MarioWiki:Redirects
Redirects are used to forward the user from one page on the wiki to another page.
Main redirects
We use redirects to connect logical search phrases to helpful places. They don't cost us anything, so they're highly-encouraged. There are a few exceptions, but unless one redirects to a place to where someone wouldn't want to go, there's no downside to having them. In such a case where a phrase could have multiple meanings, a disambiguation page is used.
For example, let's take a look at the search phrase "luigis mansion 2". Without a proper redirect, users are taken to this results page. MediaWiki's built-in search is not great, and redirects allow us to make up for that by applying a human touch to point users in the right direction. If there's even a small chance that a redirect will help someone, it's not useless.
Unnecessary redirects
Due to MediaWiki's search irregularities, a proper-capitalization redirect and all-lowercase redirect may exist for each topic (for example, Afoot in the Foothills and afoot in the foothills). Deleting redirects provides no real benefit, so they should only be tagged for deletion in the rare cases where (1) they are completely nonsensical or (2) they are too general. There is no need to delete alternate-name, conjectural, or spelling-mistake redirects unless they are specifically too silly or too general. When articles and galleries are moved, redirects play an important role so that links from search engines and external websites continue to work.
Examples
(1) We don't need the redirect Game with luigi and ghosts 2 because it's too silly.
(2) We don't want the redirect First mario game because we're not positive what page the user is looking for (you might say Donkey Kong (game), but maybe they're actually trying to find Super Mario Bros.), so the search page is the best place for them to be.
Other types of redirects
Non-mainspace redirects
Template, Category, and File redirects are discouraged. If one of these types of pages is moved, it is necessary to update all links to the new name and delete the redirect page. Forgoing template redirects keeps our "templates used on this page" lists tidier.
Smart apostrophe/quote redirects
Due to certain devices using smart quotes and apostrophes by default (“...” and ‘...’), searching a title that uses regular quotes and apostrophes won't direct those users to that page unless they use the correct type, so creation of smart apostrophe/quote redirects (for example, Bowser’s Castle for Bowser's Castle) is encouraged.
Linking to redirects
Linking to redirect pages is discouraged, so always try to link to the actual page name and use the piped link formatting to correct the name if necessary. This method is more efficient than using redirects when it comes to page caching.
If a redirect points to a specific article section, then linking to that redirect is acceptable. This makes it easier to fix section name changes, which are more difficult to keep track of than page links.
