User:Tony1/Build your linking skills
 | This is an essay on Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking and Help:Link. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
High-quality linking is a skill that resembles some of the skills we use in good writing. Skilled wikilinking is important in achieving good articles on Wikipedia. It was only eight or nine years after the start of the English Wikipedia that we began to realise the potential for refining wikilinking: what to link, what not to link, how and when to substitute a general link for a more focused link, and how to integrate links smoothly into the text. So linking deserves attention just as our prose does. Please keep in mind two things:
- your readers rely on you to guide them toward the best links
- it's highly likely that readers click on links much less than we think they do, especially if the linking is dense
Overlinking. Most other language-Wikipedias have few or no rules about linking, and you can see the damage from inspecting a few of their articles. But on the English Wikipedia there's been increasing awareness that overlinking damages the linking system through dilution of high-value links in the vicinity, and that sprinkling low-value links through a text degrades its professional appearance and undermines readers' confidence that links will take them somewhere useful. So there's a trade-off in linking: increased utility needs to be balanced against the disadvantages of diluting other links close by, and of crowding the text with blue. While few editors would disagree that certain items should not be linked, and certain items should be linked, there is a grey area in the middle in which the decision to link or not link is an art rather than a laid-down, universally accepted decision.
Underlinking. We believe this is less of an issue than overlinking; it is nevertheless important to give readers links to articles (or article-sections) that are likely to be focused, relevant, and useful. This is particularly the case in highly technical topics.
Four key tests. Applying these tests will help you to make decisions about linking:
- Relevance and usefulness: Is the link-target sufficiently relevant and useful to link in the context? (See WP:LINK.)
- Specificity: Does the link lead to the most focused appropriate target? Search for more-specific sections and "daughter" articles at whatever target article you're considering: if a narrower theme can be found, please link it instead.
- Repeated links: Is the linked topic reachable—directly or indirectly—through another link in the vicinity? (If so, consider not linking.)
- WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get): Is the them of the link-target clear to the reader? (See Wikipedia:Principle of least astonishment.)
The exercises use an unfolding-design structure. Each will present you with a portion of text in which you can improve the linking. They are designed to be done in your head, without typing. The exercises unfold in stages that you control: first, the problem text, then a hidden hint to help you if necessary, by clicking to see it; then a solution. The underlying syntax appears in coloured text where necessary. Where an item has been linked or unlinked in a solution, it is underlined to show this. The examples are taken from existing Wikipedia articles, from which reference numberings have been removed to avoid clutter.
Before attempting these exercises, we recommend acquaintance with WP:LINK, the style guide that contains advice about linking, internal and external. Feedback on how to improve these exercises is welcome on the talk page.
Pace yourself. You'll get the most out of them by thinking carefully about each stage before clicking on the next. Monitor your performance for fatigue. The tasks are concentrated, so stop when you've had enough, and return fresh and relatively distant the next day to take up where you left off. "Distributed" practice (that is, spaced over time) is often more effective than attempting all of the exercises at once ("massed" practice).
Self-help writing tutorials:
Part I
[edit]In 1979 Warhol was commissioned by BMW to paint a Group 4 Race Version of the elite supercar BMW M1 for the fourth installment in the BMW Art Car Project.
Hint
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There's "chain linking" here: click on one of the links and you'll arrive at an article that in turn links to one of the others. Better to remove the broadest target. |
A solution
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In 1979 Warhol was commissioned by the German vehicle manufacturer BMW to paint a Group 4 Race Version of the elite supercar BMW M1 for the fourth installment in the BMW Art Car Project. Click on either BMW M1 or BMW Art Car Project and you'll immediately find a chain link to BMW. Even if the reader chooses not to follow the second link in the chain, the two specific links provide an explanation of what BMW is: a German car manufacturer. I've spelled out what BMW is for in situ clarity of something fundamental to the article, to avoid diverting the reader to a link right at the start. |
Entry is gained by a RFID smart card.
