Wikipedia:Link rot - Wikipedia
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How to prevent or repair broken links
This page is about (primarily) link rot in
external links
. For broken section links within Wikipedia, see
Wikipedia:Database reports/Broken section anchors
. For internal links which point to deleted or non-existent articles, see
WP:REDLINKS
. For other uses, see
Wikipedia:Citing sources § Preventing and repairing dead links
"WP:LR" redirects here. For Lua requests, see
Wikipedia:Lua requests
To request URL changes, see
WP:Link rot/URL change requests
This help page is a
how-to guide
It explains concepts or processes used by the Wikipedia community. It is not one of
Wikipedia's policies or guidelines
, and may reflect varying levels of
consensus
Shortcuts
WP:LR
WP:LR
WP:404
WP:404
WP:ROT
WP:ROT
WP:BADLINK
WP:BADLINK
WP:LINKROT
WP:LINKROT
This page in a nutshell:
Steps may be taken to reduce or repair dead external links. Do not remove citations simply because they have URLs which no longer work.
Like most large
websites
, Wikipedia suffers from the phenomenon known as
link rot
where external links become
dead
, as the linked web pages or complete websites disappear, change their content, or move without HTTP redirection.
Link rot is a significant danger to Wikipedia because of the
reliability
policy and
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
Shortcut
WP:PLRT
WP:PLRT
There are multiple ways to prevent
link rot
and to make it easier to recover if a website is rearranged later. None of these methods are required by any policy or guideline.
Automatic archiving
Links added by editors to the English Wikipedia mainspace are automatically saved to the
Wayback Machine
within about 24 hours (though in practice not every link is getting saved for reasons ranging from quirks of a website's code to
robots.txt
preventing a website from being archived). This is done with a program called
"NoMore404"
which Internet Archive runs and maintains; other language wiki sites are included. It monitors
EventStreams API
, extracts new external URLs and adds a snapshot to the Wayback. This system became active sometime after 2015, though previous efforts were also made.
As of 2026, 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 2026, the periodic bot
WP:WAYBACKMEDIC
checks for link rot in the archive links themselves. Archive databases are dynamic: archives move or go missing, new ones are added, etc. This bot maintains existing archive links on English Wikipedia. It also archives resources on request at
WP:URLREQ
. It is a flexible tool that can carry out many custom jobs such as URL migration/move,
usurped domains
, soft-404 discovery and repair.
Manual archiving
See also:
Help:Archiving a source
Note
Archive links are recommended, but not required. If you can't find a trustworthy option, then don't add a link.
Suggestions for ways to manually improve archiving:
Avoid
bare URLs
. A bare URL looks like this:
Add a description (e.g., the title of the page, the author's name, the publication date, etc.). These can be formatted by hand, but many editors prefer to use
citation templates
such as
{{
cite web
}}
for citations. Do not use citation templates or
{{
webarchive
}}
for External links sections per
WP:ELCITE
and
WP:ELDEAD
Use a
web archiving
service such as
Internet Archive
. 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
To add more than one archive URL, as extra insurance against provider outage,
{{
webarchive
}}
accepts up to 10 archive provider URLs. The
|format=addlarchives
option produces output appropriate for trailing a CS1|2 template. e.g.
{{cite web|archive-url=..}}{{webarchive|format=addlarchive|url1=..|url2=..|url3..}}
will show 4 archive URLs (one from the cite web and three from the webarchive).
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
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 usurped link
Main page:
Wikipedia:Link rot/Usurpations
When a domain on the Internet expires, anyone is allowed to pay for and control that domain. Some organizations actively seek these domains and "usurp" them to create spam and scam sites. To repair an external link to one of these sites from Wikipedia, remove the link and replace it with an archived version of the original as described at
Wikipedia:Link rot/Usurpations
There is an automated system for repairing links to entire usurped domains. See
WP:URLREQ
to register all links in a domain for usurpation treatment.
Repairing a dead link
Shortcut
WP:DEADLINK
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. In general, avoid removing citations (or cited material) simply because a URL no longer works, especially if the citation is formatted with other information (like a title, author, date and publication name) that could alternatively be used to find the source.
Searching
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 move within the same site. A site index or site-specific search feature is a useful place to locate the moved page, searching for the title or other information. If these tools are not available, many Internet search engines allow a search on a specified site. For example, with Google add
site:en.wikipedia.org
to the search string to search English Wikipedia only. Occasionally changing
to
http
://
works.
Failing this, searching the Web for the page title can find alternative sites. Searching the Web for the data to support can find a different source.
If you find a suitable new URL, then you can edit the parameters within the citation. If the citation uses one of the common citation templates (e.g.
