Editing Encyclopedia:Redirect (section)

== Redirects that replace previous articles ==
{{Short|WP:BLANKANDREDIRECT|WP:BLAR|WP:B&R}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Deletion policy#Redirection}}

[[WP:BLANK|Removing all content]] in a problematic article and replacing it with a redirect is common practice, known as ''blank-and-redirect''. It is good practice to notify the article creator or significant contributors using {{tl|uw-blar}}. If other editors [[WP:BRD|disagree]] with this blanking, its contents can be recovered from [[Help:page history|page history]], as the article has not been [[WP:DEL|deleted]]. If editors cannot agree, the content issues should be discussed at the relevant talk page, and other methods of [[Wikipedia:Resolving disputes|dispute resolution]] should be used, such as restoring the article and nominating the article for [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion]].<ref>[[Special:Permalink/998395765#Request_for_comment:_Proposed_blank_and_redirects|An RfC closed in 2021]] found {{tq|Most users believe that AfD should be used to settle controversial or contested cases of blanking and redirecting.}}</ref>

To make it easier for other editors to find the history of the blanked article, it's good practice to add a short notice using {{tl|Blank and redirect notice}}, even if no content has been [[Wikipedia:Merging|merged]] there. This is especially useful if the blanked article had few visits and infrequent edits. If the redirect replaces an article that has been deleted by an [[Wikipedia:Administrators|administrator]], this notice is the only way for editors to know that a previous version of the article existed at all.

{{talkref}}

=== Content of the replaced article ===
{{seealso|Wikipedia:Editing policy#Try to fix problems}}
The template {{tl|R with history}} should be added to the resulting redirect. If the topic of the article can be reasonably thought to describe a [[WP:N|notable]] topic, mark the redirect with the template {{Tl|Redirect with possibilities}} to indicate that [[Wikipedia:Redirect#How to edit a redirect or convert it into an article|it could be expanded in the future]]. You may also consider [[Wikipedia:Stubbing#Stubbing existing articles|turning the article into a stub]] by removing all unsourced content and keeping the valid references, instead of blanking it.

Note that certain forms of blanking are ''not'' allowed. 

[[Wikipedia:Vandalism#Blanking, illegitimate|Illegitimate blanking]] of valid content without reason is considered [[WP:vandalism|vandalism]], a form of [[Wikipedia:disruptive editing|disruptive editing]]. Other forms of blank-and-redirect, although not vandalism, are still undesirable. If you want to [[WP:CUTPASTE|rename the article by cutting and pasting text]] to a new article with a different title, you should instead [[Wikipedia:Moving a page|move the page]] with the ''Move'' option. If you want to keep some content from the blanked article and add it to the target article, you should follow the instructions at {{section link|Wikipedia:Merging|How to merge}}. Both processes will create proper links to the edit history, which is required by the [[Wikipedia:Copyrights|Wikipedia license]] for legal reasons to [[Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia|preserve attribution of content to its authors]].