The issue
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A cryptic pipe. Piping should not require readers to hit the link to learn what the item means. |
A solution
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Entry is gained by a radio-frequency identification (RFID) smart card. Underlying syntax: Entry is gained by a [[radio-frequency identification|radio-frequency identification (RFID)]] smart card. Better still, minimise the blue: Entry is gained by radio-frequency identification (RFID) smart card. Entry is gained by radio-frequency identification ([[radio-frequency identification|RFID]]) smart card. |
The episode features several references to the Beatles and to McCartney's solo career.
The episode features several references to the Beatles and to McCartney's [[Paul McCartney (solo)|solo career]].
Hint
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Is there an easy way to make the pipe more explicit? |
A solution
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Now it's clear that the link goes to a page on McCartney's solo career, and not to a page on solo careers encompassing all of the Beatles. |
Cook then formed Freak Power with horn player Ashley Slater and singer Jesse Graham. They released their debut album Drive thru booty in 1994, which contained the single "Turn on, tune in, cop out". The cut was picked up by the Levi's company for use in a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign. In 1996, Cook re-joined Freak Power for the second album More of everything for everybody.
Hint
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This is a mixed bag: there's serious underlinking and there's irritating overlinking. You may have to type a few items into the search box to determine whether there's an article on them. |
A solution
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Cook then formed Freak Power with horn player Ashley Slater and singer Jesse Graham. They released their debut album Drive thru booty in 1994, which contained the single "Turn on, tune in, cop out". The cut was picked up by the Levi's company for use in a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign. In 1996, Cook re-joined Freak Power for the second album More of everything for everybody. So you searched for and found articles on "Freak Power", "Ashley Slater", and the song "Turn on, tune in, cop out" (great title!). These need to be linked. Underlinking. And you searched for and did not find articles on "Jesse Graham", "Drive thru booty", and "More of everything for everybody". You can go ahead and link these items to create "red links" for them; this may encourage an editor to subsequently create real articles on those topics, but has the disadvantage of looking messy. Certainly to be avoided near the top (or go create a stub to turn red to blue). Overlinking. The link for "advertising" needs to be shot down on sight: your readers are expected to speak English, and the term is not technically important or that target article helpful for understanding this topic of Fatboy Slim. Shift the blue to guide your readers towards the valuable targets. More elegant option? Just one thing I noticed by going to Levi's: the real name of the article to which this redirects is Levi Strauss & Co. so you might consider whether this is more elegant than "the Levi's company". Up to you. |
The Jola are very distinct from other major ethnic groups in Senegal by their language, egalitarian society, freedom from political hierarchy, and lack of slavery.
Hint
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One of these links is piped so the readers know it's a specific target; the other is not. |
A solution
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The Jola are very distinct from other major ethnic groups in Senegal by their language, egalitarian society, freedom from political hierarchy, and lack of slavery. Moving "their" into the pipe signals that the link is not just to a dictionary term, but a specific article apposite to the topic. |
Link tip. Red links can turn blue (when an article is started); blue links can turn red (when a target article is deleted). But the wording of a target section-title is nowadays redirected automatically.
Among the most valuable editorial work performed by WPians is referred to as "gnoming"—useful incremental edits behind the scenes, tying up loose ends and making articles read more smoothly. We'd be delighted if more people considered doing a little link-gnoming. It can be very satisfying to choose a category of articles you like and to work through them systematically. Gnoming can involve:
- (1) clicking on some or most of the links to check that they're optimal;
- (2) looking out for overlinking; and
- (3) applying the WYSIWYG test to pipes.
User:Ohconfucius has written a number of scripts that deal with overlinking of common terms, mixed date formats, and wrong use of hyphens for en dashes. These can be used individually or as a composite script, and usually require a little human oversight. If you don't know how to incorporate his scripts, please ask him.
Part II
[edit]Soon after, Greengages were cultivated in the American colonies, and were even grown on the plantations of American presidents George Washington (1732–99) and Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826). However, the cultivation of greengages in North America has declined significantly since the 18th century.
