User:Wugapodes/Better as a redlink

Sometimes the encyclopedia is improved by deleting a redirect in favor of a red link. Redirects are useful for AccidentalLinking and search terms readers may use, however because they create a page these links are no longer red. In nearly all cases this is the point of redirects. While redirect are useful, DanglingLinks, which on Wikipedia appear in red text, have their advantages as well. When these red links are turned blue by redirecting them, those advantages are lost. In some cases the benefits of having a red link outweigh the benefits of having a redirect, and in those cases the redirect should be deleted.

Encouraging new articles
Red links help let readers know that an article is wanted and encourages them to create it. For experienced editors, they can do so immediately. For new or unregistered users it can serve as an introduction to the articles for creation process using a topic they care about and which other people think is notable. While creating a redirect allows new users to do so in mainspace immediately (because the unprotected page already exists), their color means readers don't know an article is wanted, and if they do click on the link it is not immediately obvious to new users how to get to the redirect page limiting the benefit because of redirects' hidden nature. If the target is different enough from the redirect title, and especially if the redirect is linked to from the article, it may be better to have a red link.

Encouraging spin offs
When articles get too long or place too much relative emphasis on a topic, it is best to spin sections off into their own articles. These spin off articles are linked to from the main article using hatnotes like main and see also. Editors who think an section might be a good candidate for spinning out can add a hatnote to a non-existent page. The red linked hatnote can then easily be expanded by interested editors, or removed by those who disagree with spinning it off. Sometimes these are turned into redirects that loop back to the section and these redirects may be good candidates for deletion.

If the only incoming link to the redirect is from the target, then the redirect is not particularly useful. Readers interested will click the link and be brought back to right where they started. While it aids in accidental linking, if the page follows a particular naming convention it may be unlikely that readers link to it accidentally. The red links can be beneficial even when there are multiple incoming links. Readers may see the red link on another article and add information to the new page which will encourage spinning off via merger. For well developed sections or redirects with many incoming links, the benefits of improving navigation from redirects can quickly outweigh the expansion benefits of red links.