Editing Incubator escapee wiki:External links (section)

=== Links in lists ===
{{shortcut|WP:ELLIST}}
External link sections are not prohibited at the end of [[Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists|stand-alone lists]] or at the end of articles that contain [[WP:EMBED|embedded lists]].  However, the lists themselves should not be composed entirely of external links.  These lists are primarily intended to provide direct information and internal navigation, not to be a directory of sites on the web.

Lists in Wikipedia articles may take any of multiple forms, including [[Unordered list|bullet lists]] (most common), numbered lists, [[WP:HLIST|horizontal lists]], tables (standard for [[Wikipedia:Featured lists]]), etc.  The rules about whether to include an external link in a list apply regardless of the method used to format the list.

This section '''does not apply''' if the external link is serving as a citation to a reliable source for a stand-alone list entry that otherwise meets that list's [[WP:LSC|inclusion criteria]] (e.g., newspaper articles or poll results).  To determine whether an item should be included in the list at all, refer to [[WP:LSC|the inclusion criteria for the list you are editing]].  To determine how to format citations to reliable sources, see [[Wikipedia:Citing sources]].  For advice on how to format a bibliography or other list of works (e.g., a list of books or articles written by an author), see [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists of works#Publications (Works, Bibliography)]] instead of this guideline.

{| class=wikitable
|+Acceptable and unacceptable use of links in a list of restaurants
|-
| {{Yes}}
| {{No}}
|-
| '''List'''
* [[Alice's Restaurant]]
* [[Babette's Feast]]
* La Ratatouille <!-- no link is okay here because list entries are not required to be blue links -->
* [[The Restaurant at the End of the Universe]]

'''External links'''
* [//example.com Restaurant guide]
| style="vertical-align:top;" | '''List'''
* [//example.com Alice's Restaurant]
* [//example.com Babette's Feast]
* [//example.com La Ratatouille]
* [//example.com The Restaurant at the End of the Universe]
|}

In other cases, such as for lists of political candidates, websites, and software, a list may be formatted as a table, and appropriate external links can be displayed compactly within the table:

{| class="wikitable"
|+ Election results
! Candidate !! Political party !! Official website !! Votes
|-
| [[Alice and Bob|Alice]] || [[Republocrat]] || [https://www.example.com https://www.example.com] || 51%{{dummyref}}
|-
| [[Alice and Bob|Bob]] || [[Demican]] || [https://www.example.com https://www.example.com] || 47%{{dummyref}}
|-
| {{fake redlink|Carol}}<!-- list entries are not required to be blue links --> || Greebertarian || [https://www.example.com https://www.example.com] || 2%{{dummyref}}
|}

Table-style formatting is not required.  If the list contains more information than the names, one non-table formatting option looks like this:

* [[Alice and Bob|Alice]] ([[Republocrat]], [https://example.com|example.com]) – campaigned on her expertise and won 51% of the vote.{{dummy ref}}
* [[Alice and Bob|Bob]] ([[Demican]], [https://example.com|example.com]) – campaigned on his business acumen and received 47% of the vote.{{dummy ref}}
* {{fake redlink|Carol}} (Greebertarian, [https://example.com|example.com]) – received 2% of the vote.{{dummyref}}

In some cases, these links may serve as both [[WP:ELOFFICIAL|official links]] and as [[Wikipedia:Inline citation|inline citations]] to [[WP:PSTS|primary sources]].  In the case of elections or other one-time events, it may be desirable to replace the original links with links to [[Help:Using the Wayback Machine|archived copies]] when the event is over.