Template:R avoided double redirect/doc

When used with the "Redirect category shell" (Rcat shell) template:

Template {{Redirect category shell}} may be used to add one or more rcat templates, along with their parameters and categories, to a redirect. For more information see the documentation page below.

When used by itself:

• From an avoided double redirect: This is a redirect from an alternative title or related topic of (redirect page name), another redirect to the same title. Because double redirects are disallowed, both pages currently point to (target article).
  • If (redirect page name) is retargeted or is expanded into a separate article, template, or other project page, this redirect will be recategorized to be updated.

The boldface From an avoided double redirect above will link on redirects to either Category:Avoided double redirects or Category:Avoided double redirects to be updated as appropriate.

Purpose

Some redirects should target other redirects, but that is not allowed by Wikipedia software. A redirect that targets another redirect is called a "double redirect". This redirect category (rcat) template may be used to tag redirects from alternative forms (abbreviations, disambiguated titles, etc.) of titles that are themselves redirects to broader-topic articles (whether or not marked as redirects with possibilities). To avoid a double redirect, any alternative-title redirect must also target the same broader article, and must be updated if the redirect from the more specific title is converted to a separate article.

Usage

• This rcat template populates the following categories by default:
  • Category:Avoided double redirects – if page specified in the unnamed parameter is still a redirect
  • Category:Avoided double redirects to be updated – if specified page is no longer a redirect
• Add this rcat to a redirect page (not a talk-page redirect) in the following manner:

#REDIRECT [[(target article title)]]

{{Rcat shell|
{{R avoided double redirect|1=(specified page)}}
}}

or the 1= may be omitted:

#REDIRECT [[(target article title)]]

{{Rcat shell|
{{R avoided double redirect|(specified page)}}
}}

The "(specified page)" is the other redirect that has possibilities of being converted into an article, and to which the tagged redirect may someday be retargeted.

Template {{Rcat shell}} is an alias for the Redirect category shell template, which may be used to add as many appropriate rcats as needed, usually from one to seven, along with their parameters, to a redirect. For more information see the documentation on its template page. This rcat may also tag a redirect individually:

#REDIRECT [[(target article title)]]

{{R avoided double redirect|(specified page)}}

This is in accord with instructions found at Wikipedia:REDCAT.

• Use this rcat to tag any mainspace redirect from a title that should target another redirect. For example, so far there is no article Harriman Nelson yet, and that title is a redirect to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series). Alternate forms of that redirect, such as Admiral Harriman Nelson, must also redirect to the "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)" article in order to avoid a double redirect. In this case the Admiral Harriman Nelson redirect should be tagged with this rcat template as follows:

#REDIRECT [[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)]]

{{Rcat shell|
{{R avoided double redirect|Harriman Nelson}}
{{R unprintworthy}}
}}

or if applied individually:

#REDIRECT [[Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)]]

{{R avoided double redirect|Harriman Nelson}}

The individual usage on the Admiral Harriman Nelson redirect would display (without the border):

• From an avoided double redirect: This is a redirect from an alternative title or related topic of Harriman Nelson, another redirect to the same title.

If a new article is later created at Harriman Nelson, then the template output on the Admiral Harriman Nelson redirect will automatically change to:

• From an avoided double redirect: This is a redirect from an alternative title or related topic of Harriman Nelson, a former redirect to the same title.

In the first case above, the boldface From an avoided double redirect would actually link to the main category, Avoided double redirects, and in the second case the link would automatically be altered to Category:Avoided double redirects to be updated.

Usage with other redirect categories

Avoided double redirects are considered to inherit the redirect categories of the initial redirect and should not be placed in redirect categories that apply in the same way to both. (This would create a redundancy that would increase the maintenance burden.) For instance, say Campus of Foobar University is a redirect to Foobar University tagged with {{R from subtopic}} and {{R to section}}. The avoided double redirect, Foobar University campus, should be tagged only with {{R from avoided double redirect}}, not {{R from subtopic}} and {{R to section}}.

However, additional redirect categories may be used when they apply specifically to the avoided double redirect. For instance, Campus of Fooobar University (with a triple o) could have {{R from misspelling}} in addition to {{R from avoided double redirect}}.

{{R printworthy}} and {{R unprintworthy}} may be used when appropriate.

Aliases

• Also known as... – list of templates that redirect here and may also be used

Printworthiness

• In main-article namespace, many redirects from avoided double redirects are considered printworthy; however, there are many others that are unprintworthy, so there is no default sort for printworthiness. In 2003, efforts were begun to support the Wikimedia Foundation's goal of increasing access and availability of Wikipedia articles in printed versions. Some rcats automatically populate either Category:Printworthy redirects or Category:Unprintworthy redirects by default. Others, like this rcat, do not, and that means it is up to editors to choose which of those categories, Printworthy or Unprintworthy, is appropriate and should be populated. The rcats that are used separately to populate those categories are:

• {{R printworthy}} and
• {{R unprintworthy}}

Please click on each one for more details and guidance.

• Template {{Redirect category shell}} will accept these rcats just like any other.

Examples:

{{Rcat shell|
{{R avoided double redirect|(specified page)}}
{{R printworthy}}
}}

{{Rcat shell|
{{R avoided double redirect|(specified page)}}
{{R unprintworthy}}
}}

Either {{Redirect category shell}} or its alias/shortcut, {{Rcat shell}}, may be used.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:R avoided double redirect in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for R avoided double redirect

This redirect category (rcat) template may be used to tag redirects from alternative forms (abbreviations, disambiguated titles, etc.) of titles that are themselves redirects to broader-topic articles (whether or not marked as redirects with possibilities). To avoid a double redirect, any alternative-title redirect must also target the same broader article, and must be updated if the redirect from the more specific title is converted to a separate article.

Template parameters

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Redirect page name	1	The page this redirect would target if the page wasn't also a redirect.	Page name	required

See also

• Wikipedia:Village pump (idea lab)/Archive 16#Grouping article redirects, related discussion
• WikiProject Redirect/Style guide