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FamilySearch Wiki:Redirects: Difference between revisions
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Marking in this way is not necessary if you just want to replace a redirect with an article, or change where it points: see [[Help:Redirects#Changing a redirect|these instructions]] for help doing this. If you want to ''swap'' a redirect and an article, but are not able to move the article to the location of the redirect please use [[FamilySearch Wiki:Requested moves]] to request help from an [[FamilySearch Wiki:Administrators|admin]] in doing that. | Marking in this way is not necessary if you just want to replace a redirect with an article, or change where it points: see [[Help:Redirects#Changing a redirect|these instructions]] for help doing this. If you want to ''swap'' a redirect and an article, but are not able to move the article to the location of the redirect please use [[FamilySearch Wiki:Requested moves]] to request help from an [[FamilySearch Wiki:Administrators|admin]] in doing that. | ||
The major reasons why deletion of redirects is '''harmful''' are: | |||
*a redirect may contain nontrivial edit history; | |||
*if a redirect is reasonably old, then it is quite possible that its deletion will break links in old, historical versions of some other articles—such an event is very difficult to envision and even detect. | |||
Note that there could exist (for example), links to the URL anywhere on the internet. If so, then those links might not show up by checking for (clicking on) "What links here" | |||
Therefore consider the deletion only of either really harmful redirects or of very recent ones. | |||
==== Reasons for deleting ==== | ==== Reasons for deleting ==== | ||
You might want to '''delete''' a redirect if one or more of the following conditions is met (''but note also the exceptions listed below this list''): | |||
# <span id="D1"/><span id="d1"/>The redirect page makes it ''unreasonably'' difficult for users to locate similarly named articles via the search engine. | |||
# <span id="D2"/><span id="d2"/>The redirect might cause confusion. | |||
# <span id="D3"/><span id="d3"/>The redirect is offensive or abusive. | |||
# <span id="D4"/><span id="d4"/>The redirect makes no sense, such as redirecting [[Apple]] to [[Orange]]. | |||
# <span id="D5"/><span id="d5"/>It is a cross-namespace redirect out of article space, such as one pointing into the User or FamilySearch Wiki namespace. | |||
# <span id="D6"/><span id="d6"/>If the redirect is broken, meaning it redirects to an article that does not exist or itself, it can be deleted immediately, though you should check that there is not an alternative place it could be appropriately redirected to first. | |||
# <span id="D7"/><span id="d7"/>If the redirect is a novel or very obscure synonym for an article name, it is unlikely to be useful. Implausible typos or misnomers are potential candidates for speedy deletion, if recently created. | |||
# <span id="D8"/><span id="d8"/>If the target article needs to be moved to the redirect title, but the redirect has been edited before and has a history of its own, then it needs to be deleted to make way for move. | |||
# <span id="D9"/><span id="d9"/>If the redirect could plausibly be expanded into an article, and the target article contains little information on the subject. In these cases, it is better that the target article contain a [[FamilySearch Wiki:redlink|redlink]] pointing back to the redirect. | |||
# <span id="D10"/><span id="d10"/>If the redirect constitutes self-promotion or spam. | |||
==== Reasons for not deleting ==== | ==== Reasons for not deleting ==== | ||
However, '''avoid deleting''' such redirects if: | |||
# <span id="K1"/><span id="k1"/>They have a potentially useful page history. If the redirect was created by renaming a page with that name, and the page history just mentions the renaming, and for one of the reasons above you want to delete the page, copy the page history to the Talk page of the article it redirects to. The act of renaming is useful page history, and even more so if there has been discussion on the page name. | |||
# <span id="K2"/><span id="k2"/>They would aid [http://meatballwiki.org/wiki/AccidentalLinking accidental linking] and make the creation of [[FamilySearch Wiki:Proposed mergers|duplicate articles]] less likely, whether by redirecting a plural to a singular, by redirecting a frequent misspelling to a correct spelling, by redirecting a misnomer to a correct term, by redirecting to a synonym, etc. In other words, redirects with no incoming links are ''not'' candidates for deletion ''on those grounds'' because they are of benefit to the browsing user. Some extra vigilance by editors will be required to minimize the occurrence of those frequent misspellings in the article texts because the linkified misspellings will not appear as broken links. | |||
# <span id="K3"/><span id="k3"/>They aid searches on certain terms. | |||
# <span id="K4"/><span id="k4"/>You risk breaking incoming or internal links by deleting the redirect. | |||
# <span id="K5"/><span id="k5"/>Someone finds them useful. Hint: If someone says they find a redirect useful, they probably do. You might not find it useful—this is not because the other person is a liar, but because you browse FamilySearch Wiki in different ways. | |||
# <span id="K6"/><span id="k6"/>The redirect is to a [[FamilySearch Wiki:Naming conventions (plurals)#Redirects|plural form]] or to a [[FamilySearch Wiki:Redirects#What do we use redirects for?|singular form]], or to some other grammatical form. | |||
===== Neutrality of redirects ===== | ===== Neutrality of redirects ===== | ||
Note that redirects are ''not'' covered by FamilySearch Wiki's [[FamilySearch Wiki:NPOV|neutral point of view]] policy. This covers only article titles, which ''are'' required to be neutral (see [[FamilySearch Wiki:Neutral point of view#Article naming]]). Perceived lack of neutrality in redirects is therefore not a valid reason for deletion. Non-neutral redirects should point to neutrally titled articles about the subject of the term. | |||
Non-neutral redirects are commonly created for three reasons: | |||
# Articles that are created using non-neutral titles are routinely moved to a new neutral title, which leaves behind the old non-neutral title as a working redirect. | |||
# Articles created as [[POV fork]]s may be deleted and replaced by a redirect pointing towards the article from which the fork originated. | |||
# The subject matter of articles may be commonly represented outside FamilySearch Wiki by non-neutral terms. Such terms cannot be used as FamilySearch Wiki article titles, per the neutral point of view policy. | |||
If a redirect is not an established term and is unlikely to be used by searchers, it is unlikely to be useful and may be nominated for deletion. However, if a redirect represents an established term that is used in multiple mainstream reliable sources (as defined by [[FamilySearch Wiki:Verifiable#Reliable sources]]), it should be kept even if non-neutral, as it will facilitate searches on such terms. Please keep in mind that RfD is not the place to resolve most editorial disputes. | |||
=== What needs to be done on pages that are targets of redirects? === | === What needs to be done on pages that are targets of redirects? === | ||