- WP:RED redirects here. For redirects, see Wikipedia:Redirect.
A red link, like this one, signifies a link to a page that does not exist in Wikipedia. Sometimes it is useful in editing article text to create a red link to indicate that a page will be created soon or that an article should be created for the topic because it would be notable and verifiable. Furthermore, academic research conducted in 2008 has shown that red links are what drives Wikipedia growth.1 However when considering adding red links to lists, disambiguation pages or templates, editors are encouraged to write the article first, and use the wikiproject or user spaces to keep track of unwritten articles. Articles should not have red links for topics that are unlikely ever to have articles, such as a celebrity's romantic interest (who is not a celebrity in his or her own right) or every chapter in a book; nor should they have red links to deleted articles.
Good red links help Wikipedia — they encourage new contributors in useful directions, and remind us that Wikipedia is far from finished.
Creating red links
A red link appears whenever double brackets [[ ]] are placed around a word or phrase for which Wikipedia does not have an article.
When to create red links
Only make links that are relevant to the context. Please do create red links to articles you intend to create, technical terms that deserve more treatment than just a dictionary definition, or topics which should obviously have articles.
Keep in mind there are various notability guidelines (WP:NOTABILITY), which exist for a number of subjects, including people (WP:BIO). A red link to a non-notable person can end up being a link to a different person of the same name.
Avoiding red links
Do not create red links to articles that will never be created, including articles that do not comply with Wikipedia's naming conventions.
Dealing with existing red links
In general, red links should not be removed if they link to something that could plausibly sustain an article.
An existing red link can indicate one of the following things:
- A new article is needed. When a Wikipedian writes an article, it is common practice to link key topics pertinent to an understanding of the subject, even if those topics don't have an article on Wikipedia yet. This has several applications:
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- From within an article, such a link prepares the article to be fully supported. At any time, a Wikipedian may independently write an article on the linked-to subject, and when this happens, there's already a link ready and waiting for it. The red link also gives readers the opportunity to click on it to create the needed article on the spot.
- In topic lists, it is useful to include every topic on the subject you can possibly find or think of that could plausibly sustain an article. When they are turned into links, the list immediately shows where the gaps in Wikipedia's coverage for that subject are, since all of the topics missing articles will show up in red. Such lists are useful tools in developing subject areas on Wikipedia, as they show where work is needed most. (Note: This can be a controversial step for lists which are within articles. See WP:CONTEXT for more.)
- The red link may identify a need to create a redirect to another topic.
- Some WikiProjects have bots that determine how many times a certain red link appears in Wikipedia. This is used to determine what articles are the most needed. Editors can also, after clicking on a red link, use the "what links here" function to determine how many times the subject has been red linked.
- The link is broken and no longer leads to an article (perhaps because the underlying article was deleted). In such a case, the link usually needs to be removed or renamed to point to an existing article.
- The link may have been made by someone who wasn't aware of what should and shouldn't be linked to within articles. Always evaluate whether or not a red link is linking to a page that actually needs creation. See Wikipedia:Only make links that are relevant to the context#What generally should be linked.
- The red link may be a typo—e.g., someone wanted to link to George W. Bush, but instead typed George W. Buah. In this case, try to figure out the intended article and fix the link. If it looks like a common misspelling, such as Scandanavia, you may want to create a redirect from that misspelling to the correct one, but you should still correct the misspelling even though it would no longer appear red.
- The subject of the red link may be covered on another edition of Wikipedia. In this case, interlanguage linking is recommended.
Note
Using user preferences, a user can format red links so that they instead show up as red question marks.
Example: Derby Field Airport?
See also
References
- ^ Diomidis Spinellis and Panagiotis Louridas (2008): The collaborative organization of knowledge. In Communications of the ACM, August 2008, Vol 51, No 8, Pages 68 - 73. DOI:10.1145/1378704.1378720. Quote: "Most new articles are created shortly after a corresponding reference to them is entered into the system". See also inflationary hypothesis of Wikipedia growth
