Template:Webarchive

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{{Webarchive}} 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 {{wayback}}, {{webcite}}, {{memento}} and {{cite archives}}.

Usage

In most cases the template needs only two arguments, the archive |url= and archive |date=.

Example:

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801000000/http://example.com |date=1 August 2016}}

Produces: Archived 1 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine

Example 2:

{{webarchive |url=https://www.webcitation.org/5eWaHRbn4?url=http://www.example.com/ |date=12 February 2009}}

Produces: Archived 12 February 2009 at WebCite

It is also common to include a |title=

Example 3:

{{webarchive |url=https://www.webcitation.org/5eWaHRbn4?url=http://www.example.com/ |date=12 February 2009 |title=Page title}}

Produces: Page title at WebCite (archived 12 February 2009)

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=.

Options

Main options

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 options

nolink

If set to any value (including blank such as |nolink=) the wiki-link for the archive service will not be displayed. For example if Wayback Machine was previously linked in an article, it won't be linked again.

format

This is a special option to support the merger of {{cite archives}}. It may be deprecated in the future. Because CS1|2 templates do not currently support more than 1 archive link, this template will tack on additional archive links to the end of a CS1|2 template output. It takes two values: |format=addlarchives or |format=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.

origurl

This is the original URL and this argument should not be used unless you know what you're doing. This option is not recommended because it is redundant, not needed by the template and creates error-prone interactions with other link rot tools. For example given the original URL http://www.example.com it is already contained in the archive URLs:

Wayback: |url=https://web.archive.org/web/YYYYMMDDhhmmss/http://www.example.com

Webcite: |url=https://www.webcitation.org/5eWaHRbn4?url=http://www.example.com (more info at Using WebCite)

Archive.is: |url=https://archive.is/YYYYMMDDhhmmss/http://www.example.com (more info at Using Archive.is)

Archive services that have the option for long-form URLs, like the above examples, should use that (most do) instead of |origurl=. See RfC which discusses the policy of disallowing URL-shortening which can be used to hide blacklisted websites. In the rare instances when an archive service only has shortened URLs available, the original URL can be stored in the |origurl= argument. Another reason not to use this argument unless necessary is because other link-rot tools (bots, edit scripts etc) may try to "save" the URL - which is presumably dead - by converting it to an archive URL, adding a dead link tag or even messing with the archive URL. Note that the argument is not used by the template it's only for storage.

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 with date and title (recommended method)

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801101852/http://example.com |date=August 1, 2016 |title=Page title}}

Page title at the Wayback Machine (archived August 1, 2016)

• Single link at Wayback with date only

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801101852/http://example.com |date=August 1, 2016}}

Archived August 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine

• Single link at Wayback with no date and no title

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801101852/http://example.com}}

Archived 2016-08-01 at the Wayback Machine

• Single link at WebCite with no date and no title

{{webarchive |url=https://www.webcitation.org/5eWaHRbn4?url=http://www.example.com}}

Archived 2009-02-12 at WebCite

• Single link at Archive.is with no date and no title

{{webarchive |url=https://archive.is/2016.08.08-112330/http://example.com}}

Archived 2016-08-08 at Archive.today

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

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801/http://example.com |title=Page title |date=August 1, 2016 |url2=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901/http://example.com |title2=Page2 title |date2=September 1, 2016}}

Page title at the Wayback Machine (archived August 1, 2016). Additional archives: Page2 title.

• Multi-link at Wayback with dates only

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801/http://example.com |date=August 1, 2016 |url2=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901/http://example.com |date2=September 1, 2016}}

Archived August 1, 2016, at the Wayback Machine. Additional archives: September 1, 2016.

• Multi-link at Wayback with titles only

{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160801/http://example.com |title=Page title |url2=https://web.archive.org/web/20160901/http://example.com |title2=Page2 title}}

Page title at the Wayback Machine (archived 2016-08-01). Additional archives: Page2 title.

Tracking categories

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

• Category:Webarchive template wayback links (29,622) – links to Wayback Machine
• Category:Webarchive template webcite links (16) – links to WebCite
• Category:Webarchive template archiveis links (905) – links to Archive.is
• Category:Webarchive template other archives (123) – links to known archive sites that don't have their own tracking category
• Category:Webarchive template unknown archives (15) – 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
• Category:Webarchive template warnings (22) – soft errors that don't prevent the template from working but leave a red message
• Category:Webarchive template errors (0) – 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.

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 don't 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.

VisualEditor TemplateData

What is this? See https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:TemplateData

A template for linking to offsite archives such as Wayback, WebCite, Archive.is, etc..

Template parameters[Edit template data]

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Archive URL	url	URL to the archive. Example https://web.archive.org/web/20160101000000/http://example.com	String	required
Archive date	date	Date of the archive. Example January 1, 2016	String	suggested
Archive title	title	Title (or text) displayed on the Wiki page for the link. Default Date argument, or the word 'Archive' Example Example website	String	suggested
Wikilink	nolink	Wikilink to the archive's page in the rendering. Any value including blank means no wikilink.	String	optional
Format of template rendering.	format	For multi-URL instances, render display in one of two formats.	String	optional

The documentation on top is transcluded from Template:Webarchive/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (create | mirror) and testcases (create) pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.