View source for Wikipedia:WikiProject Redirect/Style guide

{{Wikipedia:WikiProject Redirect/Tabbed header}} 
{{WikiProject style advice|sor]]t-by=Redirect}}
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This is a style guide for [[Wikipedia:Redirects|redirects]] in the [[English Wikipedia]]. The ultimate goal of the guide is to have every redirect categorised in a standard format, as well as to have every [[WP:Main namespace|main-namespace]] (article) redirect categorised as either [[:Category:Printworthy redirects|printworthy]] or [[:Category:Unprintworthy redirects|unprintworthy]].  Printworthiness becomes important when a printed edition of ''Wikipedia'' is published, for example in [[CD-ROM]] format.  For more information, see the documentation on the {{tl|R printworthy}} and {{tl|R unprintworthy}} template pages and [[Wikipedia:Printability]].

Redirect statements, which should start at the beginning of the first line of the redirect source, should follow one of these formats:
<pre>
     #REDIRECT [[Target article name]]
     #REDIRECT [[Target article name#Anchor]]
</pre>
Replace "target article name" with the name of the article that is the desired target (including an optional anchor, if required). The target should be the exact name of the target, including correct casing, otherwise it may create a [[Wikipedia:Double redirect|double redirect]], a broken link, or some other problem. Use the same casing for the first character of the target as the target page, although this will not affect the working of the redirect. Although wikisyntax allows spaces and underscores to be used interchangeably, to avoid confusion and for easier maintenance, use spaces and underscores exactly as they are used in the target page title and anchor.

The redirect statement should appear all on one line or it will not work properly. Other elements such as redirect templates may appear after the redirect statement, however.
== Notability ==
{{Wikipedia:Redirect/Deletion reasons}}
==Other common elements==
In addition to the redirect statement itself, the source for a redirect may contain other elements such as [[Wikipedia:Template messages/Redirect pages|redirect templates]], the optional {{tl|DEFAULTSORT}} tag, redirect [[Wikipedia:Categorization|categories]], and [[Wikipedia:Interwiki links|interwiki links]] (and {{tl|rfd}} if the redirect is nominated for discussion or {{tl|db}} if speedy deletion is required).

==Adding redirect templates==
{{C|Wikipedia redirects|Redirect categories}} should be added with {{C|Redirect templates|redirect templates}} ([[WP:RCAT|rcat]]s) and not as regular (linked) categories. There is no specific order required, so this is left up to editors. Do not [[Wikipedia:Substitution|substitute]] redirect templates, nor should they ever be used on [[WP:soft redirect|soft redirect]]s. Redirect templates can be added in two ways: individually or grouped.

===Individually===
Individual redirect templates can appear anywhere after the redirect statement itself. Generally however they are added before any categories.

<pre>#REDIRECT [[Target article name#Section/Anchor]]

{{Some redirect template}}
{{Another redirect template}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:(sort key)}}
[[Category:Some category]]
[[Category:Another category]]
</pre>

===Grouping template===
{{anchor|Multiple additions}}
Alternatively, redirect templates can be added with the {{tl|Redirect category shell}}. If the redirect does not seem to fit into any redirect categories, add {{tlc|Redirect category shell}} without any parameters and the redirect will be sorted to {{Cat|Miscellaneous redirects}}.  If some rcats are known, they can be added by leaving the first parameter blank (empty), and monitors of the Misc. category will know to come and check the redirect.

<pre>
#REDIRECT [[Target article name]]

{{Redirect category shell|
{{Some redirect template}}
{{Another redirect template}}
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:(sort key)}}
[[Category:Some category]]
[[Category:Another category]]
</pre>

If a blank line is left between the shell template and the DEFAULTSORT magic word, then unnecessary whitespace is introduced when the edit is saved.  Readability for editors is still acceptable when DEFAULTSORT is placed on the first new line after the Redirect category shell.

A comparison of the two styles may be found on any redirect template page and at [[Template:Redirect category shell/Comparison]].

== Hidden categories ==
Most of the categories populated by redirect category templates ([[WP:RCAT|Rcats]]) are [[WP:HIDDENCAT|hidden categories]].  Hidden cats cannot be seen by viewers who are not logged in, nor by editors who have not set their preferences to view hidden cats.  So if you have tagged a redirect with an Rcat and saved the redirect, but you cannot see the category, the first thing to check is if you have set your preferences to view hidden cats:
# Go to {{myprefs|Appearance}}
# Scroll down to '''{{MediaWiki:prefs-advancedrendering}}'''
# Check the box '''{{MediaWiki:tog-showhiddencats}}'''
# Click {{button|{{MediaWiki:saveprefs}}}}
You may need to purge your browser cache to ensure that you can see hidden cats in the future.

=== File redirects ===
When rcats are used to categorize image-file redirects, the category(ies) may not appear on the redirect page after saving even if preferences are set to view hidden cats.  Yet the image-file redirect will still populate the category(ies).  For example, in {{Cat|Redirects from moves}} at the bottom of the page under section heading '''Media in category "Redirects from moves"''', a file redirect has been correctly categorized, and yet the categories from {{code|<nowiki>{{Rcat shell|{{R from move}}{{R from short name}}}}</nowiki>}} may not appear on '''{{-r|File:LG_enV2.jpg|the redirect}}''' file page.  Hidden categories on image-file redirects can also be detected by clicking on "Page information" in the '''Tools''' list, usually in the left-margin sidebar.

== See also ==
* {{tl|Talk page of redirect}}
* [[Wikipedia:Categorizing redirects]]
* [[Wikipedia:Printability]]
<noinclude>
[[Category:WikiProject Redirect|Style Guide]]
</noinclude>