Interwiki links

Interwiki links provide a shorthand method to link to pages in other wikis administered by the Wikimedia Foundation, including for example:

• Wikipedia
• Wikiversity
• Wikibooks
• Wikiquote
• Wiktionary
• Mediawiki

This shorthand method provides an easy way to link to the target pages of the English versions of these wikis without typing out the full URL for the page concerned. This is a special feature of the Mediawiki software which powers WikiEducator and the wiki sites listed above. From a technical point of view, this feature enables these external links to be treated as internal links in WikiEducator.

Example

How to link to the article "Cat" in Wikipedia using an interwiki link The full URL for the article on cats in Wikipedia is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat An interwiki link provides a shorthand version of the link address. In the case of the English Wikipedia, inserting the prefix "w:" (or "wikipedia:") before the article name, will create a link to that page as if it were an internal link. Therefore, the link address w:cat will link directly to cat avoiding the need to type out the full URL address: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat.

Using an interwiki link can save time when linking to pages in these wikis.

Summary of shorthand web addresses for interwiki links

The following table gives examples of the interwiki prefixes that are available on WikiEducator.

Interwiki Wiki	Destination URL	Shorthand link address	Link example
Wikipedia	http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat	w:Cat or wikipedia:Cat	Cat
Wikibooks	http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Anatomy_and_Physiology_of_Animals	b:Anatomy_and_Physiology_of_Animals or wikibooks:Anatomy_and_Physiology_of_Animals	Anatomy and Physiology of Animals
Wikiversity	http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Free_and_open_educational_resources	v:Free_and_open_educational_resources or wikiversity:Free_and_open_educational_resources	Free and open educational resources
Wikiquote	http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi	q:Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi or wikiquote:Mohandas_Karamchand_Gandhi	Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Wiktionary	http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/laud	wikt:laud wiktionary:laud	laud
Mediawiki	http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki	mw:MediaWiki	MediaWiki

The interwiki link method is shorter and more convenient once you are familiar with adding the correct prefix.

Creating an interwiki link using the Rich Editor toolbar

Like other internal links, interwiki links are created using the Insert/Edit Link button and the Links dialog box.

Activity

Create an interwiki link Using the following instructions, create an interwiki link on your sandbox page to the Wikipedia article on dogs: Click on the link to your user page (remember it's located in the top right of the screen) and open your sandbox page (For example: My sandbox). Click the edit tab and enable the Rich Editor, if it is disabled. Type the word "Dog" in the edit preview window. Highlight the word "Dog". Click on the Insert/Edit Link button of the Rich Editor toolbar. Type "w:Dog" in the Link text field. (Note that the wiki is case sensitive; the name of the article is "Dog", with a capitalised 'D'.) Complete the creation of the link as you would any other wiki link. Practice creating a few more interwiki links Visit one of the listed external wikis to find a target page. Use the shorthand syntax table above to create the relevant address. Create the interwiki link in your sandbox. Click on the link to see if it works as desired.

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