| This template is used on
approximately 305,000 pages, or roughly 1% of all pages
.
To avoid major disruption and server load, any changes should be tested in the template's
/sandbox
or
/testcases
subpages, or in your own
user subpage
. The tested changes can be added to this page in a single edit. Consider discussing changes on the
talk page
before implementing them.
|
Usage
This template is used to mark
dead links
, either within a paragraph or within a
reference citation
. Marking dead links signals to editors and to
WP:Link rot
bots that this link needs to be replaced with an archive link.
Before considering whether to use the
{{
dead link
}}
template it is often useful to make a search for an
archive copy
of the dead link and thereby avoid using the tag altogether. All
{{
cite xxx
}}
templates have the facility for adding
|archive-date=
and
|archive-url=
parameters for linking to an archive copy. Non-
{{
cite xxx
}}
citations can use
{{
webarchive
}}
.
Using
{{
Dead link
}}
will place a note by the URL and add the article to one of the
Category:Articles with dead external links
categories.
Append this template
directly after
the link (after the link code's terminating
]
if you are using
wikitext
), or, if you are using a
{{
cite xxx
}}
template,
directly after
the
{{
cite xxx
}}
transclusion (not inside it), but inside the reference, if any, i.e. before the
</ref>
, in all cases leaving the original link intact:
<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.example.org|title=The Example Website|access-date=22 September 2012}}
{{Dead link|date=May 2024}}
</ref>
For bare links, leave a space after the end of the URL and the template:
*
http://www.example.org
{{Dead link|date=May 2024}}
Otherwise automated tools can have trouble determining where the URL ends, because it will ambiguously contain
url-encoding
and wiki-encoding mixed together.
Not following these syntax rules might hinder detection by automated tools. If the citation contains multiple URLs (e.g. chapter-url and url) in a template, and only one is broken, you can use wiki comments like
<!-- <your hidden explanation here> -->
to explain which one is broken.
If the article uses
clickable footnotes
, then this template should be placed just before the
</ref>
that contains the dead link. The notice will then correctly appear in the reference section instead of in the body of the text, and so
WP:Link rot
bots can properly find and fix the link.
If you are placing this template inside a
<ref> </ref>
reference, do not leave any
substitution template
such as
{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}}
or
{{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
, because substitutions fail inside ref tags.
Avoid using this template when the reference is fully adequate without the link. In this case, simply remove the link. For example, if a
{{
cite journal
}}
template is used with a
DOI
, remove the
|url=
parameter.
- Common form (with current date)
{{
Dead link
|date=May 2024}}
Optional parameters
url
- Provides a history of the linked page via the
Wayback Machine
. Set
only
if history actually exists, as otherwise it is misleading to users and editors.
date
- The date parameter consists of the full English name of the current month with initial capital, a space, and the year, not full dates; e.g., "January 2013", but not "jan13".
Any deviation from these two rules will result in an "invalid date parameter" error
.
bot
- Bot accounts
specify the
|bot=
parameter as a sign that the tag was added by an automated process. Set as
bot=<bot name>
.
fix-attempted
- Set this to "yes" if you have tried unsuccessfully to find an archived copy, or a copy with a different URL. This will put the page in
Category:Articles with permanently dead external links
, and the annotation will be rendered as "
[
permanent dead link
]
" instead of just "
[
dead link
]
". Note that this currently will occur for any value supplied, including "no", so if a fix was not attempted, simply leave this parameter off, or set it to be blank. Also note that if a page cannot be found in the
Internet Archive
(Wayback Machine),
often a live copy can be found
via a web search for the full title, in quotes, on the original website, or on the Internet at large.
Notes
:
- The date-substitution template may be used to automatically generate the date, e.g.,
{{Dead link|{{subst:DATE}}}}
. See
Help:Substitution
for more information.
- The
date=
parameter need not be added by the editor: if not entered, a
bot
will soon add it.
Examples
<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.example.org |title=Web page title |website=Example.com |access-date=22 September 2012}} {{Dead link |date=September 2012}}</ref>
→
[1]
<ref>{{cite news |title=Sorrell accuses Murdoch of panic buying |author=Plunkett, John |url=http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,14173,1601858,00.html |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=27 October 2005 |access-date=22 September 2012}} {{Dead link}}</ref>
→
[2]
Caveats
- Avoid using free links (e.g.
http://www.example.org/{{Dead link}}
), as software that is unable to handle templates may read an incorrect link. Add brackets if necessary.
- Avoid complicated formatting. Nesting inside a template is generally not supported well.
- Avoid using
[ ] { | } < >
characters between the end of the external link and {{Dead link}}, as they are often used to format text.
TemplateData
Template parameters
[
Edit template data
]
This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.
Parameter
| Description
| Type
| Status
|
---|
Month and year
| date
| The month and year the URL was found to be dead, like "June 2013"
- Auto value
{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
| String
| suggested
|
---|
Bot name
| bot
| The name of the bot used to identify the dead link (not used by regular editors)
| User
| optional
|
---|
Wayback URL
| url
| The dead URL, used only if there is a Wayback Machine archive
| URL
| optional
|
---|
Fix attempted
| fix-attempted
| Setting to 'yes' (or any non-blank value) indicates that no archive copy is available
- Example
- yes
| Boolean
| optional
|
---|
See also
Dead link tools
- Probably of historical interest only:
Inline cleanup tags
|
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Attribution
| |
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Clarity
| |
---|
Miscellaneous
| |
---|
Neutrality
| |
---|
Precision
| |
---|
Time-sensitivity
| |
---|
Verifiability
| Dubious
| |
---|
Bare URLs
| |
---|
Incomplete or broken citation
| |
---|
Missing or problematic reference
| |
---|
|
---|
Wording
| |
---|
General advice
| |
---|
|