Jeronimo wrote:
My proposal is to make two kinds of redirects. The first type is the type we currently have, the second one is different in that it still redirects those visiting it, but the page does not show up in any searches. I think this can be implemented relatively easy (a "flag" in the database might do the trick), but I'm not sure if that is true; it may have some performance impact. However, I do think this is an important feature with respect to those that are using Wikipedia as an encyclopedia: you want to find thing fast, and not get 231 article title matches if searching for "Wikipedia" (which is only the 19th hit, anyway).
My proposal is to have "#REDIRECT" and "#DEPRECATED". The latter can also be rendered as nonarchivable, so that they can be deleted after some time in most cases, since they'll fall out of the memories of search engines. They can also be used as you suggest in searches. (But they should still be found in searches if the article that they point to *doesn't* show up.)
-- Toby