Help:Redirect: Difference between revisions

From Meta, a Wikimedia project coordination wiki
Browse history interactively
← Older editNewer edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
m Reverted changes by 204.108.212.220 (talk) to last version by Mtarch11
(229 intermediate revisions by more than 100 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
<languages />
{{H:h|editor toc}}
{{ambox|text=<translate><!--T:1--> For technical documentation about redirects, please visit [[<tvar name=1>mw:Special:MyLanguage/Help:Redirects</tvar>|dedicated help page on Mediawiki.org]].</translate>}}
:''See also: [[w:Wikipedia:Redirect|Wikipedia:Redirect]]''


<translate>
A redirect is a page starting with:
<!--T:2-->
'''Redirects''' have different use cases through Wikimedia wikis.


== Local policies == <!--T:3-->
<nowiki>#REDIRECT [[</nowiki>''pagename''<nowiki>]]</nowiki>


<!--T:4-->
where ''pagename'' is the target page.
Some projects have policies on ''what'' redirects should exist. For example, on the [[<tvar name="1">wiktionary:</tvar>|English Wiktionary]], most redirects are prohibited by policy.


=== Broken redirects === <!--T:5-->
Extra text after the #REDIRECT command and link is ignored. It is rendered only in preview and in a diff.


<!--T:6-->
==How it appears to the user==
On many wikis administrators simply delete them, but it is sometimes useful to keep a broken redirect and wait for the creation of the target, or to set a new target.
If the redirect target is an existing page in the same project, going to the redirect page by means of a link, the URL, or the Go button, results in the redirect target page, just like following the link. However, the browser shows the URL of the redirect page, and the target page shows a small notice below the top title to indicate you arrived here indirectly.


== Purposes of a redirect == <!--T:7-->
For example, if somebody goes to [[Help:Redirection]], then they will end up at this page instead, and the top of the page will look like:
</translate>
* <translate><!--T:8--> Allow access in the case that a page name is provided:</translate>
** <translate><!--T:9--> which is an alternative name for the subject</translate>
** <translate><!--T:10--> which is a name for a subtopic (in this case one may use a redirect to a section)</translate>
** <translate><!--T:11--> which uses alternative capitalization and hyphenation</translate>
** <translate><!--T:12--> which uses alternative spelling</translate>
** <translate><!--T:13--> which has a common misspelling</translate>
* <translate><!--T:14--> Provide a way of conveniently going to a page (shortcut).</translate>
* <translate><!--T:15--> Keep links to a page active after it has been moved (even if internal links are updated, this still applies for links from outside; also for [[<tvar name="1">Special:MyLanguage/Help:Edit summary#Internal and interwiki links in edit summaries</tvar>|links in edit summaries]]).</translate>


<translate>
<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: black; border:1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
=== Special purposes === <!--T:16-->
<h1 class="firstHeading">Help:Redirect<h1>
</translate>
<h3 id="siteSub">From {{ns:project}}<h3>
* <translate><!--T:17--> Conveniently linking indirectly to a page, without the need for a [[<tvar name="1">Special:MyLanguage/Help:Piped link</tvar>|piped link]]. However, a piped link is in some respects even better than relying on a redirect.</translate>
<div id="contentSub">(Redirected from [[Help:Redirection]])</div>
* <translate><!--T:18--> Allowing a link title independent of the final link target; one creates a page whose name is the desired link title, and which redirects to the desired target page. See e.g. <tvar name="q">[[w:Template:Ft]]</tvar>, containing <tvar name="2"><nowiki>[[30.48 cm|ft]]</nowiki></tvar>, with the page <tvar name="3">[[w:30.48 cm]]</tvar> redirecting to <tvar name="4">[[w:Foot (unit of length)]]</tvar>. The link title "<tvar name="5">30.48 cm</tvar>" informs in the hover box about the unit "ft" even without following the link to the article about this unit. See also <tvar name="6">{{ll|Help:Advanced editing}}</tvar> for another technique with a similar result.</translate>
</blockquote>


<translate>
To get the canonical URL of the target page in your browser's address bar, click the article tab.
<!--T:19-->
When creating new redirects, bear in mind that creating too many redirects can clutter up the [[<tvar name="1">Special:MyLanguage/Help:Searching</tvar>|search results page]], which can hinder users. Also, don't spend too much time creating redirects. Often it's more important to spend time improving the quality of the target page. A piped link is another way to make a link to a page with a name which does not occur in the first page.


== Using redirects for inexisting but expected pages == <!--T:20-->
If the redirect target is a non-existing page in the same project, or to a page in another project, one simply arrives at the redirect page.


