Wikia

Every page has a link labelled "What links here" (or, more generally, labelled with the text in mediawiki:whatlinkshere), also called backlink.

The in-page forms are:

Special:Whatlinkshere/John Smith
{{SERVER}}{{localurl:Special:Whatlinkshere|target=John_Smith}}, on this project: http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Special:Whatlinkshere?target=John_Smith

This facility provides a list of all pages in the same project which link to the specified page.

Template:H:new

Before 1.5:

The maximum number to be shown can be specified:

http://psychology.wikia.com/wiki/Special:Whatlinkshere/John_Smith?limit=999

The default for this limit is 500, a specified limit of more than 999 is reduced to 999.

Limitation

Not listed are subpages that just have an automatic link to a page.

Redirects

The backlinks feature shows which backlinks are redirects.

The backlinks of the redirect are also shown, and if they include a redirect, the backlinks of that also (not more).

This makes it a useful tool for finding double redirects, which do not work, and, except in special applications (see below) can better be replaced by redirects to the final target.

Cases of transclusion

Whether there is a link from A to C is relevant for backlinks as well as Related changes. If C does not exist, only backlinks are applicable.

in the case of a template, referral to it is listed with the text "(inclusion)"
a link from A to C counts as such even if the link is not explicit in the wikitext of A, but due to the inclusion of template B, which links to C
if template B calls a template that depends on a variable or parameter, then:
- the question whether A links to C depends on the value of the variable on page A, or the parameter with which A calls B
- the question whether B links to C depends on the value of the variable on page B; in the case of a parameter, considered from page B, the page does not call a valid template name (it calls one with a name with braces), so B does not link to any valid C

Thus a link from A to C may be due to the inclusion of template B, even when B, considered by itself, does not link to C. Thus, to find out what templates cause pages to link to C, it is not sufficient to check for templates in the backlinks of C; some templates can only be found by checking what templates are used in the backlink pages.

Examples:

Template:H:f calls Template:h:f {{NAMESPACE}}. Considered by itself that is the unused Template:H:f Template [1], [2]
This page Help:What links here links through Template:H:f to Template:H:f Help [3], [4]. This page is therefore a backlink of the latter, but Template:H:f is not listed.

Even without a template name depending on a variable or parameter, if page A links to page C due to the inclusion of template B1 which redirects to B2, which links to C, A is in the list of backlinks of C but B1 is not.

Summarizing, for the purpose of backlinks and Related changes, A links to C if there is, in that order, a chain of template calls, a single redirect, template calls, a single redirect, etc., template calls, and a chain of redirects.

In the case of an image, using it in a page is listed in the third section of the image description page, but not in "What links here" of that page

Other uses

The backlinks facility works also for a page that does not exist. The What links here button is also on the edit page on which one arrives when following a broken link.

The feature can also be applied to itself and other special pages, e.g. [5], [6], [7], [8].

Links could be put specially for use with "What links here", as an alternative category system, even to non-existing pages, e.g. Altcat:Help 1, see Special:Whatlinkshere/Altcat:Help 1. Putting the wikitext [[Altcat:Help 2| ]] does not provide a link and only produces a blank space (perhaps depending on the browser, here it produces " "), but for "What links here" it works as a link, see Special:Whatlinkshere/Altcat:Help 2. This could be useful for a special-purpose category that should not clutter the regular list of categories a page belongs to (for example, on w:en: there is the requirement that when viewing an article in a category, it is obvious why the article is in the category, and the requirement that the category subject is prominently discussed in the article).

Similarly an empty template can be used: {{:Altcat:Help 3}} displays as "Altcat:Help 3"; see Special:Whatlinkshere/Altcat:Help 3.

Also a link can be provided, alongside the pseudo-link, [[Altcat:Help 2| ]][[Special:Whatlinkshere/Altcat:Help 2|Help 2]] gives " Cat:Help 2", or in the template: {{:Altcat:Help 4}} gives "Altcat:Help 4".

Except in the case that the link is put in the template (it can also be put alongside the template tag), a redirect can specify a supercategory. As opposed to actual categories, the backlinks can show a tree structure: not only pages and subcategories, but also the contents of the subcategories (for each a list of pages and a list of sub-subcategories) and the contents of the sub-subcategories (for each a list of pages and a list of sub-sub-subcategories), but not the contents of the sub-sub-subcategories, up to three levels are shown; see Cat:Help and Cat:Municipalities of the Netherlands.

Psychology: Debates · Journals · Psychologists

Order

When the link tables in the database are rebuilt, the lists are alphabetically ordered. However, adding a link subsequently causes it to be added to the end, and thus these occur in chronological order.

Wikipedia-specific help

Template:Ph:What links here

This page is a copy of the master help page at Meta (for general help information all Wikimedia projects can use), with two Wikipedia-specific templates inserted. To update the main text, edit the master help page for all projects at m:Help:What links here. For Wikipedia-specific issues, use Template:Ph:What links here (the extra text at the bottom of this page) or Template:Phh:What links here for a Wikipedia-specific lead (text appears at the top of this page). You are welcome to copy the exact wikitext from the master page at Meta and paste it into this page at any time. To view this page in other languages see the master page at Meta.

