The Best Sites Like Wayback Machine

There’s something fascinating about getting a glimpse into how people lived in the past.Any good museum will spark a sense of awe in its visitors, and the Internet Archive is no different.The archive is a digital library of cultural artifacts that started chronicling the internet itself in 1996.

The Wayback Machine is the Internet Archive’s search engine.It does a great job at scanning through the massive catalog, but it’s no stranger to errors and occasional downtimes.If you’re experiencing issues with the Wayback Machine, you will find some great alternatives in this article.

Archive.is

There’s no arguing that Wayback Machine is the best way to browse old websites.However, a close second is Archive.is.It’s marketed as a “time capsule for web pages” and it functions very similarly.The main difference is in what it saves.Archive.is essentially saves a screenshot of old websites.Things like Flash content, sounds, and PDFs are not saved and won’t be accessible.

The navigation is very simple and easy, which is why some people even prefer it to Wayback Machine.The page has two search bars.The first is for a simple URL search, while the second is for uploading content to the site.If you have a website and you want to index it on Archive.is, you can do so manually in the red box.

Archive.is will show you the entire history of the website as it exists within their database.When you search for a site, you will first see the oldest available screenshot they have.From there, you can sort by newest or just scroll down.This feature is especially useful for marketing analysts as it shows how advertising strategies change over time.

WebCite

This is a specially focused archiving servicecentered on preserving material that’s scientifically relevant.The brunt of the content you find on WebCite will be related to research and education.Their goal is to preserve cited content as it was first seen.To retrieve URLs, it’s a matter of using the basic search function on the website or accessing it through a citation.

This is an on-demand service, so it will archive URLs as they are entered by users.This makes it better for what it’s intended but worse for broad searches.WebCite provides an “enhanced reference” for authors to use in their work, ensuring that readers will see their references exactly as they did.If you need to cite any digital work, it’s a good idea to use this free service.

PageFreezer

This service takes a slightly different approach than most others on this list.PageFreezer provides archiving solutions for companies, mostly to meet compliance standards.This is critical for financial institutions or any organization that expects to have potential evidentiary requirements.It focuses on things like digital signatures and legal evidence that exists on web pages.

It’s an online service with no installation requirements.However, you should take into consideration that it requires a paid account to use.It’s something of a niche service, but if you’re looking to archive sensitive data, it may be worth it.

Resurrect Pages

To be fair, this isn’t exactly a website.Resurrect Pages is an extension for the Firefox browser.If you’re a Firefox user, you’re in luck.This absolute powerhouse of an extension searches through most of the archives on this list, including Wayback Machine.

It has a very accessible interface.Just visit a URL that is “dead” and select “Resurrect Page” from the browser’s right-click menu.The only caveat is the availability.It is exclusive to Firefox, which may be worth downloading for this extension.

Google Cached View

Google doesn’t archive websites out of historical considerations.Instead, it keeps cached versions of the websites it crawls.That is to say, you can view a website as it was last stored by Google.They cache websites every few days and you’d be limited to this single cached view.

To see the cached site, perform any Google search and scroll down to the site you’re looking for.On the very left of the URL, there is a green arrow.Click on that arrow and then click on “Cached.” Even if the site is defunct, you will be able to see it as last remembered by Google.

Echoes of the Past

This is a fairly broad list of digital archives, all things considered.The majority of users will find an analog to the Wayback Machine in Archive.is, but that’s not the only option.There’s something to be said for more focused services such as WebCite.

Ultimately, you may find that aggregating all the options is the best option by using Resurrect Pages.It’s restricted to use on Firefox, but it’s easier than scouring various databases.If you just want to see a page that is experiencing downtime, Google’s cache is your easiest solution.

Do you believe there is an obvious value in preserving the “old web?” Should we treat it as an important record of cultural shifts or just a curiosity? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Google 缓存视图

出于历史考虑，Google 不会对网站进行存档。相反，它保留它所爬取的网站的缓存版本。也就是说，您可以查看 Google 上次存储的网站。他们每隔几天缓存一次网站，而您只能使用这个单一的缓存视图。

要查看缓存的站点，请执行任何 Google 搜索并向下滚动到您要查找的站点。在 URL 的最左侧，有一个绿色箭头。单击该箭头，然后单击“缓存”。即使该网站已不复存在，您仍能看到 Google 最后记住的内容。

过去的回声

这是一个相当广泛的数字档案列表，包括所有内容经过考虑的。大多数用户会在 Archive.is 中找到类似于 Wayback Machine 的产品，但这不是唯一的选择。对于 WebCite 等更专注的服务，有些话要说。

最终，您可能会发现聚合所有选项是使用 Resurrect Pages 的最佳选择。它仅限于在 Firefox 上使用，但它比搜索各种数据库更容易。如果您只想查看遇到停机的页面，Google 的缓存是最简单的解决方案。

您认为保留“旧网络”有明显的价值吗？我们应该把它当作文化转变的重要记录还是只是一种好奇心？在下面的评论中分享您的想法。