Template:External links

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Template documentation[view] [edit] [history] [purge]

When to use

Add this to the top of the External links section whenever:

• There are too many links for this article. (Most editors object to more than about eight or sometimes ten links, but the best number for a given article depends on the specific circumstances, and may range from zero to more than a dozen.)
• One or more of the links present (regardless of number) are inappropriate for any reason.

If there are external links within the body of an article (which is almost always inappropriate), this tag should be placed at the top of the article instead.

Please consider fixing the problem yourself, rather than using this tag to ask someone else to do it. Don't forget to remove this template when the concerns appear to have been resolved.

Usage

Use:

{{External links|date=June 2024}} or

{{External links|section|date=June 2024}} to apply to a single section

This template will categorize tagged articles into Category:Wikipedia external links cleanup and Category:Wikipedia spam cleanup.

• This template is a self-reference.
• Please do not substitute this template.

If this is a perennial problem, consider using {{Prone to spam}} on the talk page or substituting {{No more links}} in the external links section.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for this template in articles based on this TemplateData.

TemplateData for External links

Use this cleanup template to indicate that an article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines.

Template parameters[Edit template data]

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Month and year	date	The month and year that the template was placed (in full). "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" inserts the current month and year automatically. Example January 2013 Auto value {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}	Line	suggested
Affected area	1	Text to replace the word "article", usually "section". Example section Auto value section	Line	optional

See also

• Wikipedia:External links
• Wikipedia:Template messages/Cleanup
• {{Advert}}
• {{No more links}}—a similar message is inserted as a <!-- comment -->
• {{Further reading cleanup}}, same idea, but for non-website lists
• {{Overlinked}}
• {{Cite web}}

The above documentation is transcluded from Template:External links/doc. (edit | history)
Editors can experiment in this template's sandbox (create | mirror) and testcases (create) pages.
Add categories to the /doc subpage. Subpages of this template.