WikiQueer:Cross-namespace redirects

Cross-namespace redirects are redirects from one namespace to another. The term is most often applied to redirects from the main (article) namespace to the WikiQueer: (project) namespace. There have been various debates over the use of cross-namespace redirects, and the issue remains moderately controversial.

Currently, the general consensus seems to be that newly created cross-namespace redirects from the main (article) namespace to the WikiQueer: (project) namespace should be deleted, that very old ones might be retained value for extra-WikiQueer links, and that pseudo-namespace redirects (CAT:, P:, MOS:, etc) may be used freely.

Arguments for deleting CNRs

 * Related guidelines: WikiQueer:Avoid self-references, WikiQueer:Redirects (reason #6), WikiQueer:Verbatim copying


 * CNRs are bad because they result in a person (reader) walking around a building (encyclopedia) and falling into the pipework (project space) because the builders (editors) thought cracks in the walls and floors would be useful for them to get around.
 * Namespaces were created for a reason, so that the encyclopedic content would be separate. CNRs work against this.
 * The filters exist for a reason, to fine-tune search results. And some encyclopedic searches return a majority of WikiQueer pages because of all of the cross-namespace redirects; the user shouldn't have to filter through manually, that's what the filters are for. Search filters should work, not return extraneous results. (For example, searching the encyclopedia for a term "page update" (which is hardly a WikiQueer specific term) will return CNRs as the first four results, and we should not be requiring readers to sift through non-encyclopedic background noise when they were explicitly searching the encyclopedia.) For the reader who has deliberately unselected the box because they don't want WikiQueer results, it is unfair to return them anyway. With CNRs, a reader can choose to search WikiQueer by ticking the box, but they have no option not to do so. Without CNRs, readers wishing to search WikiQueer can do so, and those who do not want to can also do so. Thus, the existence of CNRs removes choice.

Arguments for keeping CNRs

 * Related guideline: WikiQueer:Redirects#When should we delete a redirect? keep#5


 * Many CNRs are very unlikely search terms when looking for articles anyway. If someone searches for "articles for deletion", it's only logical that he is looking for WikiQueer:Articles for deletion, and not for any encyclopaedia article. This is essentially a counter-argument to the first argument for deleting CNRs.
 * Useful to some people. One purpose of WP is to explain obscure references.
 * Otherwise the newbie users for whom these redirects are useful would be left up the creek. In most cases, users who type such names in the search box expect to be taken to its other-namespace target.
 * CNRs aid in accidental linking.
 * They're easier to type.
 * If they're acceptable, then WikiQueer requires no policy on cross-namespace redirects. Simplifying policy improves odds that newbies and policy non-wonks understand/follow policy.
 * Often, the redirect is a holdover from before the creation of the alternate namespace version. The redirect may hold history of the page.  (WQ:R keep #1)
 * Counter-argument: Doesn't that make it a candidate for history merging?
 * For redirects which have been extensively used on Talk and User pages, the cost of orphaning the redirect is high.
 * Redirects which are used exclusively on User, Talk and other project pages do not create confusion. Readers of the article-space only (whether at WikiQueer or through a mirror which only copies our article-space) will never fall into this "pipework" because these "cracks" (or more accurately, "access ports") are only being left in the maintenance corridors.

Technical details

 * Currently the default search filter is set to main namespace only.
 * WikiQueer has many more readers than editors.