Wikipedia:How to use redirect pages

Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide")

1 Why to create a redirect page
2 Why not to create a redirect page
3 How to edit a redirect page
4 Points to bear in mind

4.1 Follow the "principle of least astonishment"

4.2 Don't create "loop links"

4.3 Multiple links

4.4 Check the links to what is now a redirect page

5 Related topics

How to create a redirect page

If you want to redirect traffic going to one page to another page (with a better title, for example), then use the command

 #REDIRECT [[pagename]]

at the top of the page.

See LarrysText (http://www.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=LarrysText&action=edit&redirect=no) for an example. Here's another example: redirection.

A redirect page will still redirect if there is extra text on the page after the #REDIRECT command and link. However, it will not redirect if there is anything on the page before the redirect. Also, there must be no spaces between the # and the REDIRECT.

When creating a redirect, consider copying the #REDIRECT [[blah]] text into the summary field so that people know that you've just created a redirect.

Why to create a redirect page

So that links to common synonyms and expansions of unique acronyms will all end up at the same place, such as FBI and Federal Bureau of Investigation
Redirecting to one article after consolidating two closely related articles.

Why not to create a redirect page

If you simply want to rename an article to a new title, please don't just move the contents to a newly created article and make a redirect. This will leave the history of previous edits under the old name, and if there's a talk page it won't get moved automatically. Instead, use the Move page function, which will show the history of edits under the old and the new name in one list and makes a redirect for you.

How to edit a redirect page

When you click on a link to a redirect page, you will be redirected automatically to the new page. But what if you want to edit the redirect page, for example, to redirect it somewhere else? To do this, click on the "(redirected from OldPageName)" link at the top of the new page.

Points to bear in mind

Follow the "principle of least astonishment"

Make it clear to the reader that they have arrived in the right place. Examples (from January 2003, pages may have changed):

Viking ship redirects to longship. The first paragraph explains that longships were used by vikings.
Mario Party 2 (a video game) redirects to Mario Party, which explains that this is a series of games and discusses the whole series
Munch Museum redirects to Edvard Munch, which explains that Munch's works are displayed in said museum.
Windows Messenger redirects to the article about the .NET Messenger Service, which explains that Windows Messenger is one client available to access the service.
Often the name of the redirect page is an important term in the article and therefore bolded.

Otherwise, the reader will think "hang on ... I wanted to read about this. Why has the link taken me to that?" Note that in many cases, a redirect is a temporary measure: In the example Windows Messenger above, someone may want to create an article about this specific client at some point; in this case, see "how to edit a redirect page" above.

Don't create "loop links"

Don't link alternative names of an article on the article page itself. So, if "jumper" is a redirect to "sweater", don't do this on sweater:

A '''sweater''' (or [[jumper]]) ...

Seeing the above makes the reader think that clicking on the "jumper" link leads to more information -- but it doesn't, it leads right back to the very same page!

Multiple links

Don't link several terms that all go to the same place:

Angora wool is used to make [[jumper]]s ([[sweater]]s)...

Doing the above makes the reader click two links, only to find that she has loaded the same page twice!

Check the links to what is now a redirect page

Change them to link straight to the article that is the target of the redirection. This is especially important if there are double redirects, because only the first works automatically.