Help:Using WebCite: Difference between revisions

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==Use within Wikipedia==

Links archived with [[WebCite]] should appear in long format (see [[Wikipedia_talk:Using_archive.is#RfC:_Should_we_use_short_or_long_format_URLs.3F|RfC]]).

Links archived with [[WebCite]] may appear in two formats. The first format uses a 9-digit [[hexadecimal]] "Snapshot ID," similar to [[URL shortening]] services, to provide a more convenient link: <code><nowiki>http://www.webcitation.org/XXXXXXXXX</nowiki></code> The second format displays the original URL and the date of archiving within the URL itself: <code><nowiki>http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.example.com&date=2009-11-04</nowiki></code>. Either is appropriate for use within Wikipedia.

An example long format URL:

:<code><nowiki>http://www.webcitation.org/5eWaHRbn4?url=http://www.example.com/</nowiki></code>

The 9-digit [[hexadecimal]] "Snapshot ID," similar to [[URL shortening]] services, contains a base 62 coded timestamp that can be extracted by bots and other programs. It also serves as a unique page ID. This is followed by the original URL which helps protect against malicious code that is hiding an inappropriate link, such as spam.

A second optional long format URL:

:<code><nowiki>http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.example.com&date=2009-11-04</nowiki></code>

This foregoes the "Snapshot ID" and uses a date argument instead. Either is appropriate for use within Wikipedia.

This archive URL can be inserted into the <code>archiveurl=</code> and its supporting <code>archivedate=</code> and <code>deadurl=</code> parameters in any of the [[Wikipedia:Citation templates|citation templates]]. If the original URL is [[Wikipedia:Link rot|no longer accessible]], the <code>deadurl</code> parameter value should be set to <code>yes</code>. If the original URL is still accessible, the <code>deadurl</code> parameter value should be set to <code>no</code>.