to do when a link is dead (including potential removal of the cited material), see
WP:DEADREF
There are several ways to try to repair a dead link, detailed below:
Searching
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
If the dead link includes enough information (article title, names, etc.) it is often possible to use it to find the Web page at a different location, either on the same site or elsewhere.
Often web pages simply moved within the same site. A site index or site-specific search feature is a useful place to locate the moved page. If these tools are not available, many Internet search engines allow a search on a specified site.
Failing this, searching the Internet for the page can find alternatives.
If you find a suitable new URL, then you can edit the parameters within the citation. If the citation uses one of the common templates (e.g.
cite web
cite news
Citation
), then you can edit as follows:
Change the
url
to point to the new URL;
Change or add
access-date
to refer to the current date.
Internet archives
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Check for archived versions at one of the many web archive services. The "Big 3" archive services are
web.archive.org
webcitation.org
and
archive.is
. These account for over 90% of all archives on Wikipedia, with
web.archive.org
being over 80% of all archive links. Other archive services are listed at
WP:WEBARCHIVES
The
Mementos interface
allows one to search multiple archiving services with a single search. The Memento database is cached, meaning results are returned quickly, but the cache also becomes out of date. Therefore, it should not be relied on as the final word – very often when it reports no archives are available they actually are. You may still need to do the work of checking individual archive sites, but Mementos can be a quick first check.
Bookmarklets to check common archive sites for archives of the current page
(all open in a new tab or window)
Archive site
Bookmarklet
Archive.org
javascript
void
window
open
'https://web.archive.org/web/*/'
location
href
))
UKGWA
javascript
void
window
open
'http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/*/'
location
href
))
If multiple archive dates are available, use the one that is most likely to be the contents of the page seen by the editor who entered the reference on the
access-date
. If that parameter is not specified, a
search of the article's revision history
can be performed to determine when the link was added to the article.
View the archive to verify that it contains valid page information. Usually dates closer to the time the link was placed in the Wikipedia page, or earlier, are more likely to show valid information.
If you find a suitable archive URL, then you can add it to the citation. If the citation uses one of the common templates (e.g.
cite web
cite news
Citation
), then you can edit as follows:
Leave the
url
unchanged, pointing to the source URL.
Add
archive-url
, pointing to the archive URL.
Add
archive-date
, specifying the date when the archived copy was saved. YYYY-MM-DD format is usually easiest but any format can be used.
Add or change
url-status
. Use
url-status
dead
if the old URL does not work. Use
url-status
unfit
or
url-status
usurped
if the old URL has been usurped for the purposes of spam, advertising, or is otherwise unsuitable. Use
url-status
live
if
url
still works and still gives the correct information, but you want to preemptively add an
archive-url
Leave the
access-date
unchanged, referring to the date when a previous editor last accessed the
url
. Some editors believe
access-date
should be removed once a working
archive-url
is established since the
url
is no longer available, maintaining an
access-date
is redundant clutter.
Mitigating a dead link
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Shortcut
WP:MDLI
At times, all attempts to repair the link will be unsuccessful. In that event, consider finding an alternate source so that the loss of the original does not harm the verifiability of the article. Alternate sources about broad topics are usually easily located. A simple search engine query might locate an appropriate alternative, but be extremely careful to avoid citing
mirrors and forks of Wikipedia
itself, which would violate
Wikipedia:Verifiability
Sometimes, finding an appropriate source is not possible, or would require more extensive research techniques, such as a visit to a library or the use of a subscription-based database. If that is the case, consider consulting with Wikipedia editors at
Wikipedia:WikiProject Resource Exchange
, the
Wikipedia:Village pump
, or
Wikipedia:Help desk
. Also, consider contacting experts or other interested editors at a relevant
WikiProject
Sometimes a link is dead because the website moved the URL e.g.
moved to
. If you discover an URL change like this please submit a request at
WP:BOTREQ
for a url move. A bot will make the change.
Keeping dead links
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Shortcut
WP:KDL
A dead, unarchived source URL may still be useful. Such a link indicates that information was (probably) verifiable in the past, and the link might provide another user with greater resources or expertise with enough information to find the reference. It could also return from the dead. With a dead link, it is possible to determine if it has been cited elsewhere, or to contact the person originally responsible for the source. For example, one could contact the Yale Computer Science department if
were dead. Place
dead link
date=ଅପ୍ରେଲ ୨୦୨୬
after the dead citation, immediately before the

tag if applicable, leaving the original link intact.
