User:Elli/Complete list
 | This is an essay on naming conventions and redirects. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
There are currently a number of redirects that exist beginning with the words "complete list" and redirecting to a list article. These should generally be deleted.
The proper naming convention for stand-alone lists are "list of X" for lists, and "lists of X" for lists of lists.
"Complete list" is inaccurate. In many cases, these lists are not complete. Even if they were complete at one point, they might be outdated; if they are still complete, Wikipedia cannot guarantee completeness, as Wikipedia does not claim to be accurate. The title is therefore misleading and incorrect.
One may argue that "complete list" might be a common search term, but this is even more of a reason not to have them. If a user searches "complete list of X" and finds their article, then they'll be inclined to search "complete list of Y" next time they want to find a list. Unless we create "complete list" -> "list" redirects for every list, this will eventually fail, and the user will be confused. On the other hand, if they never find a "complete list" redirect, their next inclination will be to search "list of X", which will work, and they will understand naming going forwards.