Wlink

Wlink

Interwiki linking is a facility for creating links to the many wikis on the World Wide Web. Users avoid pasting in entire URLs (as they would for regular web pages) and instead use a shorthand similar to links within the same wiki (intrawiki links).

Unlike domain names on the Internet, there is no globally defined list of interwiki prefixes, so owners of a wiki must define a mapping appropriate to their needs. Users generally have to create separate accounts for each wiki they intend to use (unless they intend to edit anonymously). Variations in text formatting and layout can also hinder a seamless transition from one wiki to the next.

By making wiki links simpler to type for the members of a particular community, these features help bring the different wikis closer together. Furthering that goal, interwiki "bus tours" (similar to webrings) have been created to explain the purposes and highlights of different wikis. Such examples on Wikipedia include Wikipedia:TourBusStop and Wikipedia:WikiNode.