Placing
dead link
auto-categorizes the article into
Articles with dead external links
project category, and into specific monthly date range category based on
date
parameter.
Do not delete
a citation just because it has been tagged with
dead link
for a long time.
Link rot on non-Wikimedia sites
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Shortcut
WP:EXTERNALROT
Non-Wikimedia sites are also susceptible to link rot. Following a
page move
or
page deletion
, links to Wikipedia pages from other websites may break. In most page moves, a
redirect
will remain at the old page—this won't cause a problem. But if a page is completely deleted or
usurped
(i.e. replaced with other content) then link rot will have been caused on any external websites that link to it.
Replacement of page content with a
disambiguation page
may still cause link rot, but is less harmful because a disambiguation page is essentially a type of
soft redirect
that will lead the reader to the required content. If a page is usurped with content for another subject that shares its name, a
hatnote
may be placed at the top that directs readers to the original content on its new page—this again is a type of soft redirect, but less obvious. In these cases, readers arriving from an external rotten link should be able to find what they're looking for, but the situation is best avoided as they would have to get there via an additional page, potentially giving a poor impression of both Wikipedia and the linking website.
Because the Wikipedia software does not store
Referer
information
, it will be impossible to tell how many external web pages will be affected by a move or deletion, but the risk of link rot will probably be greatest on older and higher profile pages. In truth, there is not a lot that can be done; maintenance of non-Wikimedia websites is not within the scope of being a Wikimedian, nor in most cases within our capability (although if they
can
be fixed, it would be helpful to do so). However, it may be good practice to think about the potential impact on other sites when deleting or moving Wikipedia pages, especially if no redirect or hatnote will remain. If a move or deletion is expected to cause significant damage, then this might be a factor to consider in
WP:RM
WP:AFD
and
WP:RFD
discussions, although other factors may carry more weight.
See also
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Essays
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Wikipedia:Build content to endure
Wikipedia:Offline sources
Tools and how-to guides
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
Wikipedia:Link rot/URL change requests
– request help to change many URLs, or mark them dead
Help:Using the Wayback Machine
– how-to guide
Wikipedia:Using WebCite
– how-to guide (note: as of June 2019 WebCite no longer accepts new archive requests)
Wikipedia:Using Archive.is
– how-to guide
Special:LinkSearch
– to find all the pages that contain a particular URL
Wikipedia:Citing sources/Further considerations#Pre-emptive archiving
– brief guide on how to use various archiving services
Wikipedia:Citing sources#Preventing and repairing dead links
Wikipedia:External links#Longevity of links
– prescribes removal of dead URLs from the "External links" section
Category:Articles with bare URLs for citations
– the backlog of articles containing bare URLs at risk of link rot, sub-categorised by month
Category:Articles with dead external links
– the backlog of articles containing dead links, sub-categorised by month
Bots
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
InternetArchiveBot
(IABot) – automatically fixes dead links whenever possible, and tags them when it isn't
WaybackMedic
-automatically fixes dead links that are difficult to determine, other general fixes
User:Legobot
– can mass tag links with
dead link
. Requests can be made at
User talk:Legoktm
External links
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
official Wayback add-on for
Firefox
and
Chrome
note ୧
Resurrect Pages
, a third-party add-on tool provides links to seven cache/archive websites upon coming across a dead link. (Firefox)
Webcache
, add-on for Opera. (discontinued; newer similar add-ons available)
weblinkchecker.py
—script from the
Python Wikipedia Bot
collection which finds broken external links.
Notes
ସମ୍ପାଦନା
"Save Pages in the Wayback Machine"
Internet Archive
. 2018-08-24.
ଛାଞ୍ଚ:Wikipedia essays
"ରୁ ଅଣାଯାଇଅଛି
ଶ୍ରେଣୀସମୂହ
Wikipedia how-to
Wikipedia maintenance
Wikipedia essays about building the encyclopedia
ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ
Link rot
ନୂଆ ଯୋଡ଼ନ୍ତୁ