User:Batsondl/Sandbox 42

Purpose
This project will help you determine find the correct link to replace broken links found on Wiki pages.

Broken Links List
Broken Links Google Sheet

Step 1 - Sign up and check link
1. Go to the Broken Links Google Sheet and choose a broken link to fix from the list. Put your name in column J so no one else will work on the link.

2. Click on the broken link Google Sheet and check to see if the link is still broken. (Some links can appear to be broken when their websites are down for short time.)

3. If the link is still broken go to Step 2.

Step 2 - Check Archive.org
1. A trick to finding the replacement for a broken link is to see what the website used to look like. We will use the Wayback Machine on https://archive.org/web/. The Wayback Machine is a digital archive that takes a snapshot of websites and stores them by date. It allows the user to go “back in time” and see what websites looked like in the past.

2. Click on https://archive.org/web/

3. In the Wayback Machine URL field at the very top of the page, paste in your link from the Google Sheet. Then, press the “Browse History” button.



When the Wayback Machine has a result
4. If the Wayback Machine has a version of the website in it's database, you will a calendar that lists the dates the website was archived.

5. Choose a date on the calendar that has a blue or yellow circle around it to see what the page looked like. It is suggested to try a day 2 or 3 years earlier. If the page shows up as a broken link, then try a date a year earlier until you see a web page.



When the Wayback Machine does NOT have a result
1. There can be many reasons the Wayback Machine does not have a result.
 * The website never existed. Such a link that goes to a Wikipedia page that is spelled incorrectly.
 * The website is obscure or a foreign language that the Wayback machine does not cover.

2. To help find the correct link, you can try googling some key words from the URL to see if a correct link can be found.

3. If the link cannot be found, go to the Google Sheet and in column L, put a no. You can also add a note stating why it couldn't be replaced. This can include, "could not find the replacement link" or "website is now gone."

Step 7
EXAMPLE
 * Once you find the old webpage, review the old page and determine key words to use for when you use Google to locate the new URL.
 * Go to Google and search for the new URL.
 * Try taking the beginning portion of the URL to locate a possible page.
 * Try googling the title of the page with quotation marks around it to narrow down your results
 * For the broken link: http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/archives/marriage.html the Wayback Machine gave the original web page
 * The title of the page is: Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900 and you can see it is on the Illinois State Archives
 * Type in google: Illinois state archives "Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900"
 * The first result on the list is: https://www.ilsos.gov/isavital/marriagesrch.jsp and you will see that it is the same page as found in the Wayback Machine.

Step 8

 * With the correct new URL, go to the wiki page found on the Task List and replace the broken link with the new one you have found. Be sure to check the page once you have updated it to be sure the new link you added works.

Step 9

 * Return to the spreadsheet and record the date in column J and the new URL you used on the Wiki page in column K. You can use column L to add any notes.

If you can't find a new URL

 * If you are unable to locate a new link for the broken URL, put the link and identifying information on this spreadsheet. Leave the reference on the wiki page and we will double check it.'''
 * In column J of the Task List, type, no URL found.