///Redirects for characters with several first appearances
User:SOTO/Forum Archive/The Panopticon/@comment-24894325-20151229103324 This may be just future proofing. I am yet to find existing examples where it is needed (I will try). Such a situation, however, was discussed as a possibility in Thread:183821.
The unlikely situation I propose allowing additional redirects for is when there is a character
- whose name requires a dab term and
- who appears in different media.
The T:DAB policy says: Characters are named according to the story (or episode) they first appeared in, even if they appear in subsequent stories for which they are arguably more famous. Experienced users interpret the first episode as being the first across all the media where the character appeared.
A good example from the above mentioned thread was Martha Jones, whose dab term would have been Martha Jones (Made of Steel) (if it were needed). Meaning no disrespect to the novel, personally I would have trouble finding the proper Martha among those I am searching for (if there were more than one). The policy also states: Ensuring that a reader who searches for a topic using a particular term can get to the information on that topic quickly and easily, whichever the possible topics might be.
I am not proposing to change the dabbing policy for the actual page. I understand that simple rules are easy to follow, which makes editing more accessible. But I think I have found a compromise that simultaneously makes searching easier and the Wikia more user-friendly.
Why not allow creating a redirect from the first appearances in other media to the properly named page?
For instance, were Martha in need of a dab term, we could have a redirect Martha Jones (Smith and Jones) to Martha Jones (Made of Steel). The point is that the search field shows redirects. Try typing "Melody Pond" in the search field. By the end of it, you will have only one hit: "River Song". Thus, in presence of such a redirect, typing "Martha Jones (S" would presumably result in only one hit, the correct one.
I do not propose this as a universal blanket policy for every character appearing in more than one medium. But the current policy explicitly mentions possible difficulties when a character is famous for some subsequent episode, exactly the case of Martha. One could object by saying that the disambiguation page would guide the search. There are, however, two problems with sending people to the disambig page
- It makes search longer than just using the search field.
- The policy advises against a disambig page if there are only two characters with such a name.
So at best one would need to go through an extra step of going to a disambiguation page. At worst, he/she would need to read both of the character pages to figure out which one they need. It is for such cases that a redirect would improve user experience.
There is a real case like this actually that is handled in a non-traditional way (again, this is not my example): Jack Harkness vs. Jack Harkness (Captain Jack Harkness). The former one is seemingly treated as a primary topic instead of giving him a dab term: Jack Harkness (The Empty Child). The second character is only present in the Torchwood series, so someone familiar with Torchwood and this Wikia policies but unfamiliar with Doctor Who might benefit from a redirect from Jack Harkness (Everything Changes) to whatever the page for Jack is named.
