Forum:How import from Wikipedia but maintain links to Wikipedia pages?

If you export from Wikipedia and then import straight into Wikia, the internal Wikipedia links (links for example) all break because the system assumes you're now linking to an internal Wikia page. Is there any kind of converter or script that will rip through the wikitext and add the appropriate interwiki code to get those links to point back to Wikipedia?

I've been trying to just do a find and replace of [[ for [[w: but that only works for some of the links. Non-piped links end up displaying like w:Links.

I'm sure this is a common issue with anyone moving wiki content around, so hopefully I'm just not looking hard enough for a solution. Any advice would be appreciated.


 * This is possible, manually or using a bot script, but I actually advise against making so many links to Wikipedia. If you're trying to create a wiki and make it grow, sending visitors back to Wikipedia is probably a bad idea. My advice is to use AutoWikiBrowser or a bot to remove all the links (which is just text replacement, one of the more basic functions for AWB at least), and put links back in to other articles you create on the wiki over time. That way, you can get the visitors to stay and look at more of the work you've done. :) The 888th Avatar   (talk)  06:25, April 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * Why not create your own content instead of duplicating WP content? -- LordTBT Talk! 07:38, April 21, 2010 (UTC)

For example, I'd like to pull in Wikipedia's http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_apocalyptic_and_post-apocalyptic_fiction. With such strictly factual content already existing, it wouldn't make sense for me to recreate those hundreds of pages of information. So for that kind of content, I'd like to link back to Wikipedia. Megat0n 08:03, April 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * This depends on the wiki's subject - could you link us to the wiki? It's probably better just to not have links at all as opposed to linking to Wikipedia, even if Wikipedia has a lot of good factual information. If a wiki links to Wikipedia for factual information too often, e.g. a link for every time the word "ammunition" is mentioned in an article on a wiki for a game, it's not a great incentive for a reader of the wiki to stay. They will start to think Wikipedia has more information on the topic. The 888th Avatar   (talk)  09:35, April 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * Not sure if this solves your problem, but try adding . So, for instance, the wikipedia link you supplied above, it would be List of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction . Do note however, this doesn't work with images...-  5 əb'7 aŋk (7alk ) 15:24, April 21, 2010 (UTC)

Yeah, I know what you mean about sending people back to Wikipedia. I guess it makes no sense to duplicate all of that content, so I'll just make a page with links to external sources and leave it at that. Thanks.

Megat0n 17:28, April 21, 2010 (UTC)


 * I'd suggest a mixture of;


 * 1) Strip all links to minor / non relevant items & duplicate links (which most page have loads of).
 * 2) leave red links to topics that deserve a page on the wiki (encourages people to create it + adding links back later is tedious).
 * 3) Add 'wikpedia: subject' links mainly in a see also section or as refs so the fact that it goes there is clearer (and easier to replace later).
 * 4) Add the odd in text wikipedia link on a subject that could do with explaining but is not a core subject or to items such as useful policy pages that are used as reference material to support your own policies. (also useful in template documentation pages)


 * I stripped everything on early pages and regretted it when i had to go back and add them back later as internal links as the wiki grew. Also add the template to acknowledge source of the page clearly. -  BulldozerD11 18:35, April 21, 2010 (UTC)