{{
cite web
}}
{{
cite news
}}
{{
Citation
}}
), you can:
Change the
|url=
to point to the new URL;
Change or add
|access-date=
to refer to the current date unless the new URL is a stable source with a publication date.
Internet archives
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.today
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
Add-ons (extensions)
are available for most browsers to search for archived copies, with names such as
Resurrect pages
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
'https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/*/'
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 (see
WP:USURPURL
). 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 that once a working
|archive-url=
has been established, the
|access-date=
parameter is redundant and should be removed.
Mitigating a dead link
Shortcut
WP:MDLI
WP:MDLI
At times, all attempts to repair the link will be unsuccessful. In that event, consider finding an alternative source so that the loss of the original does not harm the verifiability of the article. Alternative 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 a URL change like this, please submit a request at
WP:URLREQ
for a url move. A bot will make the change.
In general, the fact that a URL is broken does
not
mean that a source has ceased to exist entirely, and
a broken URL in a citation does not mean it must be removed
. See the guidance at
WP:DEADREF
for when it is appropriate to remove citations with dead links. Crucially, books, magazines, journals and other print sources
exist offline
, and continue to do so even if websites go down or change locations; the lack of a functioning URL for a book does nothing to decrease its value as a source for Wikipedia content. Permanently inaccessible convenience links for print sources can be removed, but the reference should be retained. Before removing a citation with a dead URL, consider whether it would be possible to track down the source without using the URL at all; if so, it should probably be kept.
Keeping dead links
Shortcut
WP:KDL
WP:KDL
See also:
Wikipedia:Citing sources § Preventing and repairing dead links
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
dead link
were dead.
Place {{
dead link
|date=April 2026}} after the dead citation, immediately before the

tag if applicable, leaving the original link intact. Marking dead links signals to editors and to link rot bots that this link needs to be replaced with an archived link or a more current source verifying the same information. Placing
{{
dead link
}}
also auto-categorizes the article into
Articles with dead external links
project category, and into specific monthly date range category based on
|date=
parameter.
If you attempt to fix the dead links and are unable to, please add the
|fix-attempted=yes
parameter, so that other editors know that the link is likely to be hopelessly dead.
Do not delete
a citation solely because it has been tagged with
{{
dead link
}}
for a long time.
Link rot on non-Wikimedia sites
Shortcut
WP:EXTERNALROT
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.
Glossary
Glossary of terms and concepts. See the book
A Link Rot Bestiary
Beyond-404
. Conceptually and ideally, every link that is dead will return a status code of 404. In the wilds of the Internet, many pages that are "dead" can return other codes. This is the realm beyond-404, and often requires special tools and foreknowledge to detect and fix. It might account for 40% or more of all inoperable links. Some of the beyond-404 types are described in this glossary. Links can be combination of types, for example a URL that is: Mapped redirect --> Soft-404 --> Redirect --> Destination.
Bot Blocker
. Any kind of mechanism that prevents automated tools from detecting the status of a page. Most common are CloudFlare, rate limiters and IP blockers. Bot Blockers can cause false 404s.
Hard-404
or
Dead link
. A page that returns 404 status code, a dead link.
Soft-404
. A URL that redirects to a page with different content from the original. For example,
redirects to
(redirection to home page). Soft-404s can be domain name squatters, blank pages, spam sites, bot blockers, rate limiters, the possibilities are endless. This is the most common type of "Beyond 404" dead link. Conceptually, the page does not return 404, but is also not returning the intended content, in effect a 404 and thus "soft". Methods of Soft-404 detection including foreknowledge, the redirect URL, the page title, and content on the page.
Crunchy-404
. A URL that falls somewhere between a Soft-404 and Hard-404. The content is different from the original page, but it still has content relevant to the original. Depending on what information the reader seeks, it could be considered a dead link, or a live link, relative to the viewer.
Redirect
. A URL that automatically redirects to another page (301 or 302)
Missing or Potential redirect
. A URL that is inoperable (404), but the desired page might exist on the live web at a different URL. It is missing redirect information.
Mapped redirect
. A missing redirect that has been successfully mapped to the destination URL. Whoever made the map determines what happens next. If the domain owner has the map, they create redirects on the live web that work for everyone. This process is called
Redirect mapping
. Third parties can attempt to build a map using other techniques such as ruled and inferred redirect mapping.
Ruled
and
Inferred redirect mapping
. Methods for mapping missing redirects. Ruled redirect mapping works by transformation rules eg. a rule to change ".co.uk" -> ".com". Inferred redirect mapping guesses what the new URL might be by parsing information from other sources, such as the
|title=
or
|date=
of a citation. An inferred mapped redirect might have multiple guesses that are added to an inference table which are checked until one is found to work.
