Editing Encyclopedia:Redirect (section)

== Purposes of redirects ==
{{Anchor|reasons|What do we use redirects for?}}
{{Shortcut|WP:POFR|WP:RPURPOSE}}
Reasons for creating and maintaining redirects include:
* Alternative names redirect to the [[Wikipedia:Article titles|most appropriate article title]] (for example, [[Edson Arantes do Nascimento]] redirects to [[Pelé]]).
* Plurals (for example, [[Greenhouse gases]] redirects to [[Greenhouse gas]]).
* Closely related words (for example, [[Symbiont]] redirects to [[Symbiosis]]).
* Adjectives or adverbs point to noun forms (e.g., [[Treasonous]] redirects to [[Treason]])
* Less specific forms of names, for which the article subject is still the [[WP:PRIMARYTOPIC|primary topic]]. For example, [[Einstein]] redirects to [[Albert Einstein]], whereas [[Albert]] is a [[WP:Disambiguation|disambiguation]] page rather than a redirect, since no Albert is regarded as the primary topic for that name.
* More specific forms of names (for example, [[Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union]] redirects to [[Articles of Confederation]]).
* Abbreviations and initialisms (for example, [[ADHD]] redirects to [[Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]]). But often an abbreviation will have multiple meanings, none of which is a [[WP:PRIMARYTOPIC|primary topic]]—in that case a disambiguation page should be created rather than a redirect.
* Alternate forms of a name as found in reliable sources and common databases. For example, [[Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences : CMLS]] redirects to [[Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences]], based on its [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog?term=1420-682X PUBMED] entry.
* Alternative spellings or punctuation. For example, [[Colour]] redirects to [[Color]], and [[Al-Jazeera]] redirects to [[Al Jazeera]].
* Stylized forms of names. For example, [[Ty Dolla $ign]] redirects to [[Ty Dolla Sign]].
* Punctuation issues—some titles containing [[dash]]es should have redirects using [[hyphen-minus|hyphens]], and vice versa. The proper title depends on official spelling (in the case of a name, such as [[Olivia Newton-John]]), or established Wikipedia policy and naming conventions (such as [[Spanish–American War]]).
* Representations using ASCII characters; that is, common transliterations (for example, [[Pele]] also redirects to [[Pelé]], while [[Kurt Goedel]] and [[Kurt Godel]] redirect to [[Kurt Gödel]]).
* Likely misspellings (for example, [[Condoleeza Rice]] redirects to [[Condoleezza Rice]]). Note: this criterion typically does not apply to redirects from typos in the [[Wikipedia:Template namespace|template namespace]]; consensus is that such typos, unless they are very common, should remain as red links until they are fixed.
* Likely mixed-up technical names (for example, [[Oxygen chloride]] redirects to [[Chlorine oxide]]).
* Likely alternative capitalizations (for example, [[Natural Selection]] redirects to [[Natural selection]]). This is not necessary for user searches made via Wikipedia's search engine, but may aid linking from other articles and external sites, as well as direct URL entry.
* To comply with the maintenance of nontrivial edit history, pursuant to [[Wikipedia:Merging#PROMERGE]] for copyright licensing requirements.
* Subtopics or other topics that are described or listed within a wider article. (Such redirects are often targeted to a particular section of the article.)
* {{anchor|RTOUNDAB|Redirects to unmarked disambiguation pages}}{{short|WP:RTOUNDAB}} Redirects to disambiguation pages that do not contain "(disambiguation)" in the title (for example, [[Durham (disambiguation)]] redirects to [[Durham]]). These help maintenance by allowing deliberate links to disambiguation pages to be distinguished from links that need to be disambiguated. {{crossref|pw=y|See [[WP:INTDAB]] for a fuller explanation.}}
* [[WP:Shortcut|Shortcuts]] (for example, [[WP:V]] and [[Wikipedia:V]] redirect to [[Wikipedia:Verifiability]]). This is commonly done in [[WP:Project namespace|project space]], but not in article space.
* Old-style [[Wikipedia:CamelCase and Wikipedia|CamelCase]] links (if already in existence) ([[AnnaKournikova]] redirects to [[Anna Kournikova]]).
* Links auto-generated from [[Exchangeable image file format]] information ([[Adobe Photoshop CS Windows]] redirects to [[Adobe Photoshop]]).
* Finding [[Help:What links here#Limitations|what links to a section]], when links are made to the redirect rather than the section.

There are [[Wikipedia:Template messages/Redirect pages|redirect templates]] to explain the [[Wikipedia:Redirect#PLA|reason]] for a redirect.

{{Anchor|note}}
Note that redirects to other Wikimedia wikis, other websites, [[Special:SpecialPages|special pages]], or direct file links ('''Media:''' namespace) do not work. These should be avoided or replaced with a {{Tl|soft redirect}} template. Soft redirects are also used in [[Help:Category|category space]] (using the {{Tl|category redirect}} template). Redirects from list titles to categories (e.g. a redirect from <nowiki>[[List of things]]</nowiki> to <nowiki>[[Category:Things]]</nowiki>) are highly discouraged.<ref>Discouraged after [[Wikipedia talk:Stand-alone lists/Archive 10#RfC about redirects to categories|a 2019 discussion]].</ref>