This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page. |
This page in a nutshell: Redirects aid navigation and searching by allowing a page to be reached under alternative titles. |
A redirect is a page that automatically sends visitors to another page, usually an article or section of an article. For example, if you type "UK" in the search box or click on the wikilink UK, you will be taken to the article United Kingdom with a note at the top of the page (or on mobile, in a black message bar at the bottom): "(Redirected from UK)". This is because the page UK contains special wikitext that defines it as a redirect page and indicates the target article. It is also possible to redirect to a specific section of the target page, using more advanced syntax.
Redirect pages can contain other content below the redirect, such as redirect category templates, and category links (which provide a way to list article sections in categories).
Redirects are used to help people arrive more quickly at the page they want to read; this page contains guidance on how to use them properly. For technical help relating to how redirects work, Wikipedia:Double redirects, Wikipedia:Hatnote § Redirect and WikiProject Redirect.
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