Help:Link: Difference between revisions

'''Linking''' (making [[hyperlink]]s) is an key aspect of [[USApedia]], especially links other Saintapedia pages. Those internal links bind the project together into an interconnected whole. Appropriate links provide instant pathways to locations within and outside the project that are likely to increase readers' understanding of the topic at hand. When writing or editing an article, it is important to consider not only what to put in the article, but what links to include to help the reader find related information, as well as which other pages should carry links ''to'' the article. Care should be taken to avoid both [[#Underlinking|underlinking]] and [[#Overlinking|overlinking]].  {{Comment|{{#lst:Help:Link|linking}}}}<section begin="linking" /><section end="linking" />This page provides guidelines as to when links should and should not be used, and how to format links, as well as detailed information about the syntax used to create links.  When adding links, there are differents methods depending on the [[Saintapedia editor]] that you use.

* [[Help:Link#Internal links|Internal links]] lead to other Saintapedia pages.

* [[Help:Link#Links to categories|Category links]] lead to Saintapedia [[Help:Category|categories]], which group related pages and files together.

Saintapedia is based on hypertext, and aims to "build the web" to enable readers to easily access relevant information on other pages. The page from which the hyperlink is activated is called the anchor; the page the link points to is called the target.

In adding or removing links, consider an article's place in the {{W|tree structure|knowledge tree}}. Internal links can add to the cohesion and utility of Saintapedia, allowing readers to deepen their understanding of a topic by conveniently accessing other articles. Ask yourself, ''"How likely is it that the reader will also want to read that other article?"'' Consider including links where readers might want to use them; for example, in article leads, the openings of new sections, [[Help:table|table]] cells, and [[image caption]]s. As a rule of thumb, only the first occurrence of a term should be linked.

'''Internal links''' create links to other Saintapedia pages. Internal links are an essential means to connect related information in Saintapedia together (see [[Wikify]]).  

The easiest way to learn when to link is to look at Saintapedia articles for examples. If you're trying to decide whether to make a link or not, think: ''"If someone unfamiliar with the subject was reading the article, would a link to more information on a noun help them better understand the article?"''

Let's assume for example you needed a link "poodle", and there was no article for poodles yet. You might want to create a redirect from "poodle" to "dog" as follows: Write the link in the text as if the "poodle" article existed: {{code|She owned a [<nowiki/>[poodle]]}}. When you save or preview this, you will see: {{xt|She owned a {{red link|poodle}}}}. You would then click on the red link to create the redirect page, enter the target article name (in our case, {{xt|Dog}}), select that text, and click the [[File:Saintapedia advanced toolbar redirect icon.png|25x25px]] button. This would create the following text: {{code|#redirect [<nowiki/>[Dog]]}}.  

* '''Case sensitivity.''' The capitalization of the first letter in a link doesn't matter, so there is no need to use piping where the only difference between the text and the target is the case of the initial letter (Saintapedia article titles almost always begin with a capital, whereas the linked words in context often do not). However, links are case-sensitive for all but the initial character.

Saintapedia has categories of articles like {{code|[<nowiki/>[Category:Portraits]]}}; adding this to an article puts it into that category. You can link to a category without putting the article into the category by putting a colon in front.

By following [[Saintapedia:Naming conventions|naming conventions]], an internal link will be much more likely to lead to an existing article. When there is not yet an article about the subject, a good link will make the creation of a correctly named article much easier for subsequent writers.

'''External links''' are links to websites outside of Saintapedia, and can take several forms:  

For more information about displaying images on Saintapedia articles see [[Help:Images]].  See the [[Help:Images#Link]] section if you wish to link an image.

For example [[:File:Saintapedia test.pdf#filehistory]] will be entered as <nowiki>[[:File:Saintapedia test.pdf#filehistory]]</nowiki>.

{{Saintapedia}}

[[Category:Saintapedia]]