Template:R from alternative language/doc

Purpose

This template exists to help track useful redirects from foreign-language terms and redirects to other languages from English words and phrases. It is not a license to create redirects between arbitrary terms in any language – generally, foreign-language titles are considered appropriate only when there is a strong connection between the language and the topic. For example, WienVienna makes sense, because German is the official language of Austria; however, these three redirects: 維也納, ویانا and Виена, would be deleted if they existed, because there is no real connection between the city of Vienna and Mandarin, Western Punjabi, or Macedonian, respectively. See Wikipedia:Redirects in languages other than English for details.

Usage

Use this rcat template in any namespace.

• This redirect category (rcat) template should only be used with its first and second language parameters as described below. If applied without language parameters, the redirect will populate both Category:Redirects from undetermined-language terms and Category:Redirects to undetermined-language terms. Entries in those categories should be placed into more specific language categories when the "from" and "to" languages are known by using ISO 639 codes or appropriate IETF language tags, such as "en" for English, "la" for Latin, "en-au" for Australian English (see code list). If help is needed to determine the language of the redirect or target, then editors who monitor the undetermined-language categories will help determine the language and code needed to move the redirect to the more specific category(ies).
• Add this rcat to a redirect in the following manner:

#REDIRECT [[(target page name)]]

{{Redirect category shell|
{{R from alternative language|1=("from" language code)|2=("to" language code)|printworthy=[yes/no]}}
}}

The {{Redirect category shell}} (shortcut Rcat shell) may be used to add as many appropriate rcats as needed, usually from one to seven, along with their parameters, to a redirect. For more information see the documentation on its template page. This rcat may also tag a redirect individually:

#REDIRECT [[(target page name)]]

{{R from alternative language|1=("from" language code)|2=("to" language code)|printworthy=[yes/no]}}

This and the following are in accord with instructions found at Wikipedia:REDCAT.

• Use this rcat on redirects in main article space from a page title that are:
  • in English to a title in another language. These are almost always printworthy.
    • Example: Book of Changes
  • in a non-English language to a title in English.
    • Example: Akreo and Juniperus (only the latter is printworthy)
  • in a non-English language to a title in another non-English language. These may be printworthy or unprintworthy.
    • Example: Annales des empereurs du japon (printworthy)
  • in a non-English language to a title in the same non-English language. These are almost always unprintworthy.
    • Example: Ministeriales
  • in an undetermined language (code "und") to a known language.
    • ​{{R from alternative language|und|en}}​
  • in a known language to an undetermined language.
    • ​{{R from alternative language|fr|und}}​
  • in an undetermined language to an undetermined language.
    • ​{{R from alternative language|und|und}}​

• When the redirect and its target differ only in use of diacritical marks, use {{R from diacritics}} or {{R to diacritics}} instead.

Example: the redirect page titled Suisse

The first unnamed parameter, |1= (or the named parameter, |from=), is used for the ISO 639 code of the source (the redirect title's) language.

#REDIRECT [[Switzerland]]

{{R from alternative language|1=fr}}

or:

{{R from alternative language|from=fr}}

or:

{{R from alternative language|fr}}

• The above three examples all work exactly the same way.
• Usually, the redirect populates a specific "from" category, in this case Category:Redirects from French-language terms.
• If the language code in the first or "from" parameter is not recognized, or is recognized but has no more-specific category, the redirect populates Category:Redirects from non-English-language terms.

Example: the redirect page titled The Miserable Ones

The second unnamed parameter, |2= (or the named parameter, |to=), will sort the ISO 639 code of the target title's language.

#REDIRECT [[Les Misérables]]

{{R from alternative language|2=fr}}

or:

{{R from alternative language|to=fr}}

or:

{{R from alternative language||fr}}

• The three examples above all work exactly the same way.
• Usually, the redirect populates a specific "to" category, in this case Category:Redirects to French-language terms.
• If the language code in the second or "to" parameter is not recognized, or is recognized but has no more-specific category, the redirect populates Category:Redirects to non-English-language terms.

