Wikipedia:Double redirects

This is an information page. It is not an encyclopedic article, nor one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting.

Shortcuts WP:2R WP:DblR WP:2RE WP:2REDIR WP:DOUBLE

This page in a nutshell: A double redirect is a redirect to another redirect. The MediaWiki software is not programmed to follow these redirects. Double redirects are easily fixed by bots, and human editors should devote their efforts elsewhere. However, an editor should not leave behind the double redirects that they created themselves.

A redirect is a special type of page that automatically causes another page to be displayed in its place. The displayed page is called a redirect target. A redirect that points to another redirect is called a double redirect. These pages are unwanted, because Wikipedia's MediaWiki software is currently configured to not follow the second redirect. The MediaWiki feature which would have allowed it is declined as too hard to implement. If someone is redirected to a redirect, the chain stops after the first redirect, like in the example. These situations create unpleasant experiences for the reader and make the navigational structure of the site confusing.

Double redirects are usually created after a page move, when old redirects are left unchanged and pointing towards an old name. Although bots fix most of these within a few days from creation automatically, editors should take care not to manually create double redirects.