Page Linking and References
Explanation
Pages can be linked using different syntaxes or editors.
Internal Links
An internal link is a link created using a Page reference to point to another Page in the wiki. They can be tracked as backlinks and can be automatically updated when the target Page is moved/renamed.
External Links
An external link is any link that uses a direct URL (e.g., direct URLs, bookmarks, links shared from outside the wiki). They are not affected by Page move/rename. External links can be easily identified by the small icon displayed next to the link, as shown below:
Page References
A Page reference uniquely identifies a Page by its location within the wiki structure: it is the path leading to that Page, through the wiki it belongs to and its parent Pages.
Page references are commonly used:
- As values of macro parameters that expect a page reference (for example, the Include macro's reference parameter);
- When calling script APIs that operate on Pages.
A Page reference has two forms, which differ by whether the wiki is part of the path:
| Form | Written as | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Relative to the wiki | The parent Pages and the Page, separated by a . | News.Announcements.WebHome |
| Global | The wiki, a :, then the relative form | xwiki:News.Announcements.WebHome |
Use the relative form for a Page of the same wiki, and the global form for a Page of another wiki of the same Wiki farm.
The "Information" tab displays the relative form by default:
You can:
- Use the button on the left to switch the displayed reference between its relative and its global form;
- Use the button on the right to copy the displayed reference to the clipboard.
Switching the same Page reference to its global form adds the wiki in front of it:
Backlinks
Backlinks represent the inverse relationship of links: they indicate which Pages contain links pointing to a given Page. Backlinks are discovered and maintained through internal mechanisms such as link indexing, and they are only available for links that XWiki can interpret (internal links using XWiki syntax). You can view the backlinks of a Page in the "Information" tab.
More
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