Wikipedia:Avoid using wikilinks
 | This page contains material that is kept because it is considered humorous. Such material is not meant to be taken seriously. |
Wikilinks allows an article to be pointed to by enclosing the article's title in square brackets. This allows the editor to link to another article without having to type in the URL of the article or enclose it in HTML anchor tags.
This article is an attempt to gather information supporting the assertion that wikilinks are harmful to Wikipedia. Convenience is often cited as the reason for using wikilinks. Certainly, it offers a useful shortcut to creating links and allows the links to point to the same article regardless of article moves. This helps to tie many articles of similar interest together.
- All those blue words are confusing. It makes the reader think, "What should I do with this? Click? Or just view and appreciate the simplicity of this tranquil blue text floating in a sea of black?" Many users think this is potentially harmful to readers and may cause overheating. The color blue has also been linked to depression and reduced fertility.
- Heavily wikilinked texts resemble spaghetti code. Doubly so if you have "Display links to disambiguation pages in orange" activated in your preferences, because half of these pages are.
- If a link points to a page that does not exist yet, the link appears as red (also called a "redlink"), which looks bad. The color red has also been linked to fire and feelings of anger. ARRGHH!
- Every time a page is moved, all the wikilinks that incorrectly point to the old site will now point to a redirect, making the servers pull up two pages in a row.
- All of these actions waste valuable server resources.
- True Wikipedians never need links anyway. That is what the search bar was invented for.
- Wikilinks create many problems for readers using smartphones or other touch screen devices, as they make it difficult to scroll through an article without accidentally clicking on a link. This can be frustrating if pages load slowly on readers' devices.
Somewhat ironically, this page is a perfect example of the harms of wikilinks.[among whom?][according to whom?][attribution needed][by whom?][from whom?][like whom?][to whom?][who?][with whom?][ambiguous][clarification needed][timeframe?][needs context][expand acronym][incomprehensible][key needed][non sequitur][sentence fragment][which calendar?][Chinese script needed][copyright violation?][infringing link?][data missing][disambiguation needed][inappropriate external link?][improve caption][needs IPA][original research?][pronunciation?][native script needed][spam link?][improper synthesis?][under discussion][spelling?][whose translation?][buzzword][compared to?][editorializing][fact or opinion?][opinion][peacock prose][neutrality is disputed][promotion?][unbalanced opinion?][weasel words][by how much?][when defined as?][definition needed][example needed][further explanation needed][how?][how often?][misquoted][quantify][specify][vague][when?][where?][which?][who else?][why?][year needed][excessive detail?][importance?][relevant?][undue weight? – discuss][globalize][infobox clutter? – discuss][anachronism][timeframe?][may be outdated][is this date calibrated?][needs update][needs update][contradictory][disputed – discuss][dubious – discuss][inconsistent][needs independent confirmation][speculation?][bare URL][bare URL non-HTML file][bare URL AV media file][bare URL PDF][bare URL image file][bare URL DOC/DOCX file][bare URL plain text file][bare URL spreadsheet file][author incomplete][author missing][date missing][dead link][edition needed][episode needed][full citation needed][incomplete short citation][ISBN missing][moved resource?][page needed][permanent dead link][place missing][publisher missing][season and episode needed][time needed][title incomplete][title missing][unused reference][volume & issue needed][year missing][additional citation(s) needed][better source needed][better source needed][check quotation syntax][chronology citation needed][circular reference][citation needed][citation not found][close paraphrasing][conflicted source?][deprecated source?][excessive citations][failed verification][image reference needed][irrelevant citation][medical citation needed][not specific enough to verify][not verified in body][obsolete source][page range too broad][non-primary source needed][promotional source?][This quote needs a citation][need quotation to verify][scientific citation needed][self-published source?][non-tertiary source needed][third-party source needed][unreliable fringe source?][unreliable medical source?][unreliable source?][verify][verification needed][buzzword][colloquialism][needs copy edit][idiom][neologism?][jargon][tone]