Many of the redlinks in the Wanted Links page are only referenced by usertalk pages - can these links be cleared out to shorten the Wanted page to just the pages that actually need to be made?
Many of the redlinks in the Wanted Links page are only referenced by usertalk pages - can these links be cleared out to shorten the Wanted page to just the pages that actually need to be made?
That's something I've been doing, but it's a manual process to remove them from every single user page so it kinda takes a while. I have no idea why Wikia was designed like that, it's incredibly annoying.
I take it it’s a case of manually editing the link out of the usertalk page then – is that admin-only, or is it OK for other users to edit this? If I can do it, I’ll take a shot at going through the list.
Not sure if you can do it permission wise, but if you can feel free to unlink them where possible.
Just gave it a try, seems like I don’t have the permission to do it.
It's possible to remove links via a semi-automated (or totally automated if you so desire) process using AutoWikiBrowser. You need admin permissions, but it would make everything much faster. For example, you can take the link "[[When move patch coming?]]" and turn it into "When move patch coming?" This would retain whatever the individual was talking about (assuming it's on a User Talk page) while removing the link.
All it would take is the time to write down both the link name and the name without the brackets. Still tedious, but it doesn't require manual editing of every page.
I've looked at those automated things and bots a couple of times, but I just can't figure them out =/ It's not really something I want to bother figuring out either. Problem with the wanted pages thing is that the vast majority of red links on there are only linked once. So even if you could automate it, it wouldn't be of much help sadly.
Manco, I altered your permissions. I think you should be able to edit or delete threads now, which includes messages on user walls. Archived talk pages aren't part of this, though. But it's something.
It really isn't too difficult. The thing is, it takes a long time to remove all of the links because you have to open each page where there is a link and manually edit it. With AWB you list all of the pages at once and click "go."
Example,
"[[Redlink 1]]" to "Redlink 1"
"[[Redlink 2]]" to "Redlink 2"
"[[Redlink 3]]" to "Redlink 3"
Then click go, and the "bot" will find every instance of "[[Redlink 1]]" and change it to "Redlink 1," etc.
Yeah, I was a bit intimidated at first, but once I realized that all you have to do is download AWB, login to Wikia through it (it's an official Wikipedia program, so there is no worries of having your password stolen or anything like that), then list the changes you want into the table... I now use it all the time. Especially considering that you don't even have to use it for links. It is basically a big "Find and Replace" program.
An example of what it could be used for in the future is this: let's say that when Soulstorm is released, it is revealed that the title is actually SoulStorm (capitalized "Storm"); now you have a hundred instances of "Soulstorm" where you want "SoulStorm." Enter those two words into the table, click go and it will replace all of the uses of "Soulstorm" with "SoulStorm" automatically.