A 

bare URL is a URL cited as a reference for some information in an article without any

accompanying information about the linked page. In other words, it is just the text out of the
URL bar of a web browser copied and pasted into the Wiki text, inserted between <ref></ref>
tags or simply provided as an external link, without title, author, date, or any of the usual
information necessary for a bibliographic citation or helping to fix external links that no longer
work because the linked web pages or complete websites disappear, change their content, or
move without HTML redirection—so-called link rot.

Contents

 1What is a bare URL?

 2What is right with bare URLs?
 3What is wrong with bare URLs?
o 3.1Examples
 4Helping to prevent future link rot
 5See also
 6References

What is a bare URL?[edit]

A bare URL is the URL with no other information about the source. If a URL is accompanied by
any other information, it is not considered bare.
In this context, information refers to data that are useful to build a bibliographic citation and/or
help fix link rot. Examples include the title of the destination page, the date it was published, its
author and so on. Even if the link goes dead, one might be able to use this additional
information to find the article elsewhere.

Here is an example of a bare URL:

Some text http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14083 more
text , which displays inline as:

Some text http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14083 more text

Common variations of this include:

Some
text<ref>http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14083</
ref> more text , which displays inline as:

Some text[1] more text

Some text
[http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14083] more
text , which displays inline as:

Some text [1] more text

 Some text
[http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14083
Nikon] more text , which displays inline as:

Some text Nikon more text

All of the above examples use the same bare URL – it is just a URL with no
accompanying information. The word "Nikon" as displayed text adds no info
beyond what is displayed in the URL; displaying only "Nikon" or a number
actually gives the reader less info than the raw URL.

Contrast this with a full citation using the {{cite web}} template:
Some text<ref>{{cite web |title=Answer ID 14083: D2X
Firmware update 2.0.0 — Windows |publisher=Nikon USA Inc |
work=Find Answers |date=2008
|url=http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/14
083 |access-date=2009-05-09}}</ref> more text , which
displays inline as:
Some text[2] more text, and displays under References as:
2. "Answer ID 14083: D2X Firmware update 2.0.0 — Windows". Find Answers. Nikon
USA Inc. 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
It shows much more information about the article. Even if the link no
longer works, one can see that it previously linked to a web page
containing some technical discussion revolving around a specific
Nikon firmware update that might be obtainable through other means.

Here is a variation of this citation, typed in "manually" as:

Some
text<ref>[http://support.nikontech.com/app/answers/de
tail/a_id/14083 "Answer ID 14083: D2X Firmware update
2.0.0 — Windows"]. ''Find Answers''. Nikon USA Inc.
2008. Retrieved 2009-05-09.</ref> more text , which
displays identically inline as:
Some text  more text, and displays identically under References as:
[3]

3. "Answer ID 14083: D2X Firmware update 2.0.0 — Windows". Find Answers. Nikon

USA Inc. 2008. Retrieved 2009-05-09.
Even though it did not use a {cite ...} template, this version
shows full information, and thus is not a bare URL.

Some citation styles, such as the MLA style, use

full bibliographic citation that happen to display the text of the
URL in addition to proper identifying information, like the
author, date, and title of the publication. These are not
considered bare URLs.
What is right with bare URLs?[edit]
Adding a bare URL reference to Wikipedia is much more
helpful than no reference. If you only have time and
inclination to copy the reference URL you found, that is a
helpful first step, and we thank you for your contribution!
However, please note that a bare URL reference is also
much less helpful than a fully-formatted citation. Please help
readers and editors by using full citations instead.

What is wrong with bare URLs?[edit]

A bare URL is much less helpful than a full citation:

1. Bare URLs are subject to link rot. The usability of a

bare URL depends entirely on the target web site
both continuing to host the page, and retaining its
chosen site structure. It is under no obligation to do
either.
2. A Bare URL provides much less information to the
reader than a full citation.
Bare URLs are most easily filled by the editor who adds the
URL as a reference. That editor has read the webpage, and
therefore has all the details in front of them. An editor citing
any source should assess it to check that is a reliable source,
so they should have checked issue such as article title, date,
author(s), publisher, page number, etc.
By contrast, another editor coming later to fill the reference
has to start from the beginning and replicate all that work ...
and by the time they read the webpage, its contents may
have been changed or even been replaced with something
completely different.

Examples[edit]
All of the following bare URL citations of the International
Herald Tribune have "rotted" (stopped working), since The
New York Times restructured the IHT's web site:

 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/01/europe/EU-
GEN-Denmark-Obit-Wegner.php
 http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/10/africa/eu.php
 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/07/13/europe/EU-
Britain-Zimbabwe.php
A full citation, in contrast, gives the author, title, publisher,
publication, and date of the work. So, if the web site address
changes, the additional information may assist in finding the
new location. If the source is no longer available on the
internet, then the additional information may assist in tracking
down the source if it is in printed form, microfiche archives,
article/paper collections, published as books, and the like.
This is a full citation of the first International Herald
Tribune article, using the {{cite news}} template:

 Colman, David (February 1, 2007). "Hans Wegner, 92,

Broke Ground with Danish Modern chair
Designs". International Herald Tribune. La Défense,
FR: The New York Times Company. Archived from the
original on February 23, 2007. Retrieved February
25, 2020.
Notice that with the full information that appeared in the
citation b