Warhammer 40k - Lexicanum:Redirect
A Redirect is a tool that when included on a wiki page automatically sends the reader to another page (or a section thereof).
Example:
If you type in "PDF" in the search box or in an article click on the link PDF you will automatically be sent to the page Planetary Defence Forces.
If you have been sent to another page via a Redirect this is displayed under the page name of the page you were sent to (see screenshot: "Redirected from...").
When to use Redirects
Redirects are useful when you have multiple names for the same article. This is especially obvious when the name has more than one word in it.
The way in which the MediaWiki software works is that all variations in a name can lead to a new article. A number of examples follow:
- Dog, Dogs, DoGs, DOgs, DoGS etc.
- Cats and Dogs, Cats and dogs, Cats And Dogs, Cat and Dogs, Cats and Dog, Dogs and Cats etc.
As you can see plurality and capitalisation are the two most important things to think about in an article name and here redirects help.
Policy
The policy of the Lexicanum is as follows:
- Articles should always try to be in the singular
- Articles should always try and have the correct capitalisation and follow the spellings as produced by Games Workshop
How to use Redirects
To include a Redirect on a page you have to include the code #redirect[[Target pagename]] on the chosen page.
For example:
If you want to redirect to the page entitled "Planetary Defense Forces":
Code:
#redirect[[Planetary Defence Forces]]
You can also redirect to a specific section of a page instead of to the page as such. For example if you want to redirect from a page to a section of another page (which must exist of course!) you have to include the code #redirect[[Target pagename#Section name]] on the chosen page.
For example:
If you want to redirect to the section entitled "System_Defence_Forces" which is a section on the page Planetary Defense Forces:
Code:
#redirect[[Planetary Defence Forces#System Defence Forces]]
Double Redirects
A Double Redirect is a Redirect sending the reader to yet another Redirect. Such constructions should be avoided at all costs and replaced by "normal" Redirects that point directly to the intended target page. The reason for this is simple: the Mediawiki software used by the Lexicanum does not support this. Or in other words: It will not send you further than to the first target pages (which only displays a redirect instruction, see screenshot below).
In this concrete Double Redirect example there is a Redirect from Administrator to Administratum that in turn redirects to Adeptus Administratum. A reader entering "Administrator" into the search box or clicking on the link Administrator gets stuck on the page Administratum instead of ending up on the page Adeptus Administratum as intended. Therefore the Redirect on the page Administrator would have to be fixed to point directly to Adeptus Administratum instead of to Administratum as in this example.
An automatically generated list of Double Redirects to fix is available here. The reasons for the existence of such Double Redirects most often are unforeseen consequences of a page move.
See also
More on the Redirect Wikimedia tool can be found here.
