Why are Wiki pages being renamed?

skyfein1 Dec 2006

I notice that a bunch of Typowiki pages have just been renamed. (To name one example, wiki/faq_free has been renamed wiki/faq_free_fonts. For other examples, go to the Wiki FAQ index -- three of the articles in the list seem to have vanished, because they have been renamed.)

Who is making these changes? Did anyone think it through?

All of those pages are already linked-to from other Wikis, and those links don't work anymore. (They're also linked to from outside the Wiki, to be sure.) If all the current Wiki entries are now filled with bad links, that reduces the usefulness of the Typowiki.

Distressingly, when you go to the OLD address, you get a page which says that the entry does not exist -- and which invites you to create one. Soon we'll have people creating new entries for subjects which already have them.

So, two possible solutions: Is the person who is renaming the pages willing to change the names back? If not, can that person create referring pages, so that people will be automatically sent to the newly renamed page?

Skylar

Typography.Guru1 Dec 2006#

In the MediaWiki software, whenever you "move" a page to a new name, it creates an automatic redirect link on the old page. So none of the described problems could occur.
I don't know if redirects are possible here!?

Ralf

skyfein2 Dec 2006#

Ralf: I wish the Typophile software had the same feature! In the meantime, I've just set up a dorky referring link on the old Faq_free page which takes you to the new (renamed) one.

Note to other users: if you've been maintaining certain Wiki pages, you might want to check that they're still where they used to be. If they're not, you might consider setting up a manual referring page the way I did.

Skylar

P.S. In the two hours since I set up the referring link on the old page, that page got 51 hits.

skyfein3 Dec 2006#

Okay, now something REALLY weird is going on.

Yesterday, someone took the original "free FAQ", which was at http://typophile.com/wiki/FAQ_Free, and renamed it -- so that the address became http://typophile.com/wiki/FAQ_Free_Fonts.

This had the effect of making the page "disappear," since all the links to it no longer worked.

Today, that NEW page has also disappeared. Who is doing this? What's going on? I've been maintaining that page with a high degree of sensitivity and care.

It would be great if some of the moderators on this site could look into this and join this discussion so it's not just me wondering aloud to myself. =)

Skylar

skyfein3 Dec 2006#

Okay, an update. The original page has reappeared at the original address.

I'd like to thank the mysterious elf who made this happen.

Skylar

paul d hunt3 Dec 2006#

skylar, sorry if my renaming things is confusing you. what happens is whenever someone edits this page, it causes the path to be broken. i'm not sure what i can do to fix this. i guess i could just leave the clumsy name of FAQ_free at the top, but i thought FAQ: Free Fonts seemed more elegant. maybe together we can come up with a solution to this page-naming problem.

skyfein3 Dec 2006#

Paul: Thanks for the explanation. I agree, by the way -- the new page address was more elegant.

But let's keep in mind that the Wiki pages, when renamed, seem to disappear.

Personally, I think the answer is to leave the current inelegant addresses alone, and to name future pages more elegantly! =)

One person's opinion.

Skylar

P.S. What about all the other articles that seem to have disappeared? Were they also renamed? For example, on the main FAQ page, http://typophile.com/wiki/FAQs, two other FAQs (besides the "free" FAQ) have disappeared. Are you planning to change those back, as well?

skyfein4 Dec 2006#

Paul: Please check out http://typophile.com/wiki/FAQ_Font Sharing. There's a circular link set up.

Also, http://typophile.com/wiki/FAQ%20Piracy has been renamed (I think), but I can't find the new one.

Skylar

paul d hunt4 Dec 2006#

fixed the font sharing page. i don't know that there ever was a faq_piracy page, but i put a link in for when i have time to start one.

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