Wikipedia:Using the Wayback Machine
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This page is a how-to guide detailing a practice or process on the English Wikipedia. |
This page gives information about using the Wayback Machine to cite archived copies of web pages used by articles. This is useful if a webpage has changed, moved, or disappeared; links to the original content can be retained.
Any link to the Wayback Machine starts with http://web.archive.org/. This is followed by a date reference, and then the URL of the site. The following example links to all versions of the main index page of Wikipedia. The asterisk is a wild card for all dates:
The next example links to the main index of Wikipedia on the date on September 30, 2002 at 12:35 pm (and 25 seconds). the date format is YYYYMMDDhhmmss
The next example links to the most current version of the Wikipedia. While this is possible, it is discouraged; the most recent version is subject to change, defeating the purpose of using the archive.
See also: Advanced URL locator hints and tips - Internet Archive
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[edit] Javascript bookmarklet
For a one-click-button in your browser, to use when you're at a dead-link webpage, and go to whatever archive.org has saved for it, store the following code in a bookmark on your browser's toolbar, with a label like Wayback:
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javascript:void(location.href='http://classic-web.archive.org/web/*/'+location.href)
You can also use Wayback beta:
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javascript:void(location.href='http://web.archive.org/*/'+location.href)
[edit] Mozilla Firefox Add-on
If you are using a Mozilla Firefox browser, you can install a 404 error add-on which will automatically try to detect a missing page in Wayback machine, and provides a button similar to the one described above.
[edit] Wayback template
{{wayback}} can create these links for you; use the 'url' and 'date' parameters to specify the URL and date. For example:
- {{wayback|url=http://www.wikipedia.org}}
→ Archive copy at the Wayback Machine
Note that the date parameter defaults to '*'.
[edit] Cite templates
{{cite news}}, {{cite study}}, and {{cite web}} support the archiveurl parameter (Note that the archivedate parameter is also required!)
- {{cite web |url=http://www.wikipedia.org |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/20020930123525/http://www.wikipedia.org |archivedate=2005-07-06 |title=Wikipedia Main Page |accessdate=2002-09-30 }}
→ "Wikipedia Main Page". Archived from the original on 2005-07-06. http://web.archive.org/20020930123525/http://www.wikipedia.org. Retrieved 2002-09-30.