<!--T:21-->
When a page called for inclusion is a redirect page, the redirect target is included instead, with the same parameters, without any redirect message. A double redirect does not work (see below).
When an inexisting page Subtopic could be created as a subtopic of Topic page, there are the following possibilities:
</translate>
# <translate><!--T:22--> Redirect Subtopic to Topic, use the [[<tvar name="1">mw:Special:MyLanguage/Help:What links here</tvar>|backlink]] to go from A to B (disadvantage: not very inviting to create a new content page B; inconvenient if A has many backlinks).</translate>
# <translate><!--T:23--> Insert a red link in Topic to Subtopic as invitation or preparation for creating page Subtopic; use the backlink to go from Subtopic to Topic (disadvantage: not obvious for newbie, much less convenient than automatic redirect, especially if B has many backlinks).</translate>
# <translate><!--T:24--> Both (indirect self-link on Topic). To go from Topic to Subtopic, click the link from Topic to Subtopic, which brings you back to Topic, and use the link in the redirect message (for detecting a redirect see hereinbefore; however, there is no distinction between a redirect back, and an onward redirect) (disadvantage, as far as not yet mentioned: not obvious for newbie).</translate>
# <translate><!--T:25--> Ditto but with a soft redirect from Subtopic to Topic, i.e. a page only containing something like "See [<nowiki/>[Topic]]"; one can see at Topic that Subtopic is very short using the [[<tvar name="1">Special:MyLanguage/Help:Link#Stub feature</tvar>|stub feature]] (disadvantages: a soft redirect is non-standard; people who do not know about its reason may change it in a regular redirect; is a little less convenient than automatic redirect; requires stub feature setting)</translate>
# <translate><!--T:26--> Subtopic is a redirect, link from Topic to Subtopic with "<tvar name="code"><code>redirect=no</code></tvar>" parameter, or link to Subtopic's edit page, e.g. [<tvar name="url">https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template&redirect=no</tvar> Template] and [<tvar name="url2">https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Template&action=edit</tvar> start page Template], respectively.</translate>


<translate>
==Restrictions==
<!--T:27-->
As a simple way to avoid problems with infinite [[w:Recursion|recursion]], if the redirect target is another redirect page, the second redirect is not applied.
In the 3rd and 4th cases, especially if Topic has a list of links to pages Subtopic, one can mark the links with more info, e.g. by bolding, and explain the marking.


== See also == <!--T:28-->
A redirect target cannot depend on a variable, template, or parser function. When attempting this, the restriction does not become apparent in the preview (see also the section below on the rendering of a redirect page), but only after saving.
</translate>
* [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Link#Stub feature|<translate><!--T:29--> Detecting links to redirects using the stub feature</translate>]]
* {{ll|Don't delete redirects}}
* [[Redirects in search results - proposed software changes|<translate><!--T:30--> Redirects in search results - proposed software changes</translate>]]
* [[Redirected user pages considered harmful|<translate><!--T:31--> Redirected user pages considered harmful</translate>]]
* <translate><!--T:32--> [[w:Wikipedia:Redirect]]</translate>
** [[w:Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion#When_should_we_delete_a_redirect.3F|<translate><!--T:33--> Deletion policy on Wikipedia for redirects</translate>]]
* [https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikitech-l@lists.wikimedia.org/thread/37LKF4KXSTCTO4ZLHDWY3XDQWSBWBDF4/ <translate><!--T:34--> Double redirect fixer</translate>]
* [[mw:Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Page table|<translate><!--T:35--> Page database table manual for how redirects are stored</translate>]]


[[Category:Redirects{{#translation:}}| ]]
A code like %70 in a redirect disables it, although the link works from the redirect page.

Note also that different projects have different specifications on ''what'' can be redirected. On en.wiktionary.org, the multilingual dictionary, most redirects are prohibited by policy.

==Purposes of a redirect==

* Allow access in the case that a pagename is provided:
** which is an alternative term for the subject
** which is a term for a subtopic (in this case one may use a redirect to a section)
** which uses alternative capitalization and hyphenation
** which uses alternative spelling
** which has a common misspelling
* Provide a way of conveniently going to a page (shortcut).
* Keep links to a page active after it has been moved (even if internal links are updated, this still applies for links from outside; also for [[Help:Edit summary#Internal and interwiki links in edit summaries|links in edit summaries]]).

