WikiQueer:Using the Wayback Machine

This page gives information about using the Wayback Machine to cite archived copies of web pages used by articles. This is useful if a webpage has changed, moved, or disappeared; links to the original content can be retained.

Any link to the Wayback Machine starts with. This is followed by a date reference, and then the URL of the site. The following example links to all versions of the main index page of Wikipedia. The asterisk is a wild card for all dates: The next example links to the main index of Wikipedia on the date on September 30, 2002 at 12:35 pm (and 25 seconds). the date format is The next example links to the most current version of the Wikipedia. While this is possible, it is discouraged; the most recent version is subject to change, defeating the purpose of using the archive.
 * http://web.archive.org/*/http://www.wikipedia.org
 * http://web.archive.org/20020930123525/http://www.wikipedia.org
 * http://web.archive.org/2/http://www.wikipedia.org

See also: Advanced URL locator hints and tips – Internet Archive

Javascript bookmarklet
For a one-click-button in your browser, to use when you're at a dead-link webpage, and go to whatever archive.org has saved for it, store the following code in a bookmark on your browser's toolbar, with a label like Wayback:

You can also use Wayback beta:

Mozilla Firefox Add-on
If you are using a Mozilla Firefox browser, you can install a 404 error add-on which will automatically try to detect a missing page in Wayback machine, and provides a button similar to the one described above.

Wayback template
wayback can create these links for you; use the 'url' and 'date' parameters to specify the URL and date. For example: Note that the date parameter defaults to '*'.

Cite templates
cite news, cite study, and cite web support the archiveurl parameter (Note that the archivedate parameter is also required!)