Soon after, Greengages were cultivated in the [[Colonial America|American colonies]], and were even grown on the plantations of [[President of the United States|American presidents]] [[George Washington]] (1732–99) and [[Thomas Jefferson]] (1743–1826). However, the [[cultivation]] of greengages in [[North America]] has declined significantly since the [[eighteenth century|18th century]].
The issues
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Overlinking: check the relevance, focus and utility of each link, the guideline on chronological items, and one or two rules at WP:LINK about the locating of links in the text. |
Partial hint
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Apart from overlinking, there's the "don't jam links together" rule and the "link the first occurrence" rule. |
A solution
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Probably none of the links is justified. Was that your conclusion?
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As a result of his father's conflict with Uhtred and the Scottish king William the Lion, Donnchadh became a hostage of King Henry II of England.
As a result of his father's conflict with Uhtred and the Scottish king [[William I of Scotland|William the Lion]], Donnchadh became a hostage of King [[Henry II of England]].
Hint
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There's something awkward about one of these links; read the sentence aloud and think of the titles. |
A solution
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As a result of his father's conflict with Uhtred and the Scottish king William the Lion, Donnchadh became a hostage of King Henry II of England. As a result of his father's conflict with Uhtred and the Scottish king [[William I of Scotland|William the Lion]], Donnchadh became a hostage of [[Henry II of England|King Henry II of England]]. The generic "king", with a small k, is not part of the first compound title that is linked (as though, "the Scottish king, William the Lion"); but "King", with upper-case K, is part of the title "King Henry II of England": it is awkward to see part of the title black and part of it blue. |
A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election. The vast majority of countries in the world have established a voting age, with the implication that those of an age lower than the chosen threshold lack the necessary capacity to independently decide how to cast a vote. The voting age is sometimes considered to be of such importance that it is set by constitutional provision.
The issue
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Overlinking. Ask yourself how relevant each link is to increasing the understanding of this topic by most readers. Editors may differ as to the final solution. |
A solution
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A voting age is a minimum age established by law that a person must attain to be eligible to vote in a public election. The vast majority of countries in the world have established a voting age, with the implication that those of an age lower than the chosen threshold lack the necessary capacity to independently decide how to cast a vote. The voting age is often of such importance that it is set by constitutional provision.
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Through war, persecution and the introduction of infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, by 1833 the indigenous population dwindled to just 300.
The issue
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Totally misleading pipes. You may need to click on the links to work out how to fix this. Fortunately, it's not yet a long sentence, so there's room for explanation. |
A solution
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Through the "Black War" between 19th-century European colonists and the indigenous people, the forced removal of those people beyond a "Black Line" drawn around European settlements and the introduction of infectious diseases to which they had no immunity, by 1833 the indigenous population had dwindled to just 300. This is a good example of the subtle interaction between wikilinking and prose. "War" and "persecution" are probably misleading, even in summary style. Readers should not have to hunt down the meaning by travelling to those "hidden" links. Now that these links are more explicit, readers are more likely to want to find out more by clicking on them. |
More than 15 million people were killed, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in history.
More than [[World War I casualties|15 million people]] were killed, making it one of the [[list of wars and disasters by death toll|deadliest conflicts]] in [[history]].
The issues
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(1) Unusual, "cryptic" pipe; (2) overlinking. |
Hint
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"15 million people"—is there a slightly better part of the sentence you could use as the pipe to World War I casualties? |
A solution
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More than 15 million people were killed, making it one of the deadliest conflicts in history. More than 15 million people [[World War I casualties|were killed]], making it one of the [[list of wars and disasters by death toll|deadliest conflicts]] in history. |
Link tip: The two world wars that occurred during that brutal and chaotic century, the 20th, are so well-known that it is usually not necessary to link them. The exception may be in military history articles.
Part III—Let's look at popular entertainers
[edit]Denver became outspoken in politics in the mid-1970s. In 1976, he campaigned for the election of Jimmy Carter, who became a close friend and ally. Denver was a supporter of the Democratic Party, and a number of charitable causes for the environment, the homeless, the poor, the hungry, and the African AIDS crisis. He founded the charitable Windstar Foundation in 1976 to promote sustainable living. His dismay at the Chernobyl disaster led to precedent-setting concerts in parts of communist Asia and Europe.
