Wikipedia:Beware wikinet linking
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Beware of wikinet linking, the use of wikinets to link multiple other pages at one time. Unlike a wikilink, which links to just one other webpage (or webpage section), a wikinet generates links to several, or several thousand, other pages. Analogous to the difference between a fishing-line link with a fishing hook compared to a fishing net, a wikinet can gather numerous pages in one massive hawl. The contents of the gathered harvest can often include a hodge podge of many various pages, rather than selectively fishing for the best catch needed.
Description
editThe most common form of wikinets are wp:navboxes; however, some wp:infoboxes have been structured as wikinets, by linking to numerous minor, or off-topic pages, rather than just boxing the major information about a topic.
Overlinking by wikinets
editIn many cases, the use of a wikinet can result in severe overlinking of other pages, many only remotely related to the initial topic. In extreme cases, the amassing of numerous wikilinks can turn the bulk of a page into the format of a table-of-contents list, or a phonebook index of a myriad of other topics to consider.
While some wikinet links can be beneficial, such as linking several closely-related topics, within one box, there has been a tendency to vastly overlink the wikinets, where pages have become more than 60% wikinet-connected links. In those cases, almost none of the links provided by the wikinets have been mentioned within the remainder of the article page. The result is akin to attaching some long index pages to every page in a book.