=== Special purposes ===
*Conveniently linking indirectly to a page, without the need for a [[Help:Piped link|Piped link]]. However, a piped link is in some respects even better than relying on a redirect, see [[Help:Piped link#Using a redirect as an alternative|Comparison with piped link]].
*Allowing a link title independent of the final link target; one creates a page whose name is the desired link title, and which redirects to the desired target page. See e.g. [[w:Template:Ft]], containing <nowiki>[[30.48 cm|ft]]</nowiki>, with the page [[w:30.48 cm]] redirecting to [[w:Foot (unit of length)]]. The link title "30.48 cm" informs in the hover box about the unit "ft" even without following the link to the article about this unit. See also [[Help:Advanced_editing]] for another technique with a similar result.

When creating new redirects, bear in mind that creating too many redirects can clutter up the [[Help:Searching|search results page]], which can hinder users. Also, don't spend too much time creating redirects - often it's more important to spend time improving the quality of the target page. A [[Help:Piped link|piped link]] is another way to make a link to a page with a name which does not occur in the first page.

==Creating a redirect==
If you're creating a new redirect, [[Help:Starting a new page|start a new page]], write <nowiki>#REDIRECT [[pagename]]</nowiki> (or <nowiki>#redirect [[pagename]]</nowiki>) at the top of the page, where ''pagename'' is the name of the target page. Here is [http://meta.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=redirection&action=edit&redirect=no an example]. If you're replacing an existing page with a redirect, for example after merging a duplicate page, go to the page, edit it, and replace the existing text with <nowiki>#REDIRECT [[pagename]]</nowiki>.

The page will not redirect if there is anything on the page ''before'' the redirect. Also, there must be no spaces between the # and the REDIRECT.

Extra text ''after'' the #REDIRECT command and link is ignored. It is rendered only in preview and in a diff, see [http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide:_Using_redirects&action=edit], [http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide:_Using_redirects&diff=356885&oldid=356884], and [http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:MediaWiki_User%27s_Guide:_Using_redirects&redirect=no]. Category-tags are not ignored. If a category is set, the redirect-page is listed in the category it belongs to. When following the link from the category page to the redirect page then as usual the redirect is ''applied''.

An [[Help:Edit summary|edit summary]] is automatically provided, with the text according to [[MediaWiki:Autoredircomment]], but only if no edit summary is supplied (as opposed to the automatic edit summary in section editing, which can be supplemented by the user).

==Rendering of the redirect page==
After you save the redirect page, you get sent to a page with the string "&redirect=no" in the URL. Thus the just created redirect page is shown, not the page to which it redirects. The redirect page should look something like:

<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: black; border:1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
<h1 class="firstHeading">Help:Redirection<h1>
<h3 id="siteSub">From {{ns:project}}<h3>
<div id="contentSub">Redirect page</div>
[[Image:Redirectltr.png]] <span class="redirectText">Help:Redirect</span>
</blockquote>

After the page title, the content of [[MediaWiki:Redirectpagesub]] (by default the text "Redirect page"), a bent arrow, and the link to the redirect target is rendered. This link shows the canonical form of the target. As mentioned above, the text after the link to the redirect target is ignored, except for category tags.

This does not apply in the {{ml|help:preview||preview}} of a redirect page: this ignores the special meaning of the redirect syntax, so it shows a one-item numbered list, with the link rendered as an ordinary link, and followed by the extra content. Compare [http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Babel&redirect=no] with the preview of its edit page [http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Babel&action=edit].

To see your redirect working, use your address bar to delete that part of the URL. Alternatively, create a link on another page to your redirect, and then follow that link.

==Changing a redirect==
When changing a redirect target to a different page, or turn a redirect page into a regular page, you must go to the redirect page. To do so, click on a link to the redirect page. Then look for the link to the redirect page at the top of the page you've been redirected to; e.g.
<div id="contentSub">(Redirected from [[Help:Redirection]])</div>

Once you get to the redirect page, click '''Edit this page'''. You can then either change the target of the redirect or replace the redirect with a brand new page.

Another way to get to the redirect page: Go to the target page, and click "What links here". This will show you all the back-links from that page, including redirects. To change a redirect, click on it, and then click on '''Edit this page''' as above.

== Deleting a redirect ==
[[Meta:Administrators|Administrators]] can [[w:Wikipedia:Deletion policy|delete]] redirects in the same way as any other page. There may be project-specific guidelines on when this is appropriate.

== The moving function ==
When a page is renamed/moved with the [[Help:Moving a page|moving]] function, a redirect is automatically created from the old to the new name, and also one for the corresponding talk page.

If the new page name is occupied by a redirect that has only one edit in its history and targeted to the old page name, it is replaced by the page being moved. If the redirect has more than one history entry, or the redirect target is somewhere else, then it must be moved by an administrator.