Denver became outspoken in politics in the mid-1970s. In 1976, he campaigned for the [[1976 United States presidential election|election of Jimmy Carter]], who became a close friend and ally. Denver was a supporter of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], and a number of [[Charitable cause|charitable]] causes for the [[Environmentalism|environment]], the [[homelessness|homeless]], the [[poverty|poor]], the hungry, and the [[HIV/AIDS in Africa|African AIDS crisis]]. He founded the charitable [[Windstar Foundation]] in 1976 to promote [[sustainable living]]. His dismay at the [[Chernobyl disaster]] led to precedent-setting concerts in parts of [[communism|communist]] [[Asia]] and [[Europe]].
The issues
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(1) The linking of common words; (2) a misleading pipe-link; (3) underlinking. |
A solution
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Denver became outspoken in politics in the mid-1970s. In 1976, he campaigned for the election of Jimmy Carter, who became a close friend and ally. Denver was a supporter of the Democratic Party, and a number of charitable causes for the environment, the homeless, the poor, the hungry, and the African AIDS crisis. He founded the charitable Windstar Foundation in 1976 to promote sustainable living. His dismay at the Chernobyl disaster led to precedent-setting concerts in parts of communist Asia and Europe. Denver became outspoken in politics in the mid-1970s. In 1976, he campaigned for the election of [[Jimmy Carter]], who became a close friend and ally. Denver was a supporter of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]], and a number of charitable causes for the environment, the homeless, the poor, the hungry, and the [[HIV/AIDS in Africa|African AIDS crisis]]. He founded the charitable [[Windstar Foundation]] in 1976 to promote [[sustainable living]]. His dismay at the [[Chernobyl disaster]] led to precedent-setting concerts in parts of communist Asia and Europe.
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During this period, she used other intoxicants and was a heavy drinker throughout her career; her trademark beverage was Southern Comfort.
During this period, she used other [[psychoactive drug|intoxicants]] and was a [[alcoholism|heavy drinker]] throughout her career; her trademark beverage was [[Southern Comfort]].
The issues
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(1) Presumptuous piping (a serious matter of accuracy); (2) possibly common-enough terms not to require linking. |
Hint
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Is any information lost or introduced by the pipes? If so, this should be thought about carefully. |
A solution
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During this period, she used other psychoactive drugs and was a heavy drinker throughout her career; her trademark beverage was Southern Comfort. "Intoxicants" could be anything from magic mushrooms to cocaine; "psychoactive drugs", the link target, is more specific and should be explicit in the text. It is hardly an obscure term, so probably doesn't need linking here. Heavy drinking is not necessarily alcoholism; Wikipedia could conceivably be sued for libel for the confusion in this pipe. Do be careful: check the sources, and if she was an alcoholic through her heavy drinking, explain it, probably without linking. The link to "Southern Comfort" is probably necessary, even though it is clear from the context and the upper-case initials that it is a brand of alcoholic beverage. The target article does put the product into temporal context, and describes its taste and high alcohol content. |
Smith's career was cut short by a combination of the Great Depression and the advent of "talkies", which spelled the end for vaudeville. While the days of elaborate vaudeville shows were over, Smith continued touring and occasionally singing in clubs. In 1929, she appeared in a Broadway flop called Pansy, a musical in which, the top critics agreed, she was the only asset.
