Editing Incubator escapee wiki:External links (section)

== External links ==
* [https://example.com/ Official website]
* [https://example.net/link Interview with Subject] in ''Example Magazine''
* [https://example.org/repository/Subject Subject's papers] at [[Example Museum]]
</syntaxhighlight>

Thus, most external links should present details different from [[WP:CITE|citations]]. For instance, a concise description of the contents and a clear indication of its source is more important than the actual title of the page, and access dates are not appropriate in the external links section. Do not use {{tl|cite web}} or other [[Wikipedia:Citation templates|citation templates]] in the ==External links== section. Citation templates are permitted in the ''Further reading'' section.

=== Templates for external links ===
{{shortcut|WP:ELT|WP:ELTEMP}}
{{see also|:Category:External link templates|Template:External links}}
Some templates exist for linking to [[Wikipedia:Wikimedia Foundation|Wikimedia Foundation]] projects such as [[Wikimedia Commons]].  {{tlx|Commons}} is an example of a graphical template that is commonly used to link to Wikimedia Commons. All such templates have inline versions (e.g., {{tlx|Commons-inline}}), or you may choose to link to them exactly like you would link to any other website. See {{section link|Wikipedia:Wikimedia sister projects|When to link}} for further information.

Templates may be used for other commonly linked websites. These templates sometimes permit quick correction of many links if the target website is reorganized, and some of them are popular for use in infoboxes. Do not create large, graphical templates for non-WMF websites, even if these websites are also [[wiki]]s. All templates except those for WMF "sister" projects should produce a normal, single-line, text-based external link without any [[favicon]]s, bold-faced text, custom bullets, or other unusual formatting. See typical examples at {{tl|EMedicine}} and {{tl|AllMusic}}.

{{tl|srlink}} will create either a wiklink or external link, depending on whether it is on a mirror of Wikipedia.

{{tl|plain link}} will remove the arrow icon that is automatically placed on URLs.

=== References and citation ===
{{shortcut|WP:ELRC|WP:ELDUP}}
{{see also|Wikipedia:Citing sources|Wikipedia:Spam#Citation spam}}
Sites that have been used as sources in the creation of an article should be cited in the article and linked as references, either in-line or in a references section. Links to these source sites are not "external links" for the purposes of this guideline, and should not normally be duplicated in an external links section. Exceptions—websites that can be both references and external links—include any [[#Official links|official sites for the article topic]], or websites that are specifically devoted to the topic, contain multiple subpages, and comply with the [[#Links normally to be avoided|criteria for links to be avoided]].

=== Linking to databases ===
{{see|Wikipedia:Template messages/Links}}
When linking to large database-driven sites like the [[Internet Movie Database]], try to use an [[:Category:External link templates|external link template]]. If the URL format of the database ever changes, it is sometimes possible to quickly fix all links by rewriting the template.