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<languages/>
''<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">For information oriented towards site admins and developers, see {{ll|Manual:Redirects}} instead</span>''

{{PD Help Page}}
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Redirects are used to forward users from one page name to another.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">They can be useful if a particular article is referred to by multiple names, or has alternative punctuation, capitalization or spellings.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Types of redirects ==
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Two types of redirections exist:
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
* Hard redirection: Readers navigating to the redirect page are taken directly to the target page (usually other pages of the same wiki).
</div> <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">When a page is a redirect, you can no longer get to that page by using its name or by any link using that name.</span> <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Only hard redirection is described in this article.</span>
<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
* Soft redirection: Readers are left on the redirect page but given the option of clicking the link to the target page.
</div> <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Usually this is achieved via a template; see corresponding [[m:Special:MyLanguage/Soft redirect|article on Meta]].</span>

{{note|1=<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">In wikis with {{ll|Manual:$wgDisableHardRedirects|$wgDisableHardRedirects}} enabled (such as most public Wikimedia projects), it's not possible to create a hard redirect to special pages (e.g. Special:MyLanguage) or pages located on another wiki; they will be automatically "softened".</span>}}

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Appearance ==
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Following a redirect ===
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
When a hard redirect is followed, the target page is immediately displayed, with a small notice below the page title to indicate you arrived here indirectly.
</div>

<blockquote style="background-color: var(--background-color-base, white); color: var(--color-base, black); border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
{{fake heading|level=1|Help:Redirects}}
<div id="siteSub">{{int|Tagline}}</div>
<div id="contentSub">{{int|Redirectedfrom|[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Redirect|Help:Redirect]]}}</div>
</blockquote>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">You can use the link in this notice to view the redirect page.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">This link adds the <code>&redirect=no</code> [[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Parameters to index.php|URL parameter]].</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Viewing a redirect ===
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
When a redirect page is displayed, the small notice below the page title indicates this, and the link after the arrow icon displays the target of the redirect.
</div>

<blockquote style="background-color: var(--background-color-base, white); color: var(--color-base, black); border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
{{fake heading|level=1|Help:Redirect}}
<div id="siteSub">{{int|Tagline}}</div>
<div id="contentSub">{{int|redirectpagesub}}</div>
[[File:Redirectltr.png]] <span class="redirectText" style="font-size:140%">[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Redirects|Help:Redirects]]</span>
</blockquote>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Once you view it, you can do all the things with the redirect page that any wiki page allows.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">You can go to the associated discussion page to discuss the redirect.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">You can view the history of the page, including a record of the redirect.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">You can edit the page if the redirect is wrong, and you can revert to an older version to remove the redirect.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Creating a redirect ==
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
When a page is [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Moving a page|moved]], a redirect from the old to the new page name is automatically created.
</div>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Users with the "<code>suppressredirect</code>" [[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:User rights|right]] may move a page without creating a redirect.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">By default this right is assigned to sysops and bots.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">You may start a new page with the name you want to direct from (see {{ll|Help:Starting a new page}}).</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">You can also use an existing page that you are making inactive as a page by going to that page and using the "edit" tab at the top.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">In either case, you will be inserting the following code at the very first text position of the Edit window for the page:</span>

<nowiki>#REDIRECT [[</nowiki><span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">''pagename''</span><nowiki>]]</nowiki>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">where ''pagename'' is the name of the destination page.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">The word "redirect" is not case-sensitive, but there must be no space before the "<code>#</code>" symbol.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">If any text is present before this line, it will disable the redirect.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">However, text or other content may appear after this line.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">This is often used to add redirects to categories.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Redirections can be simple page names or specified using a namespace.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">They can be suffixed with a section name if you have the corresponding anchor defined on the target page.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Examples of valid operational redirections:
</div>

* <code><nowiki>#REDIRECT[[Help:Magic_words#Page_names]]</nowiki></code>
* <code><nowiki>#redirect [[Help:Magic_words#URL_encoded_page_names]]</nowiki></code>
* <code><nowiki>#Redirect [[Manual:$wgConf]]</nowiki></code>
* <code><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[MediaWiki/fr]]</nowiki></code>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
You should 'preview' (using the button below the Edit window, or use {{Key press|Alt|P}}) to check that you have entered the correct destination page name.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
When the redirect is valid, it will appear in preview as shown in the [[#Viewing a redirect|"Viewing a redirect"]] section above.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
When the redirect is not valid, it will appear in preview like a numbered list item:
</div>

