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I recently came across the Development/Xenon2 page, from the link at the bottom of Games/Xenon2. I wondered why I had not seen the page before, but the reason was soon clear - the page is missing from the Development/Software index.

The reason for this is that the index is maintained manually. Unfortunately, it seems too easy to forget to update it when adding a new page.

I wonder whether there are many more "orphaned" pages. Is it possible to check? In the longer term, is there any way to improve the indexing?

In general, the site uses auto-indexing to link pages in. However, in the Development section it is acting more as a traditional wiki - pages are discoverable by searching and by links from other pages, and you create pages by creating links to them from other pages first. This is mainly to allow some grouping of pages within Development, but also to allow some hierachy in the listings too (e.g. http://www.smspower.org/Development/InputAndOutput-Index ).

An alternative would be to use tags (e.g. any page tagged Software in the Development section would go in the Software sub-index page), but that still requires manual work by the page author. The Tools section of Development works that way (so I suppose it is rather inconsistent).

There is a way to find these orphaned pages by a special interface: add ?action=refcount to any non-forum page and you can find orphaned pages. Unfortunately, this also lists all the pages that are using auto-discovering indexes (like all the Tools pages). I just went through and fixed all the orphaned Development pages.

Maxim wrote

In the Development section [...] you create pages by creating links to them from other pages first.

Ah, I see! I've always created pages by typing in the URL and clicking the "Create" link. It seems I'm not alone in this.

Quote

An alternative would be to use tags (e.g. any page tagged Software in the Development section would go in the Software sub-index page), but that still requires manual work by the page author.

Using tags would be easier in a way: it only requires a page creator to do something with the new page itself, rather than requiring the separate step of editing a different page.

Quote

I just went through and fixed all the orphaned Development pages.

Great, thanks!

Author	Message
RetroSpark Joined: 08 Dec 2005 Posts: 488 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Pages missing from indexes Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 4:32 am
	I recently came across the Development/Xenon2 page, from the link at the bottom of Games/Xenon2. I wondered why I had not seen the page before, but the reason was soon clear - the page is missing from the Development/Software index. The reason for this is that the index is maintained manually. Unfortunately, it seems too easy to forget to update it when adding a new page. I wonder whether there are many more "orphaned" pages. Is it possible to check? In the longer term, is there any way to improve the indexing?

Maxim Site Admin Joined: 19 Oct 1999 Posts: 14745 Location: London	Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 9:19 am
	In general, the site uses auto-indexing to link pages in. However, in the Development section it is acting more as a traditional wiki - pages are discoverable by searching and by links from other pages, and you create pages by creating links to them from other pages first. This is mainly to allow some grouping of pages within Development, but also to allow some hierachy in the listings too (e.g. http://www.smspower.org/Development/InputAndOutput-Index ). An alternative would be to use tags (e.g. any page tagged Software in the Development section would go in the Software sub-index page), but that still requires manual work by the page author. The Tools section of Development works that way (so I suppose it is rather inconsistent). There is a way to find these orphaned pages by a special interface: add ?action=refcount to any non-forum page and you can find orphaned pages. Unfortunately, this also lists all the pages that are using auto-discovering indexes (like all the Tools pages). I just went through and fixed all the orphaned Development pages.

RetroSpark Joined: 08 Dec 2005 Posts: 488 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 11:02 am
	Maxim wrote In the Development section [...] you create pages by creating links to them from other pages first. Ah, I see! I've always created pages by typing in the URL and clicking the "Create" link. It seems I'm not alone in this. Quote An alternative would be to use tags (e.g. any page tagged Software in the Development section would go in the Software sub-index page), but that still requires manual work by the page author. Using tags would be easier in a way: it only requires a page creator to do something with the new page itself, rather than requiring the separate step of editing a different page. Quote I just went through and fixed all the orphaned Development pages. Great, thanks!

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