The issues
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(1) Again, the close relationship between the prose and the linking is at issue (the word for one link needs to be changed); (2) underlinking; and (3) probably one case of overlinking. |
A solution
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Smith's career was cut short by a combination of the Great Depression and the advent of sound films, which spelled the end for vaudeville. While the days of elaborate vaudeville shows were over, Smith continued touring and occasionally singing in clubs. In 1929, she appeared in a Broadway flop called Pansy, a musical in which, the top critics agreed, she was the only asset. Clearer linking word. "Talkies" is possibly a little informal for this context, and many readers will need to hit the link to find out what it means, which is undesirable. In any case, Talkies redirects to "Sound film", which is a much easier term for readers to understand: it should be used instead, and you can drop the quotation marks, since it's an obvious reference. Underlinking. We chose to link Great Depression, although some editors may prefer not to, particularly in a densely linked passage. "Vaudeville" is a specific genre that is probably worth linking, unlike the well-known term "musical" (straight after the link to "Broadway theatre"). |
Goldberg performed the role of Califia, the radiant Queen of California, for a theater presentation called Golden Dreams at Disney's California Adventure, the second gate at the Disneyland Resort, in 2000. The show, which explains the history of the Golden State (California), opened on February 8, 2001.
Goldberg performed the role of [[Califia]], the radiant Queen of [[Island of California|California]], for a theater presentation called ''[[Golden Dreams]]'' at [[Disney's California Adventure]], the second gate at the [[Disneyland Resort]], in 2000. The show, which explains the history of the [[Golden State]] ([[California]]), opened on February 8, 2001.
The issues
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What a mess. There are three issues: (1) one pair of links is "chained", and therefore only one of the pair needs to be linked; (2) there is one case of deceptive piping; (3) one link goes to a disambiguation page, which is bad practice. |
A solution
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Goldberg performed the role of Califia, the radiant Queen of the mythical Island of California, for a theater presentation called Golden Dreams at Disney's California Adventure, the second gate at the Disneyland Resort, in 2000. The show, which explains the history of California, "the Golden State", opened on February 8, 2001. Goldberg performed the role of [[Califia]], the radiant Queen of the mythical [[Island of California]], for a theater presentation called ''[[Golden Dreams]]'' at [[Disney's California Adventure]], the second gate at the Disneyland Resort, in 2000. The show, which explains the history of California, "the Golden State", opened on February 8, 2001. Chained links. Disney's California Adventure, needless to say, links to its location, "Disneyland Resort" in its first sentence. One link is quite sufficient if a reader wants to divert to these articles. Deceptive piping. [[Island of California]] was reduced to a quite misleading pipe, [[Island of California|California]]. By visiting the article, you'll see that it needs to be explained in the text here. Bad redirect. The Golden State goes to a whole group of articles, and the reader will have a hard time working out the intended one. In fact, there's no article specifically for this nickname of California, and the state is so well-known it is hardly worth the dilution. Don't link; instead, clarify the meaning in the text. Conclusion. The sentence looks visually tidier, the important links stand out more, and the confusion introduced by the links has been clarified. |
Link tip. Popular culture articles typically need to link to items that refer to musical output (songs, tracks, albums), other musicians, and bands. So it's important that common terms not be linked unless absolutely necessary, to avoid diluting the valuable links. Unfortunately, articles on popular culture tend to indulge in significant overlinking of trivial terms (I've seen "singer", "guitar", "roses", "suicide", "divorce" and "high school" recently).
Generally don't link these items:
- American/US/U.S.; British/English/UK; Canada/Canadian; Ireland/Irish; Australia(n); New Zealand(er); France, Germany, Italy, Europe, China, India, Asia, etc. The tendency over the past decade has been to link only little-known country-names, with the exception of geographical/settlement articles. And if there is a more-specific link (sport in Brazil, history of Vietnam), prefer it. In such cases, try not to pipe it to the country-name alone, since readers are less likely to click on general links. There's always the option of adding an unpiped link to a "See also" section, before the references at the bottom.
- New York (City); Los Angeles; London
- actor/actress; comedian; singer(-songwriter); writer/author; film producer; record producer; television producer (and specify which, please); entrepreneur; businessman, and lots more
- guitar; bass guitar (don't abbreviate to "bass"); synthesizer; keyboard; drum (kit); percussion; vocals, singer
- film; cinema; television; radio; CD; DVD; documentary; theater/re
- née (woman's surname before marriage); stage name; autobiography; divorce; libel; cancer; heart attack (or other common diseases)
- game show; talk show; host
- dates, decades, centuries