Topic on Extension talk:ShortUrl

In case others find the suggestion useful, I'll mention that I have found it sufficient to use permalinks in email for page revisions on my wiki that have long titles, rather than arrange to get this extension installed.

For example, it's nice that the Hindi-language page about the Hindi Wikipedia is at <http://hi.wikipedia.org/s/164>. However, if that were not the case, it would still be nearly as useful that its present revision can be accessed via <http://hi.wikipedia.org/w/?oldid=1902067>. (I don't know any Hindi at all. I only knew that this extension is installed on that language version of Wikipedia.)

I am not placing this suggestion on the extension's page. When I mentioned it a short while ago in IRC #mediawiki, I found that it might not meet with consensus.

You can actually use even http://hi.wikipedia.org/?oldid=1902067 . However, what you actually want is curid; see also bugzilla:21572.

Thanks! Here's what I learned from that bugzilla item.

In some cases, a "curid" link will be confusing.

• By the time the link is used, the page with that "curid" value may have been renamed.

• By the time the link is used, the page with that "curid" value may have new text.

The page's new text might pertain to a different concept, as compared with the old text.

• It could be a disambiguation page, when it used to be an article.

• It could be an article, but now pertaining to a different meaning of the same title. It could be as different as a river "bank" is from a savings "bank".
• With both renamings and revisions, it could even be an article about a different meaning of a different title.

To create a "curid" link, first get the "curid" value.

1. Use any of the usual software products for web browsing, such as Google Chrome.
2. Open the page that will be the target of the link.
3. Use the command called View Source, or View Page Source.
4. Find the text "wgArticleId".
5. That will be followed by a colon, then a number. That number is the "curid" value.

Then use the "curid" value in a link.

• For the English-language Wikipedia, you can paste the "curid" number onto the end of this: https://en.wikipedia.org?curid=

• Equivalently, you can do this:

1. Go to the site's "Special pages" list. The site provides a link to Special Pages in the Tools section of the sidebar.
2. On the page "Special Pages", use the link "Redirect by file, user, page, revision, or log ID".
3. In the Lookup pop-down list, select "Page ID".
4. In the Value text box, paste the "curid" value.
5. Press "Go".