InterWiki
Encyclopedia
Interwiki linking is a facility for creating link
s to the many wiki
s on the World Wide Web
. Users avoid pasting in entire URLs
(as they would for regular web pages) and instead use a shorthand
similar to links within the same wiki (intrawiki links).
Unlike domain name
s on the Internet, there is no globally defined list of interwiki prefixes, so owners of a wiki must define a mapping appropriate to their needs. Users generally have to create separate accounts for each wiki they intend to use (unless they intend to edit anonymously). Variations in text formatting and layout can also hinder a seamless transition from one wiki to the next.
By making wiki links simpler to type for the members of a particular community, these features help bring the different wikis closer together. Furthering that goal, interwiki "bus tours" (similar to webring
s) have been created to explain the purposes and highlights of different wikis. Such examples on Wikipedia
include and .
and free links (arbitrary phrases surrounded by some set delimiter
, such asdouble square brackets ). CURIE
syntax uses a single set of square brackets.
Interwiki links on a CamelCase-based wiki frequently take the form of "Code:PageName", where Code is the defined InterMap prefix for another wiki. Thus, a link "WikiPedia:InterWiki" could be rendered in HTML
as a link to an article on Wikipedia
for example . Linking from a CamelCase-wiki to a page that contains spaces in its title typically requires substitution of the spaces with underscores (e.g. WikiPedia:Main_Page).
Interwiki links on wikis based on free links, such as Wikipedia, typically follow the same principle, but using the delimiters that would be used for internal links. These links can then be parsed and escaped as they would be if they were internal, allowing easier typing of spaces but potentially causing problems with other special characters. For example, on Wikipedia,
The MediaWiki
software has an additional feature which uses similar notation to create automatic interlanguage links — for instance, the link
systems have features for "semi-internal" links of this kind, such as support for namespace
s or multiple sub-communities.
Most InterMap implementations simply substitute the interwiki prefix with a full URL prefix, so many non-wiki websites can also be referred to using the system. A reference to a definition on the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
, for instance, could take the form
The interwiki concept can equally be applied to links from non-wiki websites. Advogato
, for instance, offers a syntax for creating shorthand links based on a MeatBall-derived InterMap.
from wiki-code links to full URLs. For example,
Since most wiki systems use URLs for individual pages where the page's title appears at the end of an otherwise unchanging address, the simplest way of defining such mappings is by substituting the interwiki prefix for the unchanging part of the URL. So in the example above, the
rendered link.
Rather than creating a new list from scratch for every wiki, it is often useful to obtain a copy of that from another site. Sites such as MeatballWiki
http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?InterMap and the UseModWiki
site contain comprehensive lists which are often used for this purpose - the former being publicly editable in the same way as any other wiki page, and the latter being verified as usable but potentially out of date. MediaWiki's default list of interwiki links is derived from an old version of MeatballWiki's list.
Hyperlink
In computing, a hyperlink is a reference to data that the reader can directly follow, or that is followed automatically. A hyperlink points to a whole document or to a specific element within a document. Hypertext is text with hyperlinks...
s to the many wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
s on the World Wide Web
World Wide Web
The World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
. Users avoid pasting in entire URLs
Uniform Resource Locator
In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....
(as they would for regular web pages) and instead use a shorthand
Shorthand
Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed or brevity of writing as compared to a normal method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek stenos and graphē or graphie...
similar to links within the same wiki (intrawiki links).
Unlike domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
s on the Internet, there is no globally defined list of interwiki prefixes, so owners of a wiki must define a mapping appropriate to their needs. Users generally have to create separate accounts for each wiki they intend to use (unless they intend to edit anonymously). Variations in text formatting and layout can also hinder a seamless transition from one wiki to the next.
By making wiki links simpler to type for the members of a particular community, these features help bring the different wikis closer together. Furthering that goal, interwiki "bus tours" (similar to webring
Webring
A webring is a collection of websites linked together in a circular structure, and usually organized around a specific theme, often educational or social...
s) have been created to explain the purposes and highlights of different wikis. Such examples on Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
include and .
Syntax
Interwiki link notation varies, depending largely on the syntax a wiki uses for markup. The two most common link patterns in wikis are CamelCaseCamelCase
CamelCase , also known as medial capitals, is the practice of writing compound words or phrases in which the elements are joined without spaces, with each element's initial letter capitalized within the compound and the first letter either upper or lower case—as in "LaBelle", "BackColor",...
and free links (arbitrary phrases surrounded by some set delimiter
Delimiter
A delimiter is a sequence of one or more characters used to specify the boundary between separate, independent regions in plain text or other data streams. An example of a delimiter is the comma character, which acts as a field delimiter in a sequence of comma-separated values.Delimiters represent...
, such as
CURIE
A CURIE defines a generic, abbreviated syntax for expressing URIs. It is an abbreviated URI expressed in CURIE syntax, and may be found in both XML and non-XML grammars...
syntax uses a single set of square brackets.
