MA Help:Redirect

Contents → Redirect

The MediaWiki software uses redirects to direct people from one location on Memory Alpha to another. For example, if somebody follows a link to TNG, they will end up at the page Star Trek: The Next Generation instead, and the top of the page will include a notice of redirection that looks like this: (Redirected from TNG). Redirects cannot point to external websites; these are instead cited or listed as external links.

How do I create a redirect?

If you're creating a new redirect, start a new page and enter:

#REDIRECT [[PAGENAME]]
[[Category:Memory Alpha SUBCATEGORY redirects]]

at the top of the page, where PAGENAME is the name of the target page and SUBCATEGORY is the redirect category that matches the target page's categories. 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 the code above.

A redirect page will still redirect if there is extra text on the page after the #REDIRECT command and link, like the category, but this text will normally not be seen. 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" text. Consider copying the #REDIRECT [[PAGENAME]] text into the edit summary so that people know that you have created a redirect.

After you create a redirect, 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. 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.

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 just because you want the link to display something other than the name of the page – a piped link (for example, [[Example page|a great example]]) is another way to make a link to a page with a name which does not occur in the first page.

How do I change a redirect?

Click on a link to the redirect page. Then look for the "(Redirected from PAGENAME)" text at the top of the page you've been redirected to and click the link. You will be taken to the redirect page, with ?redirect=no at the end of the URL.

Next, click the "Edit" button. You can then either change the target of the redirect, or replace the redirect with a brand new page.

Another way to do the same thing: 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" as above.

See also

• Redirect guidelines
• Redirect category project
• Unnamed redirect project