Help:Redirect

A redirect is a page which starts:

#REDIRECT [[page name]]

Browsing to this page, whether by following a link, typing in a URL or using the Go button) will take the user to the new page. The effect is the same as following the link except that the browser's address bar will show the URL of the redirect page and a subheading immediately below the page title will show that the page has been redirected. For example, going to Help:Redirection will bring you to this page. The top of the page will look something like this:

Help:Redirect

If the link on the redirect page is to a page which does not exist, the user will arrive at the redirect page. If the redirect page takes you to another redirect page, the user will see that redirect page. This is known as "double redirection" which does not work.

Why redirect

Redirecting is mainly intended as an aid to the user. If an article has several possible titles, rather than creating duplicate articles, create a single article and put redirect pages at the other possible titles. When creating an article, think about possible alternative titles (including titles different by capitalisation only) and set up appropriate redirects.

Setting up a redirect

To set up a redirect, simply start a new page and type "#REDIRECT [[target page]]" (or "#redirect [[target page]]</tt>") at the top of the page, replacing target page with the name of the page to which you want to redirect. To turn an existing page into a redirect, replace all its text with "#REDIRECT [[target page]]".

Anything appearing after the redirect link is ignored. You will only see it when looking at the preview of the redirect page. However, any category tags are not ignored. They place the redirect page in the appropriate category. Following the link on the category page to the redirect page will redirect as usual.

You must not put any text before the # or leave any spaces between the # and the word "REDIRECT" or the redirect will not work.

When you save the redirect page, you will be automatically redirected to the target page.

Changing a redirect

To change a redirect, browse to the redirect page. You will end up at the target page. If you now click on the "Redirected from" link just below the title, this will take you to the redirect page. You can now click on the "edit this page" tab and edit the redirect in the normal way.

Moving pages

When a page is moved or renamed, a redirect page is left at the original page title, redirecting from the old name to the new name. If the talk page is moved at the same time, a redirect page is left behind for the talk page as well. This ensures that links to the original page name continue to work. However, this may create double redirects so care should be taken to check for these following the move.

Redirecting to an anchor

Redirecting to an anchor is not possible. If you type, say:

#REDIRECT [[Target#anchor]]

the anchor will simply be ignored and users will be redirected to Target.