Template:Webarchive/doc

undefined is for linking to web archiving services such as the Wayback Machine, WebCite and all other web archiving services.

This template is a replacement for, , and , as decided in this discussion.

Note: The most common method for linking a web archive are the CS1|2 templates such as with the archive-url, archive-date, and url-status parameters. Please be aware of WP:CITEVAR before converting this template to a CS1|2 template.

Usage
In most cases the template needs only two parameters, the archive url and archive date. It is also common to include a title. For some URLs, the template can automatically display the date. To prevent the template from adding a wikilink to the name of the web archiving site, use the nolink parameter with any value.


 * Usage with url and date


 * Usage with url and title


 * Usage with url, date and title


 * Usage with url, date and nolink

Multiple URLs
The template optionally supports multiple URLs (up to 10) for linking to multiple archiving services for the same source link. The first url argument is url then url2 .. url10. Each URL can have its own date and title argument, thus date2 .. date10 and title2 .. title10.

Main parameters

 * url..url10: The URL(s) to the archive service. There should always be a url which counts as the first url. Each url# can have its own numbered corresponding date# and title#. Matching of URL with date and title is done by numbers, not position. Numbers do not need to be in sequence, for example url2 followed by url5 works.
 * date..date10: The date the page was archived. The date format displayed is the same as entered. If date is missing the template will make a best effort to find the date by decoding the archive URL (wayback and webcite for example provide this data in the URL), and will display the date in iso format by default. However including a date is recommended for date formatting reasons, and because other tools may not have the ability to decode the date from the URL.
 * title..title10: The text displayed for the link. If no title is provided then date is displayed. Otherwise title takes precedence if both are set.

Secondary parameters

 * nolink: If set to any value, the archive service name will not be wikilinked.
 * format: This is a special option to support the merger of . It may be deprecated in the future. Because CS1|2 templates do not currently support more than one archive link, this template will tack on additional archive links to the end of a CS1|2 template output. It takes two values: addlarchives or addlpages. Addlarchives will display output appropriate for linking to multiple web archiving services. Addlpages will display output appropriate for linking to multiple pages at the same archive.

Examples
The number of possible examples is extensive depending on the mix of options. Some common cases follow. For more extensive testing see the testcases page.


 * Single link at Wayback Machine with date and title ( recommended method )


 * Single link at Wayback Machine with date only


 * Single link at Wayback Machine with title; date extracted from URL


 * Single link at WebCite with title; date extracted from URL


 * Single link at archive.today with title; date extracted from URL


 * Multi-link at Wayback Machine with dates and titles ( recommended method )


 * Multi-link at Wayback Machine with dates only


 * Multi-link at Wayback Machine with titles only


 * Additional archives format


 * Additional pages format

Tracking categories
The template has a number of hidden tracking categories which may be added (via Module:Webarchive):

Tracking archive sites

 * : links to Wayback Machine
 * : links to Archive.today
 * : links to WebCite
 * : links to known archive sites that don't have their own tracking category
 * : the template doesn't recognize the archive URL; this may indicate an error in the data; or the template itself needs updating to reflect a new archive site

Tracking warnings and errors

 * : soft errors that do not prevent the template from working but leave a red message
 * : errors typically requiring human intervention

Template maintenance
The following can be done to maintain the template.

Monitor tracking categories

 * The tracking categories for "warnings" and "errors" can be monitored to alert for any problems in the data.
 * The tracking category for "unknown archives" may indicate a problem in the data; for example an editor used the source URL instead of the archive URL in the url field.

Monitor template argument usage
This tool shows which instances of the template are using which arguments—it might show, for example, that access-date is being used by five instances in five articles. Since this is an error (the template does not support access-date) those five template instances should be fixed to remove the access-date.

Configuration: verifydates
The template can verify that dates in URLs for Wayback, WebCite, and Archive.is match the date in the date argument. If the dates do not match it will display the date from the URL, add a red warning message "date mismatch", and add the article to the warning tracking category.

Because the verification function adds some overhead to the template, it can optionally be globally disabled by setting the variable "verifydates = no" (see the Module source in function p.webarchive). Note that after setting to "yes", it can take a week or more for the tracking category to be fully populated. Set to "yes" if you are searching for problems in the data that need fixing (they'll show up in the tracking category).

Configuration: maxurls
The max number of URLs is 10 but this can be changed by setting the "maxurls" variable in the p.webarchive function. This is a global variable that will affect all instances of the template, use with caution. Reducing the number will increase the template speed and reduce resource use.

TemplateData
{   "description": "A template for linking to offsite archives such as Wayback, WebCite, Archive.is, etc.. ", "params": { "url": { "label": "Archive URL", "description": "URL to the archive.", "type": "string", "example": "https://web.archive.org/web/20160802001301/http://example.com/", "required": true },       "date": { "label": "Archive date", "description": "Date of the archive.", "type": "string", "example": "August 2, 2016", "suggested": true },       "title": { "label": "Archive title", "description": "Title (or text) displayed on the Wiki page for the link.", "type": "string", "suggested": true, "example": "Example website", "default": "Date argument, or the word 'Archive'" },       "nolink": { "label": "Wikilink", "description": "Wikilink to the archive's page in the rendering. Any value including blank means no wikilink.", "type": "string" },       "format": { "label": "Format of template rendering.", "description": "For multi-URL instances, render display in one of two formats.", "type": "string" }   } }