Help:Permanent link
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This page in a nutshell: A link to a specific version of a wiki page. By default, the most recent version of an article is shown. |
A permanent link (or permalink) is a link to a specific version of a wiki page. Unlike normal links which show the current version of a page, it shows the page as it was at the time that version was created,To be precise, when a permalink is clicked on, the website tries to show the page as it was at the time that version was created; differences may however occur. The most obvious differences are if images or templates that existed at the time are subsequently deleted.
More subtly, changes may also occur due to transclusion of templates, which may have changed and will be transcluded as they are now, not as they were then. and does not include any edits made to that page since the link is created.
A permalink is made by clicking 'permanent link' in the sidebar's toolbox or by accessing a prior version of a page from its Page history tab. Both of these will display that version and the page's URL can be used as the target of the permalink.
Linking to a specific version of a page
It is sometimes useful to link to a specific version of an article (a snapshot of it) - this is called a "permanent link". For example, one might have done a review of a Wikipedia article and want to indicate which particular version was reviewed.
Getting a link to an older revision of a page
A permanent link to the current version of an article is normally available from the sidebar, under Toolbox -> Permanent link. For other namespaces, or if the version to be linked to is not the current version, use the page's History tab to navigate to the specific version required. The URL here will be suitable for use to permanently reference this version, and can usually be obtained from the browser's location bar. See also URLs of Wikipedia pages.
OldID
OldID, spelled oldid in the wiki, is a way to identify a specific version of page. To get it:
- Go to the permanent link/old revision page (see above)
- Look at the the URL
- The oldid is the number after "oldid="
Content being shown from other pages
However if a page contains transcluded text (such as a template), or a time-based variable (such as CURRENTTIME), it will be rendered according to the current state of the template or the time now, possibly producing a different result than was rendered at the time the old version was saved. (One way to produce a representation of the current version of a page which will not be affected by changes to templates is to copy the wikitext to a user page and use "subst:", if necessary recursively. Special:ExpandTemplates may help here.)
Example
Enhanced editor
- A permanent link to a version of YouTube on 22:09, 17 September 2024
(produced by<span class="plainlinks">[https://saintapedia.org/w/index.php?title=YouTube&oldid=4391 YouTube on 22:09, 17 September 2024]</span>) or
Compare:
- A wikilinkto the current version of Help:Getting started with Saintapedia
(produced by[[Help:Getting started with Saintapedia]]) - A URL link to the current version of Help:Getting started with Saintapedia
(produced by[https://saintapedia.org/wiki/Help:Getting_started_with_Saintapedia Help:Getting started with Saintapedia])
VisualEditor
You can use VisualEditor to add a template, including the Oldid template.
Outside of Saintapedia
A permalink (portmanteau of permanent link) is a URL that points to a specific blog or forum entry after it has passed from the front page to the archives. Because a permalink remains unchanged indefinitely, it is less susceptible to link rot. Most modern weblogging and content-syndication software systems support such links. Other types of websites use the term permanent links, but the term permalink is most common within the blogosphere. Permalinks are often simply stated so as to be human-readable.[1]