Template:Webarchive/doc

This template is a replacement for, , and.

Usage
In most cases the template needs only two arguments, the archive url and archive date.

Example:
 * Produces:
 * Produces:

Example 2:
 * Produces:
 * Produces:

It is also common to include a title

Example 3:


 * Produces:
 * Produces:

Multiple URLs
The template optionally supports multiple URLs (up to 10) for linking to multiple archiving services for the same source link. The first url argument is url then url2 .. url10. Each URL can have its own date and title argument, thus date2 .. date10 and title2 .. title10.

Options
Main options


 * url..url10: The URL(s) to the archive service. There should always be a url which counts as the first url. Each url# can have its own numbered corresponding date# and title#. Matching of URL with date and title is done by numbers, not position. Numbers do not need to be in sequence, for example url2 followed by url5 works.


 * date..date10: The date the page was archived. The date format displayed is the same as entered. If date is missing the template will make a best effort to find the date by decoding the archive URL (wayback and webcite for example provide this data in the URL), and will display the date in iso format by default. However including a date is recommended for date formatting reasons, and because other tools may not have the ability to decode the date from the URL.


 * title..title10: The text displayed for the link. If no title is provided then date is displayed. Otherwise title takes precedence if both are set.

Secondary options


 * nolink: If set to any value, the archive service name will not be wikilinked.


 * format: This is a special option to support the merger of . It may be deprecated in the future. Because CS1|2 templates do not currently support more than one archive link, this template will tack on additional archive links to the end of a CS1|2 template output. It takes two values: addlarchives or addlpages. Addlarchives will display output appropriate for linking to multiple web archiving services. Addlpages will display output appropriate for linking to multiple pages at the same archive.

Examples
The number of possible examples is extensive depending on the mix of options. Some common cases follow. For more extensive testing see the testcases page.


 * Single link at Wayback with date and title (recommended method)
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Single link at Wayback with date only
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Single link at Wayback with no date and no title
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Single link at WebCite with no date and no title
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Single link at Archive.is with no date and no title
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Multi-link at Wayback with dates and titles (recommended method)
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Multi-link at Wayback with dates only
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Multi-link at Wayback with titles only
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Additional archives format:
 * Produces:
 * Produces:


 * Additional pages format:
 * Produces:
 * Produces:

Tracking categories
The template has a number of hidden tracking categories which may be added (via Module:Webarchive):


 * : links to Wayback Machine
 * : links to WebCite
 * : links to Archive.is
 * : links to known archive sites that don't have their own tracking category
 * : the template doesn't recognize the archive URL; this may indicate an error in the data; or the template itself needs updating to reflect a new archive site
 * : soft errors that do not prevent the template from working but leave a red message
 * : errors typically requiring human intervention

Template maintenance
The following can be done to maintain the template.

Monitor tracking categories


 * The tracking categories for "warnings" and "errors" can be monitored to alert for any problems in the data.
 * The tracking category for "unknown archives" may indicate a problem in the data; for example an editor used the source URL instead of the archive URL in the url field.

Monitor template argument usage

This tool shows which instances of the template are using which arguments—it shows for example that access-date is being used by five instances in five articles. Since this is an error (the template does not support access-date) those five template instances should be fixed to remove the access-date.

Configuration: verifydates

The template can verify that dates in URLs for Wayback, WebCite, and Archive.is match the date in the date argument. If the dates do not match it will display the date from the URL, add a red warning message "date mismatch", and add the article to the warning tracking category.

Because the verification function adds some overhead to the template, it can optionally be globally disabled by setting the variable "verifydates = no" (see the Module source in function p.webarchive). Note that after setting to "yes", it can take a week or more for the tracking category to be fully populated. Set to "yes" if you are searching for problems in the data that need fixing (they'll show up in the tracking category).

Configuration: maxurls

The max number of URLs is 10 but this can be changed by setting the "maxurls" variable in the p.webarchive function. This is a global variable that will affect all instances of the template, use with caution. Reducing the number will increase the template speed and reduce resource use.