== Redirect to special targets ==
=== Interwiki redirects and redirects to special pages===

Interwiki redirects and redirects to special pages have been disabled, try e.g. [[Help:Interwiki redirect demo]] and [[Help:Redirect to special page demo]].

Use direct [[Help:Interwiki linking|interwiki link]]s (or direct links to Special pages) without redirect, or a [[w:Wikipedia:Soft redirect|soft redirect]] (non-automatic).

=== A redirect to an anchor ===
One may redirect to an anchor, in particular a section. [[Help:Section linking and redirects]] is an example and its target also provides more info ('''it does not work for every environment''').

Section redirects are supposed to work from r18220 onwards. See [[bugzilla:218]]. If it does not work, you will be redirected to the page but you will not be sent to the section.

=== A redirect to a page in the image or category namespace ===
On Meta and Wikipedia a redirect to an image page or to a category shows the editable text only. To get the full page after being redirected, use the link "Image", or "Category", respectively.

On Commons a redirect to a category gives the full page, but not the subcategories and pages in the redirect page (if that is also a category).

To prevent a page that redirects to a category from appearing in the category; precede the word Category with a colon like so : <nowiki>#REDIRECT [[:Category:Glossary]]</nowiki>

===Images linking to a specific page===
There are ways to make an image link to a specified page, some which work especially well on Mediawiki sites that support embedding external images. For possibilities see [[Help:Navigational image]].

==CSS class==

With the new preprocessor an internal link to a redirect page has CSS class "mw-redirect". This can be useful to make them stand out, for clean-up work involving bypassing redirects.

==Redirect and/or link to non-existing page==
When B is a subtopic of A, and B does not have its own page, or at least not with additional info, there are the following possibilities:

#redirect B to A, use the backlink to go from A to B (disadvantage: not very inviting to create a new content page B; inconvenient if A has many backlinks)
#link A to B ("[[w:Wikipedia:Red link|red link]]") as invitation or preparation for creating page B; use the backlink to go from B to A (disadvantage: not obvious for newbie, much less convenient than automatic redirect, especially if B has many backlinks)
#both (indirect self-link on A). To go from A to B, click the link from A to B, which brings you back to A, and use the link in the redirect message (for detecting a redirect see above; however, there is no distinction between a redirect back, and an onward redirect) (disadvantage, as far as not yet mentioned: not obvious for newbie)
#ditto but with a [[w:Wikipedia:soft redirect|soft redirect]] from B to A, i.e. a page only containing something like "See <nowiki>[[</nowiki>A]]"; one can see at A that B is very short using the [[Help:Link#Stub_feature|stub feature]] (disadvantages: a soft redirect is non-standard; people who do not know about its reason may change it in a regular redirect; is a little less convenient than automatic redirect; requires stub feature setting)
#B is a redirect, link from A to B with "redirect=no", or link to B's edit page, e.g. [http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Template&redirect=no Template] and [http://meta.wikimedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Template&action=edit start page Template], respectively.

In the 3rd and 4th case, especially if A has a list of links to pages B, one can mark the links with more info, e.g. by bolding, and explain the marking.

==Force all redirects to be client side redirects (HTTP 302 Temporary Redirect)==
(for MediaWiki 1.9.0)

(modified code by Uriah Anthony Stephenson-Ward | [mailto:uriah@diyinfo.org uriah@diyinfo.org] | [http://www.diyinfo.org DIYinfo.org])

;What?: This piece of code forces all redirects to be done by the client, by issuing them a 302 Temporary Redirect to the new pages specific location.
;Why?: A lot of search engines decrease your pages rank if they discover duplicated content. The traditional Redirect method allows a huge amount of duplication, and doesn't redirect as nicely. This also allows you to use images for navigation. Additionally it can be a limitation/annoying to not see the full redirected pages location in the address bar, and having the annoying "Redirected from" link.
:'''Warning: This hack will increase your servers network load somewhat, for 99% of MediaWiki servers this will be negligible, but I wouldn't see Wikipedia doing this mod any time soon!'''
;How?: Open ''"includes\Article.php"'' and edit the function ''"followRedirect()"''
:Change line 94 (approximately) from ''"return $rt;"'' to ''"return $rt->getFullURL();"''
:The whole function should now look like this:
<pre>
<nowiki>
/**
* @return mixed false, Title of in-wiki target, or string with URL
*/
function followRedirect() {
$text = $this->getContent();
$rt = Title::newFromRedirect( $text );
# process if title object is valid and not special:userlogout
if( $rt ) {
if( $rt->getInterwiki() != '' ) {
if( $rt->isLocal() ) {
// Offsite wikis need an HTTP redirect.
//
// This can be hard to reverse and may produce loops,
// so they may be disabled in the site configuration.
$source = $this->mTitle->getFullURL( 'redirect=no' );
return $rt->getFullURL( 'rdfrom=' . urlencode( $source ) );
}
} else {
if( $rt->getNamespace() == NS_SPECIAL ) {
// Gotta handle redirects to special pages differently:
// Fill the HTTP response "Location" header and ignore
// the rest of the page we're on.
//
// This can be hard to reverse, so they may be disabled.
if( $rt->isSpecial( 'Userlogout' ) ) {
// rolleyes
} else {
return $rt->getFullURL();
}
}
return $rt->getFullURL();
}
}
// No or invalid redirect
return false;
}
</nowiki>
</pre>

