Archive.org: Difference between revisions

[[File:Internet Archive WaybackMachine.png|frame|'''WaybackMachine''' logo from the Internet Archive at '''Archive.org''']]

Here at {{tag|WikiIndex}}, we use the '''WaybackMachine''' from the 'Internet Archive', located at '''[https://web.Archive.org web.Archive.org]''', to provide a service for {{tag|archived}} URL links of a former [[wiki]] that is [[:Category:Dead|no longer online]].  '''Archive.org''' is the eternal sunshine of the [[Wikisphere|wiki world]], the online world, and is arguably the ''de-facto'' primary [[web archiving]] website (though not the only web archiving service we use).

The 'Internet Archive' is an expansive repository of {{tag|archived}} screen scrapes from all types of websites, including [[:Category:All|wiki sites]].  Wikis frequently go [[:Category:Dead|down (dead)]] when [[owner]]s die, or are otherwise incapacitated, are not able to pay the [[:Category:Server|server]] and / or hosting bills; or when they [[:Category:GoalAbandoned|give up]] because they find they are unable a cultivate a vibrant community, or are not equal to the task of coping with [[spam]], technical bug fixes, software updates, or other problems.  The Internet Archive then becomes one of the only ways to get the content, since most wiki owners do not share the wiki content database with the general public.

However, the WaybackMachine at the Internet Archive does not always make the raw [[wikitext]] available for those who may have wanted to import it into their own wikis.  This is not an issue for [[:Category:Wikia|Wikia]], which is apparently happy to host an ever-increasing number of abandoned {{Wp|Ghost town|ghost wikis}}.  Many wikis {{Mw|Manual:Robots.txt#With short URLs|set robot policies}} that prevent some or all of their content from being archived; for example, the [[English Wikipedia]] excludes deletion debates from being archived.[https://En.Wikipedia.org/robots.txt]  Also, sometimes when sites go down, the new domain owner sets a robot policy that prevents archives of the old content from being viewed.{{Fact}}