selflinks

Selflinks are hyperlinks that reference the resource in which they appear. They occur when a page contains a link whose target is the same URL, or an internal anchor that points to a location within the same document. In wiki and content management systems, self-links can appear as links to the current page or to a named section within it.

In practice, self-links appear in several forms. A link to the page itself (for example linking to the current article from within the article text) is common in draft editing, for navigation shortcuts, or in templates. Internal anchors (links to fragments on the same page, such as to a heading or a top anchor) are also a form of self-link.

Purposes: self-links can improve navigation by providing quick access back to the top or to related sections; they can assist in bookmarking, printing, or generating stable URL structures. In some systems, self-links help with canonical or self-referential data, or with dynamic templates that render content conditionally.

Cautions: excessive self-linking can confuse readers, clutter the interface, or generate misleading signals for search engines if overused. In SEO, search engines generally ignore many self-links, but they can add crawling overhead or cause loops if paired with dynamic content generation. Accessibility-wise, link text should be descriptive.

Best practices: use self-links sparingly, ensure anchor targets are meaningful, and avoid linking for no functional purpose. When used in templates, ensure they render consistently and do not create navigation traps.