Forum:Eliminating the Pipe Linking Rule

With a hiatus this week, and no severe issues going on, I thought now would be a good time to discuss this. Three years ago, it was decided that pipe links would be required and that redirects could not be linked to. I'm sorry, bit why do we have this rule? What benefits for it have? I read the original forum, and it seemed that the reasons were: Ultimately, using pipe links instead of redirects has no real benefits. I am not trying to advocate laziness in editing, but the entire editing experience would be much smoother if we did not have to focus so much on links. For example, when writing the long summaries for chapters, I have to write Law when I could just write Law and get the EXACT SAME RESULTS. And instead of being able to write Birdcage instead of Birdcage would make summary writing much more efficient without impacting the writing quality at all.
 * Helping people know what page they are headed to. A redirect should not be so obscure that this should be an issue. Maybe a technique or a weapon perhaps, but the reader will still know what it is from clicking on the link. In the case of names vs. Nicknames, such as Whitebeard and Blackbeard, most people know them better by those names. They are not going to gain anything by reading their real name while hovering over the link.
 * Helps prevent double/broken redirects. If we are as uptight with fixing those as we are with changing redirects to pipe links, this shouldn't be a problem. Heck, it'd probably be easier.

Other than the people who voted for this rule in the original poll (most of whom are inactive now), I've only seen one person vehemently support this rule, and it's the guy who caused the first forum. Everyone else I've talked to has not cared for this rule, yet it is enforced anyways. And I have nothing against pipe links, people should use them if they want to, but why should we be warned against using a linking system that works just fine? I'm not trying to be whiny here, I'm trying to get a questionable rule out of a really cluttered rulebook. And for those of you who'll blow this off as trivial, I ask you this: if this rule is so trivial, why do we have it, and why is it enforced? Why can't we just leave unbroken source code alone? 19:24, June 10, 2015 (UTC)

Discussion
Opposing. Links should be to the actual title of the page, not a redirect. 19:55, June 10, 2015 (UTC)

It's easy if you use the Visual editor. I use classic rich text so I can use both visual and source. 20:09, June 10, 2015 (UTC)

@Kage, Why? What benefits does it bring?

@Jopie, Visual Editor often brings problems, so most people use source all the time

20:34, June 10, 2015 (UTC)

I've been meaning to make this forum but never got around to it since it would cause a lot of lag for me. The issues with this rule is it causes extra lag due to unnecessary extra text (especially in source mode) which is an issue with Wikia in general. This is seen on various pages like Luffy's history section or any arc article. Plus that original forum was only supposed to be about 's in links and not pipe links so people who voted originally got confused. What I mean by 's is Ace's instead of Ace's. SeaTerror (talk) 21:02, June 10, 2015 (UTC)

Forum:Redirects and Other Link Issues was the original forum, in case anyone is interested in reading it.

ST, wouldn't navigating to a page through a redirect also cause you lag? And I also seriously doubt your claim that more code = more lag. And possible lag would be imperceptible.

Anyways, back to the real topic. I've long hated the outcome of that forum, and it remains one of the things I most regret happened on the wiki. I obviously would still like to see it reversed. However, I believe the thing more damaging than the links themselves is the potential outcome of this forum.

The thing I would hate to see the most is any kind of edit that exists just to change a link format.

That is just such a waste of time and editing effort and time. Sadly, I also know that a rule allowing either format would just result in edit wars, as there are editors on both sides of this link issue that would be far too passionate about the issue. I don't want to see people waste their time, and I do not want to have to waste my time watching and banning people for stuff merely about which of two equally valid link styles are used.

So what do I think we should do about all these problems? The only solution I can think of is allow both types of links, but prefer the versions that do not use redirects. That way we can be more relaxed about the links, but prevent stupid edit wars. (I definitely do not want to see any kind of "original version" rule here, like we used to have for some things like spellings, etc) Allowing both with no preference will lead to people just changing things back and forth, as we really shouldn't allow that.

Think not about which format is better, but what will happen as a result of the decision made here. 22:05, June 10, 2015 (UTC)

The current linking system is fine as is. There is no need to change it. MasterDeva (talk) 23:30, June 10, 2015 (UTC)

The only way a "both allowed" system would work is if it was made against the rules to change older links after an edit is already done. Redirects also don't cause lag. Maybe on a heavier text article. Reducing any amount of text is the best way to combat Wikia's issue with large text/code articles. SeaTerror (talk) 00:00, June 11, 2015 (UTC)


 * What exactly are these issues, ST? I've been on wikia for many years, and I've never heard anything about "Wikia's issue with large text/code articles" that pertains to this forum. The only thing I've heard about is Forum:Template Configuration Changes Coming, which deals only with templates, and has nothing to do with links, or this issue in any way. I would appreciate more info on this issue to help get this moving along towards a proper solution. 00:38, June 11, 2015 (UTC)

I actually don't even remember what's the guideline here about that, but I do believe is better to link the actual page instead of using a redirect. It keeps all the links organized and correct, if people would use several different redirects to link page, it would be pain if such redirects were deleted or if the page would be moved. I also think that there are some cases that you have to use redirects instead: I'm talking about merged articles. For example, if I want to link Mozu I should use the redirect. That's because if I do link her, I want to link the article talking about her, if we decided to merge it in Mozu and Kiwi it doesn't matter, the redirect is used as anchor for the article talking about her. This way, we only have to edit the redirect in case the target articles is moved/changed, basically the redirect act as some sort of template for the page link. If we decide to split the pages, then Mozu becomes a normal page. Otherwise if changes are made to the merged article, we would have to trace backwards all the links, fiugre out which sister they wanted to link and correct them. Obviously this example is quite simple, but pages with a lot of merged articles (like animals for examples) are more complicated.

I think those kinds of redirects are listed in Category:Authorized Redirects, Levi. 00:24, June 11, 2015 (UTC)

There's nothing wrong with pipe links. But there's not really anything wrong with redirects either, and Levi just pointed out a reason they actually work. The only possible issue would be broken/double redirects, but as stated before those can easily be fixed. The point is, is there anything wrong with redirects and should people be prevented from using them? Redirects and pipe links have the same effect on getting to pages nearly all the time, with the only section being the message under the title in the case of a redirect. And as for possible conflicts that could arise between hard-on pipe linkers/redirectors, we only really need one rule: If it ain't broke, don't fix it. 02:06, June 11, 2015 (UTC)