Wikipedia:Images linking to articles

This page explains how to place images on wiki pages, where the image acts as a hypertext link to somewhere other than the image description page. Care should be taken that this is done in compliance with the licensing terms of the file in question, particularly if they require proper attribution.

Most image links are created using the  syntax, and clicking on such an image follows a link to a page with information about the image itself, including the licensing terms. However, it is sometimes desirable to have images that link to other pages. This can be done in two ways:


 * 1) Using the   option with the   syntax.
 * 2) Using the  syntax, provided by the ImageMap extension.

The link syntax is easier to use and can create simple images that the imagemap syntax cannot, but it can only be used with plain pictures; it cannot be used with thumb images.

The imagemap syntax is very flexible, but it is complicated. It allows different parts of the image to link to different targets; the details of how to do that are out of scope of this article.

Examples
Note: Line breaks have been inserted to make the example easier to read, but must be removed in real use.

Internal link without a caption or magnification link
With image syntax, it can be done this way:





This cannot be done with imagemap syntax.

External link without a caption or magnification link
With image syntax:





With imagemap syntax:



With a caption
This cannot be done with the image syntax, because a thumb image ignores its link parameter. With imagemaps, it can be done this way:



With info link but no caption
This cannot be done with image syntax. With imagemap syntax, it can be done this way:

