 | This page documents one of Memory Alpha's guidelines. |
Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. |
Redirects are used to direct people from one location on Memory Alpha to another. When used appropriately, they can improve navigation and organization on Memory Alpha.
Appropriate uses
Redirects may be used for the following purposes:
- Abbreviations: TNG redirects to Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Accents: Max Grodenchik redirects to Max Grodénchik
- Aid searches on non-canon terms: Robert Bennett to Bob
- Alternate capitalization: Qo'NoS redirects to Qo'noS
- Alternate punctuation: Slug O' Cola redirects to Slug-o-Cola
- Alternate spellings: Kronos redirects to Qo'noS
- Categorization: Jaylah's species redirects to Jaylah, Balthazar M. Edison redirects to Krall
- Misspellings that have been used in valid sources: Nausciaa redirects to Nausicaa
- Alternate forms of the same word: Enjoy redirects to joy, angry redirects to anger
- Pseudonyms, individual-specific nicknames: Miss Turtle Head redirects to B'Elanna Torres
- Symbols: $ redirects to dollar
- Synonyms: suspended animation redirects to stasis
- Unusual plurals: gladii redirects to gladius, Birds-of-Prey redirects to Bird-of-Prey
- What links here results: Qo'noS Pop Center redirects to the list Unnamed settlements
- Unnamed individuals: Tuvok's father 001 redirects to USS Yorktown personnel#Tuvok's father
Sub-topic redirects are often temporary, eventually being replaced by fully fledged articles on the sub-topic in question. Be conservative when creating sub-topic redirects – they can sometimes be counter-productive, because they disguise the absence of a proper article from editors. Sub-topic redirects should only be used where the main article has a section on the sub-topic.
In accordance with the naming conventions, it's best to have an article at a well-defined, unambiguous term, with redirects from looser colloquial terms, rather than vice versa.
Avoiding broken links
Broken links should be avoided whenever possible because they make it harder for readers and editors to find what they are looking for. When renaming a page or merging two pages, make sure to update all links pointing to the old location and/or leave a redirect in the old location to point to the new location. Generally, a redirect should only be left permanently if it can be justified under one of the criteria given above.
Non-canon redirects
Non-canon redirects are sometimes used to aid in searching for canon Memory Alpha articles. These names are taken from Memory Alpha approved background sources such as novels, comics, reference books, and games.
For a full list of non-canon redirects, see the category.
- Examples
- Robert Bennett, name given to Bob from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier after-the-fact.
- Shiboline M'Ress, full name for M'Ress in the Star Trek: New Frontier series.
- Taran'atar, a Jem'Hadar elder in the Deep Space Nine relaunch series.
- Elias Vaughn, first officer of DS9 in the Deep Space Nine relaunch series.
- Vkruk, the name for Shinzon's Reman Viceroy according to the Star Trek Nemesis novelization.
- Aurulent, the name for Zek's personal shuttle from the Star Trek CCG.
- USS Ti-Ho, an early name for what became the USS Enterprise-A according to Mr. Scott's Guide to the Enterprise.
- Ju'day-class, the name given for the Maquis raider from blueprints in Star Trek: The Magazine.
- Vejur, spelling used for V'ger in the novelization of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
- Ra-ghoratreii, name for the Efrosian Federation president from the Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country novelization.
Deleting redirects
If you believe a redirect should be deleted but it does not meet any of the criteria for speedy deletion, add the template {{Delete page}} to the redirect itself and follow the instructions given in the deletion policy. This is not necessary if you just want to replace a redirect with an article.
If a redirect has a potentially useful page history but is otherwise problematic, an administrator will split the page history off to a new location or merge it with another page.
To lessen the chances of a redirect that you think is useful being deleted, categorize it.
Self-links and duplicate links
Avoid self-links, including self-links through redirects ("loop links"). The only exceptions to this are redirects for single example ships and people, where the ship class/type or the species will be a redirect, like how Bonaventure type redirects to Bonaventure (10281NCC). Also, avoid having two links that go to the same place on one page. These can confuse readers, and cause them to unnecessarily load the same page twice.
See also
- Help guide on redirects
- Shortcut redirects