This text is stored on Wikia Community Central. Suggest changes here.

How to Find Special Pages

You can see a list of special pages available by visiting Special:SpecialPages on your wiki.

If you're an admin on the wiki, you can find this in the Admin Dashboard under the "Advanced" Tab.

If you want to create a shortcut to this list, you can add it to your toolbar by clicking "Customize" and adding "Special pages" to your list.

A List of Special Pages

Below is a list of options in Special:SpecialPages, color coded by access levels:

Black - Available to anyone
Green - Available to logged in users
Red - Available to admins and bureaucrats
Orange - Available to bureaucrats only

If a Special Page isn't available to a user, it will generally not display on their view of Special:SpecialPages.

Maintenance reports

Broken redirects: Special:BrokenRedirects : List of pages whose target article has been deleted (Help:Redirect)
Dead-end pages: Special:DeadendPages : Pages without any outgoing links (Help:Dead-end street)
Double redirects: Special:DoubleRedirects : List of pages that redirect to another redirect page (Help:Redirect)
Long pages: Special:LongPages : Pages that contain the most characters in descending order
Oldest pages: Special:AncientPages : Lists the oldest pages on a wiki
Orphaned pages: Special:LonelyPages : Articles not linked to or from any other page on the wiki
Pages with the fewest revisions: Special:FewestRevisions : Pages with the least amount of edits
Pages without language links: Special:WithoutInterwiki : Pages that do not link to any alternate language counterparts (Help:Interlanguage links)
Protected pages: Special:ProtectedPages : List pages that cannot be edited by non-admins or non-autoconfirmed users (Help:Page protection)
Protected titles: Special:ProtectedTitles : Pages that have been protected from creation from non-admins (Help:Page protection)
Short pages: Special:ShortPages : Pages that contain the fewest characters in ascending order
Tags Report: Special:TagsReport : Lists all of the specific tags in alphabetical order along with how many pages for each tag
Uncategorized categories: Special:UncategorizedCategories : Categories without category tags (Help:Category)
Uncategorized pages: Special:UncategorizedPages : Pages without category tags (Help:Category)
Uncategorized photos: Special:UncategorizedImages : Images without category tags (Help:Category)
Uncategorized templates: Special:UncategorizedTemplates : Templates without category tags (Help:Category)
Unused categories: Special:UnusedCategories displays categories that have not been used
Unused photos: Special:UnusedImages : Images that do not appear on any page (Help:Photos)
Unused templates: Special:UnusedTemplates : Templates that are not included in any page (Help:Templates)
Unused videos: Special:UnusedVideos : Videos that do not appear on any page (Help:Videos)
Unwatched pages: Special:UnwatchedPages : Pages that are not on any user's watchlist
Wanted categories: Special:WantedCategories : Pages that use a category that has not been created yet (Help:Category)
Wanted pages: Special:WantedPages : Most internally linked-to articles that do not yet exist
Wanted photos: Special:WantedFiles : Most internally linked-to files (not just images) that do not yet exist

List of pages

All pages: Special:AllPages : A list of every page on the wiki
All pages with prefix: Special:PrefixIndex Displays all prefixes within the wiki, along with a search box
Categories list: Special:Categories : List of categories (Help:Category)
Category tree: Special:CategoryTree : Use a category name to see its contents as a tree structure (Help:Category)
Disambiguation pages: Special:Disambiguations : List pages marked as disambiguations (Help:Glossary#D)
Redirects list: Special:ListRedirects : List of redirects on a wiki (Help:Redirect)

Users and rights

Block user: Special:BlockIP : Block a user or IP address. (Help:Blocking)
Blocked IP addresses and usernames: Special:IPBlockList : Blocked IPs and usernames (Help:Blocking)
Change password: Special:ChangePassword : Change the password associated with your user account
Contributions: Special:Contributions : List of contributions of anonymous or logged-in users (Help:User contributions)
Deleted contributions: Special:DeletedContributions : View a user's or IP address's edits that have been deleted (Help:Deletion)
Edit count: Special:EditCount : Edit tally broken down by namespaces locally and globally (Help:Edit count)
Preferences: Special:Preferences : Set your user preferences (Help:Preferences)
User group rights: Special:ListGroupRights : List of rights associated with each user group (Help:User access levels)
User rights management: Special:UserRights : Use to appoint new admins/bureaucrats or to add/remove rollback users. (Help:User access levels)
Users list: Special:ListUsers : List of people who have edited this wiki (Help:Active users)