Archived
or
Ghost redirect
. Redirect link rot. For example, a 301 header was deleted and became a 404, but the old 301 information is still preserved in the Wayback Machine. Useful to discover redirect information no longer on the live web. See also
Ghostredir repo
Soft-200
or
False 404
. A URL that appears to be dead but is actually live. This can be caused by bot blockers or a misconfiguration.
URL Move
(or
Migration
). When a URL is moved from one scheme to another, for example migrating
to
.. the remote site changed domain names. Most of the time, sites will leave some of the old URLs behind and not migrate all of them, they typically turn into 404s and missing redirects. When making URL Move on Wikipedia it is thus imperative to verify the new URL works. When it is not possible to verify (such as a Bot Blocker) this is called a "Blind URL Move".
Content drift
. When content at a static URL changes with time. For example team rankings at
changes on a weekly basis. Weather and financial data are other classic examples. Even though the URL may be live, it is functionally dead, the page no longer displays the intended content, it is a variety of soft-404.
See also
Essays
Wikipedia:Archive your sources
Wikipedia:Build content to endure
Wikipedia:Offline sources
Tools and how-to guides
Wikipedia:Link rot/URL change requests
– request bot help to maintain URLs for a given domain name
Help:Using the Wayback Machine
– how-to guide
Special:LinkSearch
– to find all the pages that contain a particular URL
Note: LinkSearch can be imperfect. For a more precise search:
insource:domain.com insource:/([.]|\/)domain[.]com/
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
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
Official Wayback add-on for
Firefox
and
Chrome
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.
Link-dispenser
a Toolforge tool that identifies dead links in citations
Backlink Checker
, to search for potential link rot on non-Wikimedia sites
"Some URLs Are Immortal, Most Are Ephemeral"
Archived
22 September 2024 at the
Wayback Machine
), detailed analysis of URL lifespans
Notes
URLs have a median lifespan of about one year.
archive.today has been
deprecated
and uses should be removed.
Documentation at
"Save Pages in the Wayback Machine"
Internet Archive
. 24 August 2018.
{{
cite web
}}
Cite uses generic title (
help
References
"2024-09-20: Some URLs Are Immortal, Most Are Ephemeral"
Ws-dl.blogspot.com
. Retrieved
April 5,
2026
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Don't help too much
Don't ignore community consensus
Don't knit beside the guillotine
Don't make a smarmy valediction part of your signature
Don't remind others of past misdeeds
Don't shout
Don't spite your face
Don't take the bait
Don't template the regulars
Don't throw your toys out of the pram
Do not insult the vandals
Griefing
Hate is disruptive
Jew-tagging
Nationalist editing
No angry mastodons
just madmen
No ableism
No Nazis
No racists
No Confederates
No queerphobia
No, you can't have a pony
Passive aggression
POV railroad
Superhatting
There are no oracles
There's no need to guess someone's preferred pronouns
You can't squeeze blood from a turnip
UPPERCASE
WikiRelations
WikiBullying
WikiCrime
WikiHarassment
WikiHate
WikiLawyering
WikiLove
WikiPeace
Neutrality
Academic bias
Activist
Advocacy
Avoid thread mode
Be neutral in form
Blind men and an elephant
Cherrypicking
Civil POV pushing
Coatrack
Controversial articles
Creating controversial content
Criticisms of society may be consistent with NPOV and reliability
Criticism
Describing points of view
Don't "teach the controversy"
Endorsements
Let the reader decide
Inaccuracy
Myth vs fiction
NPOV dispute
Neutral and proportionate point of view
Not Wikipedia's fault
POV and OR from editors, sources, and fields
Partisans
Partisanship
Presentism
Pro and con lists
Systemic bias
Tendentious editing
There are no shortcuts to neutrality
Wikipedia:Truth
We are absolutely here to right great wrongs
We shouldn't be able to figure out your opinions
What is fringe?
Why Wikipedia cannot claim the Earth is not flat
Wikipedia is not RationalWiki
Yes, it is promotion
Notability
Advanced source searching
All high schools can be notable
Alternative outlets
Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions
Articles with a single source
Avoid template creep
Bare notability
Big events make key participants notable
Businesses with a single location
But it's true!
