Why use redirects

Redirects are a very useful way to create an alias for any given page or category. They also are a great helper for the Wiki's fairly poor (IMHO) search engine.

An example is probably the best way to show this:

Take the spice page Cumin. There are a number of other names for this spice, including Latin, colloquial and even non-English names. Whilst a search engine would probably find the content if you searched for Cuminum cyminum, without redirects, searching via this Wiki for the same phrase would not take you directly to the Cumin page, which in this instance is probably desirable. It would list the Cumin pages in the results, but maybe not in a prominent position.

However, if a redirect page is set up for each of the aliases, then searching for Cuminum cyminum will take you directly to the Cumin page.

It also helps search engine positioning as this in effect creates an alias for the redirect page which carries far more weight in search engine terms than text in the content of a page.

In this example the following redirects have been setup for Cumin. These can be seen whilst clicking the menu option What links here, when on the Cumin page or by clicking here.

Concise instructions

In this example we show how we have created an alias page named Allium sativum which redirects to the already existing page Garlic.

Shorthand:

Copy the exact name of the page you wish to redirect to, Garlic
Type a name for the redirect or alias page, Allium sativum into the search box and click Go
Click the red link, you searched for Allium sativum to create the new page
Select the last option, A blank redirect
Paste the cut words Garlic between the brackets
Save the page

Longhand:

Copy the name of the page you wish to redirect to; Garlic
Type a name for the redirect or alias page; Allium sativum into the search box and click Go
Click the red link you searched for Allium sativum to create the new page
Paste the name of the page you wish to redirect to; Garlic (or type it in directly)

#REDIRECT[[Garlic]]

Save the page