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This page in a nutshell:
- Link articles sideways to neighbours, upwards to categories and contexts, and downwards to sub-articles to create a useful web of information.
- But don't overdo it.
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Build the Web is the idea of connecting relevant topics throughout an article since all articles in the encyclopedia are nodes in a hypertext system. Do not just write the article, but also consider its place in the web. Make upward links to categories and contexts (Charles Darwin was a biologist; Sahara is a desert in Africa; the Enlightenment happened in the 18th century). Make sideways links to neighboring articles (for proton see also electron, Oregon borders on California). Introduce links from related articles to avoid orphaning the article (George Washington should be linked to from President of the United States). Do not build category trees too deep and narrow, or too flat. Writing category directories first (top-down) will help ensure that subcategory articles get useful names.
Think carefully before you remove a link altogether (apart from the case of a duplicate link). Remember that what may seem like an irrelevant link to you may actually be useful to other readers.
Don't be afraid to create links to articles which don't exist yet. If you think there should be an article with that title, then be bold and make the link. Of course, the best way to build the web is to then go ahead and write that article.
Remember that a link can also be useful when applying the "What links here" feature from the target page. If you feel that a certain link does not belong in the body of the text, consider moving it to a "See also" section at the bottom of the article. This keeps the web intact while removing overlinking.
Wikipedia doesn't use Allwiki
It should be noted that this guideline is in dynamic tension with Wikipedia:Only make links that are relevant to the context guideline. This means that Wikipedia does not use Allwiki. Allwiki is the idea that all the words, phrases or expressions are links to Wikipedia or Wiktionary articles. The Wikipedia community considered and rejected the Allwiki concept, settling instead on a balance between building the web and only making links which are relevant to the context.
An example of Allwiki:
We want to build the web, but we don't want it to collapse under its own weight!
See also
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Key Wikipedia policies and guidelines |
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| Overview |
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| Global principles |
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| Article standards policies |
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| Behavioral policies |
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| Behavioral guidelines |
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| Resolution policies |
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| Classification guidelines |
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| Content guidelines |
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| Editing guidelines |
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| Style conventions |
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