==See also==
*[[Help:Link#Stub_feature|Detecting links to redirects using the stub feature]].
*[[m:Redirects in search results - proposed software changes|Redirects in search results - proposed software changes]].
*[[m:Redirected user pages considered harmful|Redirected user pages considered harmful]]
*[[w:Wikipedia:Redirect]]
**[[Wikipedia:Redirects_for_deletion#When_should_we_delete_a_redirect.3F|Deletion policy on Wikipedia for redirects]]

{{H:f|langs=|enname=Redirect}}

Revision as of 16:53, 7 February 2024

Other languages:

Redirects have different use cases through Wikimedia wikis.

Local policies

Some projects have policies on what redirects should exist. For example, on the English Wiktionary, most redirects are prohibited by policy.

Broken redirects

On many wikis administrators simply delete them, but it is sometimes useful to keep a broken redirect and wait for the creation of the target, or to set a new target.

Purposes of a redirect

  • Allow access in the case that a page name is provided:
    • which is an alternative name for the subject
    • which is a name for a subtopic (in this case one may use a redirect to a section)
    • which uses alternative capitalization and hyphenation
    • which uses alternative spelling
    • which has a common misspelling
  • Provide a way of conveniently going to a page (shortcut).
  • Keep links to a page active after it has been moved (even if internal links are updated, this still applies for links from outside; also for links in edit summaries).

Special purposes

  • Conveniently linking indirectly to a page, without the need for a piped link. However, a piped link is in some respects even better than relying on a redirect.
  • Allowing a link title independent of the final link target; one creates a page whose name is the desired link title, and which redirects to the desired target page. See e.g. w:Template:Ft, containing [[30.48 cm|ft]], with the page w:30.48 cm redirecting to w:Foot (unit of length). The link title "30.48 cm" informs in the hover box about the unit "ft" even without following the link to the article about this unit. See also Help:Advanced editing for another technique with a similar result.

When creating new redirects, bear in mind that creating too many redirects can clutter up the search results page, which can hinder users. Also, don't spend too much time creating redirects. Often it's more important to spend time improving the quality of the target page. A piped link is another way to make a link to a page with a name which does not occur in the first page.

Using redirects for inexisting but expected pages

When an inexisting page Subtopic could be created as a subtopic of Topic page, there are the following possibilities:

  1. Redirect Subtopic to Topic, use the backlink to go from A to B (disadvantage: not very inviting to create a new content page B; inconvenient if A has many backlinks).
  2. Insert a red link in Topic to Subtopic as invitation or preparation for creating page Subtopic; use the backlink to go from Subtopic to Topic (disadvantage: not obvious for newbie, much less convenient than automatic redirect, especially if B has many backlinks).
  3. Both (indirect self-link on Topic). To go from Topic to Subtopic, click the link from Topic to Subtopic, which brings you back to Topic, and use the link in the redirect message (for detecting a redirect see hereinbefore; however, there is no distinction between a redirect back, and an onward redirect) (disadvantage, as far as not yet mentioned: not obvious for newbie).
  4. Ditto but with a soft redirect from Subtopic to Topic, i.e. a page only containing something like "See [[Topic]]"; one can see at Topic that Subtopic is very short using the stub feature (disadvantages: a soft redirect is non-standard; people who do not know about its reason may change it in a regular redirect; is a little less convenient than automatic redirect; requires stub feature setting)
  5. Subtopic is a redirect, link from Topic to Subtopic with "redirect=no" parameter, or link to Subtopic's edit page, e.g. Template and start page Template, respectively.

In the 3rd and 4th cases, especially if Topic has a list of links to pages Subtopic, one can mark the links with more info, e.g. by bolding, and explain the marking.

See also

Retrieved from "https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Help:Redirect&oldid=26191647"