<blockquote style="background-color: var(--background-color-base, white); color: var(--color-base, black); border: 1px solid black; padding: 1em;">
# REDIRECT <span style="color:var(--color-progressive, #36c)"><span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">''pagename''</span></span>
</blockquote>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">If the ''pagename'' as you typed it is not a valid page, it will show in red.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">If there is no valid destination page, you should not create the redirect.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Limitations ===
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">A redirect target cannot depend on a variable, template, or parser function.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">If that is the case, the browser will not be automatically redirected on visiting the page.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Example of redirection not allowed (not operational):
*<code><nowiki>#REDIRECT [[{{ll|Help:Magic_words#Page_names}}]]</nowiki></code> although <code><nowiki>{{ll|Help:Magic_words#Page_names}}</nowiki></code> is operational.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== JavaScript page redirect ===
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">In order to avoid JavaScript functionality from breaking, all [[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Interface/JavaScript#List of JavaScript pages|JavaScript pages]] have a different redirect syntax from regular pages.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">This syntax allows for proper execution of the page by the browser's JavaScript engine, as well as being recognised by MediaWiki as a redirect.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">To create a JavaScript page redirect, the format that must be used is as follows:</span>

<syntaxhighlight lang="js">
/* #REDIRECT */mw.loader.load( "{{fullurl:Target.js|action=raw&ctype=text/javascript}}" );
</syntaxhighlight>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Where <code>Target.js</code> is the target page name.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Deleting a redirect ==
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">There's generally no need to delete redirects.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">They do not occupy a significant amount of database space.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">If a page name is vaguely meaningful, there's no harm, and some benefit, in having it as a redirect to the more relevant or current page.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">If you want to [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Moving a page|move a page]] over a redirect that has only one edit in its history and targeted to the old page name, there is no need to delete the redirect: it is overwritten.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">If the redirect has more than one history entry, or the redirect target is somewhere else, then it can only be deleted-and-moved by an administrator.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
If you do need to delete a redirect, e.g. if the page name is offensive, or you wish to discourage people from referring to a concept by that name, then you simply go to the redirect page as mentioned above, and follow the procedures at {{ll|Help:Deletion and undeletion}}.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Problematic redirects ==
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Double redirects ===
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">A double redirect is a page redirecting to a page which is itself a redirect, and it will not work.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Instead, people will be presented with a view of the next redirect page.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">This is a deliberate restriction, partly to prevent infinite loops, and partly to keep things simple.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">However, you could look out for double redirects and eliminate them by changing them to be one-step redirects instead.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">You are most likely to need to do this after a significant [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Moving a page|page move]].</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Use the <code>{{int|whatlinkshere}}</code> toolbox link to find double redirects to a particular page, or use [[Special:DoubleRedirects]] to find them throughout the whole wiki.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">There is an option, {{wg|FixDoubleRedirects}}, to automatically fix double redirects with a [[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Job queue|job queue]].</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">However, it tends to aggravate page move vandalism, so it is disabled by default.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">The <nowiki>__STATICREDIRECT__</nowiki> [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Magic words#Behavior switches|magic word]] can be used to skip the double-redirect fix on a particular page.</span>

{{MW version|version=1.44|comment=and after|gerrit change=1090544}}
{{note|text=<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Since 1.44, MediaWiki shows a warning if you try to save a page that redirects to a target that is also a redirect.</span>}}

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Broken redirects ===
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">If the target page does not exist, the redirect is ''broken'': redirection will not occur.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">You may find all broken redirects at [[Special:BrokenRedirects]].</span>

{{MW version|version=1.44|comment=and after|gerrit change=1089205}}
{{note|text=<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Since 1.44, MediaWiki shows a warning if you try to save a page that redirects to an nonexistent page.</span>}}

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Transcluding a redirect ==
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">When a page called for inclusion is a redirect page, the redirect target is included instead, with the same parameters, without any redirect message.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">A double redirect does not work.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
This allows to create several names for the same template.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Links to redirect ==
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">An internal link to a redirect page has CSS class <code>mw-redirect</code>.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">This can be useful to make them stand out, for clean-up work involving bypassing redirects.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== See also ==
</div>
* {{ll|Manual:Redirects}}
* {{ll|Template:soft redirect}} – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">for soft redirections.</span>
* {{ll|Manual:redirect table}}
* {{method doclink |MediaWiki\Output\OutputPage |anchor=a9f70525b78a95a62073c2e5854665b8f |method=OutputPage::redirect()}} – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">for redirecting to arbitrary URLs from within PHP.</span>
* {{ll|Category:Redirect extensions}}
* <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">[[:w:Wikipedia:Redirects|Wikipedia guide on redirects]]</span>
* [[Special:ListRedirects]] – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">see a listing of all current redirects</span>
* [[:wikitech:Data_Platform/Data_Lake/Traffic/Pageviews/Redirects]] <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">for how redirect data is collected and handled at WMF</span>

[[Category:Help{{#translation:}}|Redirects]]
[[Category:Redirect{{#translation:}}]]