Editing Help/Links (section)

== External links == <!--T:31-->
</translate>
<translate><!--T:32--> To [[<tvar name=h-edit>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Editing pages</tvar>|create]] an external link, usually to a page at a different website, enclose the URL followed by space and the link text in single square brackets (see examples below).</translate>
<translate><!--T:354--> When you save or preview the page, you will see a link rendered slightly differently than an internal wikilink.</translate>
<translate><!--T:355--> It may be a different color and/or be followed by an arrow icon to show that it may lead to another site.</translate>

{| class="wikitable"
!style="width:15%"| <translate><!--T:33--> Description</translate>
!style="width:45%"| <translate><!--T:34--> You type</translate>
!style="width:40%"| <translate><!--T:35--> You get</translate>

|-
| <translate><!--T:37--> External link with specified link text</translate>
| <pre>[https://mediawiki.org MediaWiki]</pre>
| [https://mediawiki.org MediaWiki]

|-
| <translate><!--T:38--> Numbered external link</translate>
| <pre>[https://mediawiki.org]</pre>

<translate><!--T:105--> This is what happens if you omit the link text.</translate>
<translate><!--T:156--> Multiple links of this type on the same page are numbered sequentially.</translate>
|[https://mediawiki.org]

|-
| <translate><!--T:36--> Bare external link</translate>
|<pre>https://mediawiki.org</pre>
<translate><!--T:106--> URLs beginning with "<tvar name=1><code>http://</code></tvar>" and "<tvar name=2><code>https://</code></tvar>" are automatically linked, even when no brackets are used.</translate>
|https://mediawiki.org

|-
|<span id="How to avoid auto-links"><translate><!--T:110--> Avoiding auto-linking of URLs</translate></span>
|<syntaxhighlight lang=html><nowiki>https://mediawiki.org</nowiki></syntaxhighlight>
|<nowiki>https://mediawiki.org</nowiki>

|-
| <translate><!--T:75--> [[w:Protocol-relative URL|Protocol-relative]] external link</translate>
|<pre>
[//en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]

[//en.wikipedia.org //en.wikipedia.org]
</pre>
<translate><!--T:107--> The link will be <tvar name=code1>HTTP</tvar> or <tvar name=code2>HTTPS</tvar> depending on the protocol of the page currently being viewed (which could be different for different users).</translate>
<translate><!--T:143--> This is only supported inside of square brackets <tvar name=code3><code><nowiki>[ ]</nowiki></code></tvar>.</translate>
<translate><!--T:144--> Using "<tvar name=code4><code>//en.wikipedia.org</code></tvar>" by itself ''does not'' result in a link.</translate>
|
[//en.wikipedia.org Wikipedia]

[//en.wikipedia.org //en.wikipedia.org]

|-
| <translate><!--T:41--> External link to the current server</translate>
|<pre>https:///pagename</pre>
|https:///pagename

|-
| <translate><!--T:42--> External link to other host passing the pagename</translate>
|<pre>https://google.com/search?q=</pre>

<translate><!--T:79--> See also:</translate> , 
|https://google.com/search?q=Links

|-
| <translate><!--T:43--> Mailto link</translate>
|<pre>[mailto:info@example.org email me]</pre>
|[mailto:info@example.org email me]

|-
| <translate><!--T:44--> Mailto named with subject line and body</translate>
|<pre>[mailto:info@example.org?Subject=URL%20Encoded%20Subject&amp;body=Body%20Text info]</pre>
|[mailto:info@example.org?Subject=URL%20Encoded%20Subject&body=Body%20Text info]

|-
| <translate><!--T:80--> Custom URI</translate>
|<pre>[skype:echo123 call me]</pre>

<translate><!--T:81--> Any URI you wish to add needs to be first declared through <tvar name=UrlProtocols></tvar>.</translate>
<translate><!--T:82--> (This example is not enabled on mediawiki.org)</translate>
|[skype:echo123 call me]

|}

<translate>
=== Using email links === <!--T:157-->
</translate>
<translate><!--T:216--> Email links use <tvar name=1><code>mailto:</code></tvar> before the address.</translate>
<translate><!--T:219--> They're written like this:  (resulting in ).</translate>
<translate><!--T:217--> If there's no name, the address is automatically numbered, like this: <tvar name=1><code><nowiki>[mailto:anyone@example.org]</nowiki></code></tvar> becomes <tvar name=2>[mailto:anyone@example.org]</tvar>.</translate>

<translate>
<!--T:218-->
Addresses without square brackets won't be linked, e.g., <tvar name=1>anyone@example.com</tvar>.

<!--T:220-->
You can also add a CC using  (resulting in ).
</translate>

<translate><!--T:243--> To add a subject, use:</translate>
<code><nowiki>[mailto:anyone@example.com?subject=</nowiki>Subject<nowiki>]</nowiki></code>

<translate>
=== External links to internal pages === <!--T:45-->

<!--T:46-->
To add a link to a page on the same wiki using [[w:URI scheme | URL query parameters]], you may need to use external link syntax.
</translate>

{| border="1" class="wikitable" id="You type"
! <translate><!--T:47--> Description</translate> 
! <translate><!--T:48--> You type</translate>
! <translate><!--T:49--> You get</translate>

|-
| <translate><!--T:50--> External link to the current page's edit page</translate>
|<pre>
[https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Links&action=edit <translate nowrap><!--T:224--> Edit this page</translate>]

