Sample Page

This is a tracking category for CS1 citations that have errors due to the incorrect use of |archive-url=, |archive-date=, |url-status=, and/or |dead-url=. In general, the CS1 citations emit error messages that identify the type of error. {{Cite web}} does not emit error messages for all error conditions though malformed {{cite web}} templates are included in Category:Pages with archiveurl citation errors.

• Help desk
  |archive-url= is malformed: <reason>

Archive.org allows a variety of URLs to access snapshots of an archived page. Some of these are:

https://web.archive.org/web/YYYYMMDDhhmmss/http://www.example.com – a single snapshot; this is the preferred form for use with |archive-url=

https://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.example.com – a wildcard search results page; useful for locating an appropriate snapshot but not appropriate in a citation

https://web.archive.org/web/201603/http://www.example.com – incomplete timestamp; archive.org returns the most recent snapshot

https://web.archive.org/save/http://www.example.com – saves a new snapshot of the current target; do not use this form

There are two forms of the basic URL:

https://web.archive.org/<timestamp>/... – the old form

https://web.archive.org/web/<timestamp><flags>/... – the new form

The error message identifies the reason for the message. The reasons are:

save command – the archive.org URL is the save command

path – web/ was expected but something else was found

timestamp – the timestamp portion of the URL path is:

• not 14 digits
• not a valid date (time portion of the timestamp is not checked):
  • year farther into the future than next year
  • year is earlier than archiver launch date of 1996 for archive.org
  • month is not in the range [01–12]
  • day is not in the range [01 – [28|29|30|31]] (as appropriate for the year and month)

flag – the flag portion of the URL path (if present; new form URLs only) is not 2 lowercase letters followed by an underscore: ‘id_’

liveweb – liveweb.archive.org is a deprecated form of the domain name

When the archive.org URL has any of these errors, Module:Citation/CS1 does not link to archive.org in normal article view and emits an appropriate error message.

However, in article preview mode, the module creates a modified link to archive.org that uses a partial timestamp with * wildcard suffix. This new URL links to an archive.org calendar view so that editors may more easily select a suitable archived snapshot from those available at archive.org to fix the malformed |archive-url= link. (If no snapshots have been archived at archive.org, and the cited page is still live, this link also allows editors to save the first snapshot of the page at archive.org.)

To resolve this error, choose the URL of an appropriate snapshot from those held at archive.org. Search for the target URL at archive.org.

Pages with this error are automatically placed in Category:CS1 errors: archive-url.^[a]

• Help desk
  |archive-url= requires |archive-date=

|archive-date=, identifies the date that the web resource was archived.

To resolve this error, provide a value for |archive-date= (see acceptable date formats in MOS:DATEFORMAT). For web resources archived at archive.org,^[1] the archival date can be found in the |archive-url=; for resources archived at webcitation.org,^[2] the cache date is included in the archive header.

Pages with this error are automatically placed in Category:CS1 errors: archive-url.^[a]

• Help desk
  |archive-url= requires |url=

A properly formatted citation that includes |archive-url= and |archive-date= requires |url=. When the citation includes |url-status=live, the ordering of elements in the rendered citation is changed to put the original URL first.

To resolve this error, provide a value for |url=. For web resources archived at archive.org,^[1] the original URL can be found in the |archive-url= value; for resources archived at webcitation.org,^[2] the original URL is included in the archive header.

Pages with this error are automatically placed in Category:CS1 errors: archive-url.^[a]

• Help desk
  |archive-date= / |archive-url= timestamp mismatch; $1 suggested

Archive.org URLs have a 14-digit snapshot timestamp. This error message is displayed when the archive snapshot date is not the same as the date stated in |archive-date=.

To resolve this error, make sure that |archive-url= and |archive-date= refer to the same snapshot. This could mean that values assigned to either or both parameters need to be updated. To get the correct |archive-date= value, view the archived page’s source, looking for a line near the bottom that starts with “FILE ARCHIVED ON”. The archive date should appear on that line.

Pages with this error are automatically placed in Category:CS1 errors: archive-url.^[a]

• Help desk
  |archive-date= requires |archive-url=

|archive-date=, identifies the date that the web resource was archived. Without a matching |archive-url= parameter, |archive-date= is meaningless.

To resolve this error, provide a value for |archive-url= or remove |archive-date=

Pages with this error are automatically placed in Category:CS1 errors: archive-url.^[a]

• Number of items in category over time, per User:SDZeroBot/Category counter

This category is processed automatically by User:GreenC bot twice monthly on the 1st and 15th (approx 23:00 GMT). However, the bot can not fix them all, whatever remains will require manual repair – you can help manually repair pages in this category.