Template:Dead link/doc

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 templates have the facility for adding archive-date and archive-url parameters for linking to an archive copy. Non- 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  template, directly after the  transclusion (not inside it), but inside the reference, if any, i.e. before the , in all cases leaving the original link intact:



For bare links, leave a space after the end of the URL and the template:

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  to explain which one is broken.

If the article uses clickable footnotes, then this template should be placed just before the  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  reference, do not leave any substitution template such as   or , 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  template is used with a DOI, remove the url parameter.


 * Common form (with current date)

Optional parameters

 * : 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.
 * : 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 accounts specify the  parameter as a sign that the tag was added by an automated process. Set as.
 * : 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 "" instead of just "". 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., . See Help:Substitution for more information.
 * The  parameter need not be added by the editor: if not entered, a bot will soon add it.

Examples
→ →

Caveats

 * Avoid using free links (e.g. ), 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, as they are often used to format text.

TemplateData
{	"description": "A template to indicate that the preceding URL is dead", "params": { "date": { "label": "Month and year", "description": "The month and year the URL was found to be dead, like \"June 2013\"", "type": "string", "autovalue": " ", "suggested": true },		"bot": { "label": "Bot name", "description": "The name of the bot used to identify the dead link (not used by regular editors)", "type": "wiki-user-name" },		"url": { "label": "Wayback URL", "description": "The dead URL, used only if there is a Wayback Machine archive", "type": "url" },		"fix-attempted": { "label": "Fix attempted", "description": "Setting to 'yes' (or any non-blank value) indicates that no archive copy is available", "type": "boolean", "example": "yes" }	},	"format": "inline" }

Dead link tools

 * Probably of historical interest only:
 * Checklinks
 * DeadLinkBOT
 * WebCiteBOT