Common sourcing mistakes
Clones
Coatrack
Discriminate vs indiscriminate information
Drafts are not checked for notability or sanity
Every snowflake is unique
Existence ≠ Notability
Existence does not prove notability
Extracting the meaning of significant coverage
Google searches and numbers
How the presumption of notability works
High schools
Historical/Policy/Notability/Arguments
Inclusion is not an indicator of notability
Independent sources
Inherent notability
Insignificant
Just because BFDI has an article doesn't mean you can add fancruft about it
Masking the lack of notability
Make stubs
Minimum coverage
News coverage does not decrease notability
No amount of editing can overcome a lack of notability
No one cares about your garage band
No one really cares
Notability and tornadoes
Notability cannot be purchased
Notability comparison test
Notability is not everything
Notability is not a level playing field
Notability is not a matter of opinion
Notability is not relevance or reliability
Notability means impact
Notabilitymandering
Not all Vocaloid songs deserve their own article
Not every single thing Donald Trump does deserves an article
Obscurity ≠ Lack of notability
Offline sources
One sentence does not an article make
Overreliance upon Google
Perennial websites
Popularity ≠ Notability
Read the source
Red flags of non-notability
Reducing consensus to an algorithm
Run-of-the-mill
Solutions are mixtures and nothing else
Significance is not a formula
Source content comes first!
Sources must be out-of-universe
Subjective importance
Slow news day
Third-party sources
Trivial mentions
Video links
Vanispamcruftisement
What BLP1E is not
What is and is not routine coverage
What notability is not
What to include
Why was
BFDI
not on Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is not Crunchbase
Wikipedia is not here to tell the world about your noble cause
Wikipedia is not the place to post your résumé
Two prongs of merit
Two sources are good enough
Humorous
Adminitis
Ain't no rules says a dog can't play basketball
Akin's Laws of Article Writing
Alternatives to edit warring
ANI flu
Anti-Wikipedian
Anti-Wikipedianism
Articlecountitis
Asshole John rule
Assume bad faith
Assume faith
Assume good wraith
Assume stupidity
Assume that everyone's assuming good faith, assuming that you are assuming good faith
Avoid using the preview button
Avoid using wikilinks
Bad Jokes and Other Deleted Nonsense
Barnstaritis
Before they were notable
Be the fun police
BOLD, revert, revert, revert cycle
Boston Tea Party
Butterfly effect
CaPiTaLiZaTiOn MuCh?
Case against LLM-generated articles
Complete bollocks
Counting forks
Counting juntas
Crap
Delete the main page
Diffusing conflict
Don't stuff beans up your nose
Don't-give-a-fuckism
Don't abbreviate "Wikipedia" as "Wiki"!
Don't delete the main page
Editcountitis
Edits Per Day
Editsummarisis
Editing under the influence
Embrace Stop Signs
Emerson
Fart
Five Fs of Wikipedia
Seven Ages of Editor, by Will E. Spear-Shake
Go ahead, vandalize
How many Wikipedians does it take to change a lightbulb?
How to get away with UPE
How to put up a straight pole by pushing it at an angle
How to vandalize correctly
How to win a citation war
If you have a pulse
Ignore all essays
Ignore all user warnings
Ignore every single rule
Is that even an essay?
Keep beating the horse
List of really, really, really stupid article ideas that you really, really, really should not create
Mess with the templates
My local pond
Newcomers are delicious, so go ahead and bite them
Legal vandalism
List of jokes about Wikipedia
LTTAUTMAOK
No climbing the Reichstag dressed as Spider-Man
No episcopal threats
No one cares about your garage band
No one really cares
No, really
No self attacks
Notability is not eternal
Oops Defense
Play the game
Please be a giant dick, so we can ban you
Please bite the newbies
Please do not murder the newcomers
Pledge of Tranquility
Project S.C.R.A.M.
R-e-s-p-e-c-t
Requests for medication
Requirements for adminship
Rouge admin
Rouge editor
Sarcasm is really helpful
Sausages for tasting
Spaling Muich?
Template madness
The first rule of Wikipedia
The Five Pillars of Untruth
The Night Before Wikimas
The Truth
Things that should not be surprising
The WikiBible
Watchlistitis
We are deletionist!
Why is
BFDI
on Wikipedia?
Why you shouldn't write articles with ChatGPT, according to ChatGPT
Wikipedia is an MMORPG
WTF? OMG! TMD TLA. ARG!
Yes, falsely
Yes legal threats
Yes personal attacks
You don't have to be mad to work here, but
You should not write meaningless lists
About
About essays
Essay guide
Value of essays
Difference between policies, guidelines and essays
Don't cite essays as if they were policy
Avoid writing redundant essays
Finding an essay
Quote your own essay
Policies and guidelines
About policies and guidelines
Policies
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How to contribute to Wikipedia guidance
Policy writing is hard
Essay search
Retrieved from "
Categories
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Hidden categories:
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