Example: the redirect page titled Mi˙kəmaw

When these parameters are combined, the redirect will go into two categories, "from" and "to" language terms:

#REDIRECT [[Mi'kmaq]]

{{R from alternative language|1=mic|2=mic}}

or:

{{R from alternative language|from=mic|to=mic}}

or:

{{R from alternative language|mic|mic}}

• The above three examples all work exactly the same way.
• The redirect will populate both Category:Redirects from Mi'kmaq-language terms and Category:Redirects to Mi'kmaq-language terms.

Undetermined language code

If the language code in the first or second parameter is not known, then the "und" language code (for "undetermined") may be used. Then the redirect will populate either Category:Redirects from undetermined-language terms or Category:Redirects to undetermined-language terms or both if "und" is used in both the first and second parameters.

{{R from alternative language|und|en}}

or:

{{R from alternative language|en|und}}

or:

{{R from alternative language|und|und}}

• One or both of the undetermined-language categories ("from" and "to") will be automatically populated if either or both of the parameters are left empty.
• One or both of the non-English language categories ("from" and "to") will be automatically populated if either or both of the parameters are an unrecognized value.

Editors who monitor those categories will help apply the correct language codes that will make the redirect populate a more specific language category(ies).

Titles of works

In the case of the redirect title The Miserable Ones, that title is just a language translation and is not tagged with the {{R from a book}} rcat – because both the French and English versions have the French title Les Misérables. In the case of the redirect title "Annales des empereurs du japon", that is actually the title of a French translation of the Japanese work, and is tagged with {{R from a book}}.

Multiple usage

If the redirect (from) or the target (to) title is found in more than one language, then this rcat may be used more than once. For example, Komunistická strana Československa, is found in both the Czech and Slovak languages. There is no restriction on how many times this rcat may be used on a redirect.

Aliases

• Also known as... – list of templates that redirect here and may also be used
• {{R to English}} – transcludes this template with "en" as the second parameter value

Printworthiness

In 2003, efforts were begun to support the Wikimedia Foundation's goal of increasing access and availability of Wikipedia articles in printed versions. It was recognized that only some kinds of page are useful in printed form: in editors' jargon, whether they are wp:printworthy.

Some rcats automatically populate either Category:Printworthy redirects or Category:Unprintworthy redirects by default. Others, like this one, often do not, which leaves editors to decide whether redirects are Printworthy or Unprintworthy.

• In main-article namespace only, redirects from English-language terms are printworthy by default.
• The specialized template {{R to English}} defaults to categorizing redirects as unprintworthy.
• All other alternative-language redirects in main-article namespace must be manually sorted as either printworthy or unprintworthy.

Two rcats can be used to populate these categories:

• {{R printworthy}} and
• {{R unprintworthy}}

Template {{Redirect category shell}} (or its shortcut, {{Rcat shell}}) will accept these rcats just like any other:

{{Rcat shell|
{{R from alternative language|en|de|printworthy=no}}
{{R unprintworthy}}
}}

{{Rcat shell|
{{R from alternative language|mnc|en}}
{{R printworthy}}
}}

Note: this template supports the |printworthy= parameter only when the language of the redirect title is in English (en). So if the code in the first parameter is "en", and it is decided that the redirect is not printworthy, then the parameter can be set to |printworthy=no, which will sort the redirect to Category:Unprintworthy redirects. If any other language code is used in the first parameter, then the |printworthy= parameter is disabled. Those are the times when editors will have to choose between using {{R printworthy}} or {{R unprintworthy}}.

Language codes

The following links are to pages that show the two-, three- or four-letter language codes that this rcat has used and uses now to sort redirects to specific-language categories. For complete lists of language codes, see the navbar below.

Listings in ALPHABETICAL order by...

• LANGUAGE
• Language CODE

Language codes are also usually found in the infoboxes at the top of language articles in Wikipedia.

See also

• {{R from Wade–Giles romanization}}
• {{R from alternative translation}}
• {{R from alternative transliteration}}
• WikiProject Redirect/Style guide