Interwiki links on a CamelCase-based wiki frequently take the form of "Code:PageName", where Code is the defined InterMap prefix for another wiki. Thus, a link "WikiPedia:InterWiki" could be rendered in HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
as a link to an article on Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
for example . Linking from a CamelCase-wiki to a page that contains spaces in its title typically requires substitution of the spaces with underscores (e.g. WikiPedia:Main_Page).
Interwiki links on wikis based on free links, such as Wikipedia, typically follow the same principle, but using the delimiters that would be used for internal links. These links can then be parsed and escaped as they would be if they were internal, allowing easier typing of spaces but potentially causing problems with other special characters. For example, on Wikipedia,
MeatBall:AssumeGoodFaith :de:InterWiki DeWikipedia:InterWiki The MediaWiki
MediaWiki
MediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
software has an additional feature which uses similar notation to create automatic interlanguage links — for instance, the link
de:InterWiki Wiki software
Wiki software is collaborative software that runs a wiki, i.e., a website that allows users to create and collaboratively edit web pages via a web browser. A wiki system is usually a web application that runs on one or more web servers...
systems have features for "semi-internal" links of this kind, such as support for namespace
Namespace
In general, a namespace is a container that provides context for the identifiers it holds, and allows the disambiguation of homonym identifiers residing in different namespaces....
s or multiple sub-communities.
Most InterMap implementations simply substitute the interwiki prefix with a full URL prefix, so many non-wiki websites can also be referred to using the system. A reference to a definition on the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing is an online, searchable, encyclopedic dictionary of computing subjects. It was founded in 1985 by Denis Howe and is hosted by Imperial College London...
, for instance, could take the form
Foldoc:foo The interwiki concept can equally be applied to links from non-wiki websites. Advogato
Advogato
Advogato is an online community and social networking site dedicated to free software development, and was created by Raph Levien. It describes itself as "the free software developer's advocate." Advogato was an early pioneer of blogs, formerly known as "online diaries", and one of the earliest...
, for instance, offers a syntax for creating shorthand links based on a MeatBall-derived InterMap.
Implementation
Internally, a wiki that uses interwiki links needs to have a mappingMap (mathematics)
In most of mathematics and in some related technical fields, the term mapping, usually shortened to map, is either a synonym for function, or denotes a particular kind of function which is important in that branch, or denotes something conceptually similar to a function.In graph theory, a map is a...
from wiki-code links to full URLs. For example,
MeatBall:InterWiki http://usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?InterWiki.Since most wiki systems use URLs for individual pages where the page's title appears at the end of an otherwise unchanging address, the simplest way of defining such mappings is by substituting the interwiki prefix for the unchanging part of the URL. So in the example above, the
MeatBall: has simply been replaced by http://usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl? HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
rendered link.
Rather than creating a new list from scratch for every wiki, it is often useful to obtain a copy of that from another site. Sites such as MeatballWiki
MeatballWiki
MeatballWiki is a wiki dedicated to online communities, network culture, and hypermedia.Founded in 2000, its original goal was to focus on collaborative hypermedia, but current topics range from intellectual property to cyberpunk to the confusion of URIs....
http://www.usemod.com/cgi-bin/mb.pl?InterMap and the UseModWiki
UseModWiki
UseModWiki is a wiki engine written in the Perl programming language. It is licensed under the GNU General Public License. Pages in UseModWiki are stored in ordinary files, not in a relational database. Something similar to the interface can be seen in MediaWiki with the classic skin.- History...
site contain comprehensive lists which are often used for this purpose - the former being publicly editable in the same way as any other wiki page, and the latter being verified as usable but potentially out of date. MediaWiki's default list of interwiki links is derived from an old version of MeatballWiki's list.
See also
- CURIECURIEA CURIE defines a generic, abbreviated syntax for expressing URIs. It is an abbreviated URI expressed in CURIE syntax, and may be found in both XML and non-XML grammars...
, emerging W3C standard - Wikipedia:InterWikimedia links
- Wikipedia:Wikimedia sister projects
- Help:Interlanguage links
- WiktionaryWiktionaryWiktionary is a multilingual, web-based project to create a free content dictionary, available in 158 languages...
- wiktionary:interwiki
- Wikimedia Meta-Wiki
- meta:Help:Interwiki linking
- Wikimedia CommonsWikimedia CommonsWikimedia Commons is an online repository of free-use images, sound and other media files. It is a project of the Wikimedia Foundation....
- commons:Template talk:Sisterlinks
- commons:Category:CommonsRoot
External links
- Discussion of the FileReplacement concept
- Discussion of the InterWiki concept at MeatballWikiMeatballWikiMeatballWiki is a wiki dedicated to online communities, network culture, and hypermedia.Founded in 2000, its original goal was to focus on collaborative hypermedia, but current topics range from intellectual property to cyberpunk to the confusion of URIs....