[|action=edit}} <translate nowrap><!--T:225--> Edit this page</translate>]
</pre>

<translate><!--T:52--> See also [[<tvar name=url-data>Special:MyLanguage/Help:Magic_words#URL_data</tvar>|Help:Magic_words#URL_data]] and [[<tvar name=external>#External links</tvar>|External links]] above.</translate>
|
[https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Links&action=edit <translate><!--T:244--> Edit this page</translate>]

[|action=edit}} <translate><!--T:226--> Edit this page</translate>]

|-
| <translate><!--T:53--> External link to the current page's edit page, and styled to look like an internal link</translate>
|<syntaxhighlight lang=html><span class="plainlinks">[https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Links&action=edit Edit this page]</span></syntaxhighlight>

<translate><!--T:54--> The [[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/Plainlinks</tvar>|plainlinks class]] can be used in cases where you want an external link to look like an internal one, by suppressing the icon that normally appears after it.</translate>
|<span class="plainlinks">[https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Links&action=edit <translate><!--T:227--> Edit this page</translate>]</span>
|}

<translate>
===The arrow icon === <!--T:221-->
</translate>
<translate><!--T:222--> Some skins add an arrow icon <tvar name=1>[[File:link-external-small-ltr-progressive.svg]]</tvar> after each external link by default.</translate>
<translate><!--T:245--> However, this can be avoided by using <tvar name=1>class=""</tvar>.</translate>
<translate><!--T:223--> For instance:</translate>

*<code><nowiki>[http://a a]</nowiki></code> → [http://a a]
*<code><nowiki><</nowiki>span class="plainlinks"><nowiki>[http://a a]</</nowiki>span></code> → <span class="plainlinks">[http://a a]</span>

<translate>
=== Using Linksearch === <!--T:228-->
</translate>
<translate><!--T:229--> <tvar name=1>[[Special:Linksearch]]</tvar> is a built-in tool that helps find pages linked to a specific URL.</translate>
<translate><!--T:230--> By using the <tvar name=1></tvar> table, it generates a comprehensive list of page names where the link originates, along with the complete target link for each source page.</translate>
<translate><!--T:231--> You can search in all namespaces or just one.</translate>
<translate><!--T:232--> It supports wildcard (<tvar name=1>*</tvar>) use, so you can search by [[w:top-level domain|top-level domain]] (e.g. <tvar name=2>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Linksearch?title=Special%3ALinksearch&target=*.nl]</tvar>), [[w:second-level domain|second-level domain]] (e.g. <tvar name=3>[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Linksearch?title=Special%3ALinksearch&target=*.ns.nl]</tvar>), etc. or refine your search by specifying parts of the URL e.g. <tvar name=4>[http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:Linksearch?title=Special%3ALinksearch&target=en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal]</tvar>.</translate>

{{note|1=
* <translate><!--T:233--> Avoid including <tvar name=1>"http://"</tvar>.</translate>
* <translate><!--T:234--> The program might not return any results if there is a colon in the URL.</translate>
* <translate><!--T:235--> MediaWiki page names in URLs should have underscores instead of spaces.</translate> <translate><!--T:236--> The Linksearch function also requires underscores in URLs.</translate>
* <translate><!--T:237--> Linksearch is sensitive to capitalization, multiple underscores, and the use of <tvar name=1><code>index.php</code></tvar>.</translate> <translate><!--T:238--> It may not find alternative URLs even if they lead to the same target.</translate> <translate><!--T:239--> Therefore, when creating an external link, it's best to use the canonical form of the URL.</translate> <translate><!--T:240--> If the address bar displays a modified URL after following a link, update the URL in the link accordingly for optimal use of Linksearch.</translate>
* <translate><!--T:241--> The list is sorted by URL, using .</translate> <translate><!--T:242--> Note that an underscore, unlike a blank space, is alphabetically positioned between <tvar name=1><code>Z</code></tvar> and <tvar name=2><code>a</code></tvar>.</translate>
}}

<translate>
=== Using backlinks === <!--T:246-->
</translate>
<translate><!--T:247--> Normally, internal links within a project are easy to spot and useful for finding related pages.</translate>
<translate><!--T:248--> But when there's a mix of internal and external links, it can be tricky to track backlinks, it necessitates the use of both "[[<tvar name=1>Special:MyLanguage/Help:What links here</tvar>|Help:What links here]]" and "<tvar name=2>[[#Linksearch|Linksearch]]</tvar>".</translate>
<translate><!--T:251--> However, for links to specific sections or anchors, it's possible to include both an internal link and, with CSS styling using <tvar name=1><code>display=none</code></tvar> an external link to provide backlink.</translate>

<translate><!--T:249--> External links are better than interwiki links.</translate>
<translate><!--T:250--> With Linksearch, you can even find backlinks to specific sections or anchors.</translate>
<translate><!--T:252--> So, combining both internal and external links while hiding the external ones <tvar name=1><code><nowiki><span style="display:none">http://...</span></nowiki></code></tvar> gives us the best of both worlds.</translate>

<translate>
=== Limitations === <!--T:148-->
</translate>
# <translate><!--T:151--> ''External links'' doesn't support ''Word-ending links''.</translate>
# <translate><!--T:152--> ''External links'' doesn't count toward <tvar name=1><nowiki>Special:WhatLinksHere</nowiki></tvar> ([[<tvar name=2>Special:MyLanguage/Help:What links here</tvar>|What links here]]).</translate>

<translate>