Recent changes and logs

Followed Pages: Special:Following : A list of pages you are following on that wiki
Logs (extended list): Special:Log : Logs of deletion, protection, blocking, image uploads and user rights settings
New pages: Special:NewPages : List of new pages on a wiki (Help:Newest Pages)
New photos on this wiki: Special:NewFiles : List of photos on a wiki sorted by newest to oldest
Recent changes: Special:RecentChanges : The latest edits on a wiki (Help:Recent changes)
Related changes: Special:RelatedChanges : Changes made recently to pages linked from a specified page
or to members of a specified category (Help:Related changes)
Valid change tags: Special:Tags : A list of the tags that MediaWiki may mark an edit with, and their meaning
Watchlist: Special:Watchlist : Show the pages you are watching (Help:Watchlist)

Media reports and uploads

Duplicate photos search: Special:FileDuplicateSearch : Locate duplicate files based on filename
File list: Special:ImageList : List of images uploaded that can be sorted by size or date (Help:Images)
File path: Special:FilePath : Returns the complete path for a file (Help:Images)
Import Free Images: Special:ImportFreeImages : Import properly licensed photos from flickr (Help:Import free images)
MIME search: Special:MIMESearch : Enables the filtering of files for its MIME-type
Upload multiple photos: Special:MultipleUpload : Upload up to 10 files to the wiki (Help:Multiple uploads)
Upload photo: Special:Upload : Upload a file to the wiki (Help:Uploading files)

Wiki data and tools

Statistics: Special:Statistics : Total number of pages and users
System messages: Special:Allmessages : Displays all pages in the MediaWiki namespace (Help:System Messages)
Version: Special:Version : The version of the software the site is currently running. Also displayed 'installed' extensions
Wikia Statistics: Special:WikiStats : Displays monthly statistics of active users, edits, uploads, and other useful data

Redirecting special pages

External links search: Special:LinkSearch : Links on pages that take readers outside of the wiki
Random page: Special:RandomPage : Redirects to a random page (Help:Redirect)
Random redirect: Special:RandomRedirect : Randomly taken to a redirecting page (Help:Redirect)
Search: Special:Search : Search the wiki (Help:Searching)

High use pages

Most linked-to categories: Special:MostLinkedCategories : Categories that have the most links to them in descending order
Most linked-to pages: Special:MostLinked : Pages that have the most links to them in descending order
Most linked-to photos: Special:MostImages : Images that have the most links to them in descending order
Most linked-to templates: Special:MostLinkedTemplates : Templates that have the most links to them in descending order
Most popular categories: Special:Mostpopularcategories : List of the most popular categories
Pages with the most categories: Special:MostCategories : List of pages with the most categories in descending order
Pages with the most revisions: Special:MostRevisions : List of pages with the large number of edits in descending order

Create a new page: Special:Createpage : Guided process to creating new pages (Help:New page)
Export pages: Special:Export : Exports the source of individual wiki pages, optionally with their histories, in a thin XML wrapper which includes metadata like time, etc (Help:Exporting pages)
Import pages: Special:Import : Import pages exported from another wiki in an XML file
Restore deleted pages: Special:Undelete : One way to undelete a page or review deleted revisions of pages
What links here: Special:WhatLinksHere : Find all pages that link to an article

Wikia pages

Contact Wikia: Special:Contact : Send a message or inquiry to the Community Team (Help:Contacting Wikia)
Create blog: Special:CreateBlogPage : Create a new blog post
Create blog listing: Special:CreateBlogListingPage : Create a new blog listing page to display blog posts from categories
Partner feed: Special:PartnerFeed : RSS feed for types of wiki actions and content

Login/sign up

Connect account with Facebook: Special:Connect

Other special pages

API Explorer: Special:ApiExplorer : Displays documentation for the wiki's API
Achievements Leaderboard: Special:Leaderboard : A ranked list of users by achievement badges
Activity feed: Special:WikiActivity : A visual feed of edits and communication on the wiki
Book sources: Special:BookSources : Used when an ISBN is linked to on a page
Random page in category: Special:RandomInCategory : Generates a random page limited to the named category
Wiki Features: Special:WikiFeatures : Enable, disable, and give feedback on experimental and optional features

Logs

Block log - blocks and unblocks (Help:Blocking)
Deletion log - deleted and undeleted pages (Help:Deletion)
Import log - administrative imports of pages with edit history from other wikis
Merge log - list of the most recent merges of one page history into another
Move log - list of page moves (Help:Moving pages)
User creation log - list of newly created accounts.
Protection log - protected and unprotected pages (Help:Page protection)
Settings log - changes to the default site skin
Upload log - list of images uploaded (Help:Uploading files)
User rights log - changes to user rights (Help:User access levels)

Some extension also add new log types to the wiki (these will only exist if they are enabled at your wiki). Examples:

Patrol log - log of patrolled revisions (Help:Recent changes patrol)
User Avatar - Logs of uploading/changing of avatars (Blogs)

Further Help & Feedback

Browse and search other help pages at Help:Contents
Check Help:Wikia Community Central for sources of further help and support
Check Help:Contacting Wikia for how to report any errors or unclear steps in this article