User blog:MJBurrage/Redirects

A note on links and redirects. An issue that can make redirects seem broken, is double redirects, but they are usually easy to fix.

If there are three or more titles for the same subject: say Abby, Councilwoman Abigail Griffin, and Abigail Griffin, then one might be a double redirect (I.E. if "Abby" redirects to "Councilwoman Abigail Griffin" which redirects to "Abigail Griffin"). MediaWiki software does not follow such double redirects. The fix is to make "Abby" also redirect to "Abigail Griffin", making the double redirect into one of, two or more correct single redirects.

To find out how redirects are being used for a page, click on "▴ My Tools" (bottom of the browser window), and then "What links here". It will show links to redirects indented under the redirect (it does not always show double redirects double indented).

As a general rule, links on other pages to over-long or over-precise redirects should be updated. I.E. any links to  should be changed to   or.

Short redirect are usually simpler if left as is. I.E. I would NOT go to the trouble of changing  to   in the middle of paragraphs, since it makes the text overly complicated, and common nicknames or alternate names is the reason for redirects in the first place.

P.S. there is a reason to use  in an introduction paragraph or an infobox. Doing so makes it so that if a user hovers of "Abby" they see that the full name is "Abigail Griffin" even if they don't click on the link.