Category:Orphans: Difference between revisions

An orphan is defined as "a page with few or no links from other pages." These pages can still be found by searching UDWiki, but it is preferable that they can also be reachable by links from related pages; it is therefore helpful to add links from other suitable pages with similar and/or related information. De-orphaning articles is an important aspect of wiki maintenance.

What is the problem with Orphaned Pages?

Orphaned pages, since they have no links to them from other pages, are difficult to find, and are most likely to be found only by chance. Because of this, few people know they exist, and therefore, they get less readership and improvement from those who would be able to improve them.

In particular, if the topic is more obscure, this may make it difficult for many to locate. If not for links to a page, the only way such an article can be found is by a person who knows the topic entering it into search, browsing a category in which it is contained, looking at the edit history of a contributor to the page, or having it show up as a random article.

Criteria

An orphan page is any page which is not linked anywhere on UDWiki or which is linked only on unrelated/irrelevent pages (such as on their own discussion page). Pages which are transcluded onto other pages but are not linked are not however considered orphans; they are instead considered inclusion pages and should be treated differently.

Identifying Orphans and De-Orphaning Them

Orphaned pages are listed on UDWiki's Special:lonelypages list. This category also contains a list of orphans which have been previously identified and have had the {{OrphanPage}} template (or [[Category:Orphans]]) added to them.

Categorizing Orphans

When an orphan is identified and it is confirmed by its "What links here" that it is not included on other pages, the {{OrphanPage}} template can be added. The template will notify any viewer of its orphan status and will automatically categorize it as an orphan. It is considered bad form to categorize a page as an orphan too soon after its creation date. Its best to wait a couple of weeks from the article's creation date to allow the author to finish the article and find an appropriate place to link it.

Tips on how to de-orphan a group page

The most common types of orphaned pages are a group sub pages. The author of the page may have created the page for reference or as an archive and neglected to link it from their group page. In these instances, it is best to notify the group or the author that the page is unlinked so that they can find the most relevent place to link it. Notification can be made through the {{OrphanAlert}} template. For the same reasons above, it is considered bad form to notify of an author or group of a page's orphan status too soon after its creation date.

Tips on how to de-orphan pages in general

First, read the article. Then, follow some likely-looking outgoing links from the orphan to other articles, and do a UDWiki search for the article topic. Doing these will give you a much better idea of what it relates to. Not only will it probably give you information you can use to add meaningful links from other articles, but it will probably give you enough info to flesh out and improve the orphan itself.

Adding Links

Be careful to check that the search results refer to the topic of this article, and not something else of the same name. When you find an appropriate article, insert a meaningful link to the orphaned article.

When adding a link to an orphaned article, please use the edit summary summary box to indicate you are de-orphaning a page (ie: Adding link to orphaned article)

Removing the OrphanPage tag

Once the article has one or more links that fit the criteria, remove the {{OrphanPage}} template from the orphan if one is present. Please use edit summaries to indicate a sucessful de-orphan (ie: Successfully de-orphaned!)

De-Orphan Attempts

If you try unsucessfully to de-orphan a page, you can categorize it as such by placing [[Category:De-Orphan Atempts]] on the orphaned page. This will allow other editors to know an attempt has already been made and they can choose to either de-orphan another page or try something different to de-orphan it.