MediaWiki

Chapter 5. Links

Any web page can have links, but on a wiki, links are critical. Much of the power, expressiveness, and utility of wikis comes from effective linking, leading the reader efficiently from topic to topic. A wiki article without links is like a room without exits.

In this chapter, we’ll discuss:

• Internal links within a single wiki

• External links to other websites

• Interwiki links between wikis

• Interlanguage links between translations of the same article

• Graphical links that use graphics instead of text

• File links to files on a local computer

• Linking tips for effective wiki articles

Internal Links

An internal link leads to another page on the same wiki. It’s simple to create an internal link: just type the name of the target page surrounded by double square brackets:

[[like this]]

Here’s an example of an internal link placed conversationally within a sentence:

It's cheaper to purchase [[dog food]] in bulk.

This displays a link to the wiki article Dog food.

The links [[dog food]] and [[Dog food]] are equivalent, pointing to the same article. The link [[Dog Food]] with a capital “F” refers to a different article, however. MediaWiki’s rules of case-sensitivity are quirky, but they make sense when you’re used to them. The sidebar Article Titles and Case-Sensitivity” explains these rules in detail.

Note

MediaWiki article titles are generally plain, conversational text, like dog food or building a dog house. Some other wikis prefer “camel-case” article titles, like DogFood or BuildingADogHouse. ...