User:Chris Brown/Interwiki practice

I am starting this sub-page article so that I can relate my findings without having to include the whole of the findings when discussing InterWiki policy.

The issue of interwiki policy arose when I added interwiki (internal) links to Infosecpedia within the main text of two Wikipedia articles (information security and confidentiality).

Definitions

External vs Interwiki

• External - links of the form [URL]] and [URL description], examples:
  • [http://usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?InterWiki] - looks like [1]
  • [http://usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?InterWiki InterWiki] - looks like InterWiki
• Interwiki - links of the form [[Code:Pagename]], examples:
  • [[MeatBall:InterWiki]] - looks like MeatBall:InterWiki
  • [[MeatBall:InterWiki|]] - looks like InterWiki
  • [[MeatBall:InterWiki|InterWiki page on MeatBall]] - looks like InterWiki page on MeatBall

Wikified text vs Source note

• Wikified text - words or phrases that themselves are some sort link, examples:
  • [http://usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?InterWiki InterWiki] - looks like InterWiki
  • [[MeatBall:InterWiki|]] - looks like InterWiki
• Source note - numbered pointers to the source of material or fact, examples:
  • [http://usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?InterWiki] - looks like [2]

Inventory of current practice

Sponsor	Project	Interwiki use in main text	Interwiki use in appendicies
Wikimedia Foundation	Wikipedia	General articles: Interwiki used rarely Interwiki, when used, is only to Wiktionary. Current events: External used regularly to cite sources. Interlanguage: Interwiki used exlusively	Interwiki used when available External used regularly
Wikimedia Foundation	Meta-Wikipedia	Interwiki has been used, eg: [3], [4]
Wikimedia Foundation	Wikinews	Interwiki used regularly for links to Wikipedia. Interwiki used only for links to Wikipedia and Wiktionary. External used regularly for words/phrases and to cite sources.	Interwiki used when available External used regularly
Wikimedia Foundation	Wiktionary
Wikimedia Foundation	Wikibooks
Wikimedia Foundation	Wikiquotes
Wikimedia Foundation	Wikisource
	Wikinfo
Security Commons	Infosecpedia	Interwiki used Interwiki generally does not hide interwiki link, eg: Infosecpedia:Password External used for source notes	Interwiki used when available External used regularly

Suggested reading

General background

• InterWiki - The whole article
• MeatBall:InterWiki - discussion of general interwiki concept
• MeatBall:InterMap - discussion of mechanism that Wikipedia implements through its interwiki table

Use of interwiki

• Wikipedia:How_to_link_to_Wikimedia_projects - The article says, in part: Wikipedia encourages links to sister projects and interlanguage links when possible. However, links to sister projects should not be used excessively.
• Help:Interwiki_linking - How to interwiki link, some policies are implied or loosely stated
• Wikipedia:Links#Interwiki_links - links to Wikipedia and Meta articles on the subject

Use of interwiki links in redirects

• Wikipedia:Soft_redirect - The special case of interwiki redirects. The first paragraph states, in part: Normal or "hard" redirects are undesirable ... because they cannot be undone without hand-crafting the correct URL and there are infinite loop security considerations.
• Help:Redirect#Inter-wiki_redirects_and_redirects_to_Special_pages

Use of external links

• Wikipedia:Guide_to_writing_better_articles#Standard_appendices - The last paragraph of the section Standard appendicies states, in part: Don't use external links where we'll want Wikipedia links. Don't put in links ... to external URLs linking text that we will want articles on Wikipedia about. Put external links in an "External links" section at the end of the article. For example, if you're writing an article about Descartes and you know of a great article about rationalism online, don't link the word "rationalism" to that article. Simply wikify the word rationalism, and add an "External links" section with an external link to the source (perhaps in both articles).

Furthur reading

• Wikipedia:Tip_of_the_day_archive#Interwiki_and_interlanguage_links

Active discussions

• Wikipedia:Village_pump_(policy)#Infosecpedia
• Wikipedia:Village_pump_(policy)#Interwiki_redirects

Past discussions

• Talk:Loop_quantum_gravity#Let.27s_port_everything_over_to_Wikinfo
• Wikipedia:Village_pump/May_2003_archive - a question on InterWiki use with no answer
• Wikipedia:Village_pump/January_2004_archive_4#How_to_redirect_to_Wiktionary_.28et_al.29_within_Wikipedia - User:Angela says, in part: Interwiki redirects are generally considered a bad thing.

Reference

• m:Interwiki map