Occasionally, a wick will appear on a page's "Related to" subpage, but the page in question doesn't actually contain the link listed. In fact, sometimes nonexistent pages will appear to have this nonexistent link. This is called a "ghost wick": it is a ghost haunting pages past. There are a couple of ways these wicks could've surfaced, which are related to administrative/mod deletions and reversions
. The details aren't important.
Elimination of a ghost wick depends on where the wick is occuring.
On an existing page:
- If the page is a redirect, make a null edit. It might force earlier changes to the page to register. Please leave an edit reason so others know what's going on. If that doesn't work...
- If the page has content but no internal links at all, create one. Wicks only update if there's at least one wick on the page, so adding one will make the ghost wick disappear. If you feel there's nowhere to place an appropriate link, add a link arbitrarily (such as to the page itself), save the edit, and delete it after. Please leave an edit reason so others know what's going on.
- If the page is ghost-indexing (creating index bars on other pages even though it's not an index), do a null edit to its page type (under Page Info; in the sidebar on desktop, bottom of the page on mobile). If it's a redirect, you'll first have to break the redirect so you can access the page type in the first place. After you're done, restore the redirect.
On a nonexistent page:
Requesting removal of ghost wicks from ghost pages is the purpose of this thread.- Post the page where the ghost wick is supposed to exist.
- Alternatively, if the page is not in the Main namespace, you can recreate the page with "Ghost Wick" and a wick to the page, then add it to the Cut List where a moderator will delete it.note
Edited by Twiddler on Jul 8th 2023 at 1:55:52 AM
Did two pages, but it's generally simpler to process this thread when there isn't a lot of other discussion happening in it.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/relatedsearch.php?term=Main/GameShowHost
Edited by Malady on Feb 13th 2023 at 9:03:55 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
PlayingWith.Authority Equals Asskicking has a ghost wick to Asskicking Equals Authority.
Edited by Gosicrystal on Feb 14th 2023 at 2:22:43 PM
It's not in Main, you can do that yourself. Putting it on the cut list now.
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
Now the page just says "Ghost".
Edited by themayorofsimpleton on Feb 14th 2023 at 8:41:16 AM
TRS Queue | Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
Yes, because it's a ghost wick. It was a ghost because it got mod-moved to whatever the Main went. Asskicking Equals Authority.
Edited by Malady on Feb 14th 2023 at 5:42:30 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Now a lurker. Thanks for everything. | he/him
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Evidently there's some kind of disconnect I'm having, so I'm just going to stop talking about this. I still need to wake up.
(she/her)
It says ghost because Malady edited that word in so that they could put the page on the Cut List. I cut the page so the ghost wick is gone now.
Macron's notes
I'm Sad Frogerson.
James Gunn is leaving a ghost wick for Guardians of the Galaxy.
lmao
AgencyForCultural Affairs100BestAnimations is making a ghost wick to LightNovel.Haruhi Suzumiya
(I formatted it that way because it appears as this in the Related Pages for some reason...)
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pagelist_having_pagetype_in_namespace.php?n=Main&t=subpage
Main/Quotes/Ptitlekzrxgx4f is a ghost wick
Friends forevermore
Just when you think ptitles are gone, they keep coming back.
I had a dog-themed avatar before it was cool.
Sandbox.Estvyk has a ghost wick to Buxom Is Better. Seems to be a troper's personal sandbox that's now empty except for a period.
Edited by Gosicrystal on Feb 19th 2023 at 7:24:29 PM
lmao
Strange, I attempted a null edit on the sandbox to see if it'd leave but the wick's still there somehow.
(she/her)
To remove ghost wicks from non Main/ pages, you have to add a wick to the page. Pages without wicks create ghost wicks for some reason. I fixed it.
Macron's notes
I think it's that the links database does only update when you are saving text with at least one link.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
And now the sandbox has a ghost wick to The Hero...
Edited by Gosicrystal on Feb 20th 2023 at 12:32:57 PM
If you cut and restore a page, does it still make ghost wicks even if it's empty on restoration?
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Tropers.Sean Kozma is a ghost wick: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/namespace_index.php?ns=tropers&page=13
Although, Folderizer uncovers:
� <<|The Contributors|>>�
Also, Tropers.Mlle Marcontell: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/namespace_index.php?ns=tropers&page=9
Although, Folderizer uncovers:
Edit this page to leave a message.
<<|The Contributors|>>
Bad Name:
ABE/Crudele: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/namespace_index.php?ns=tropers&page=1
...
@/Adannor as seen from any good tab for that name.
Edited by Malady on Feb 20th 2023 at 1:26:23 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tropers/YamiNoIzanagi?action=source redirects using the "@" style. Might the @ namespace tab of the target name, be due to that? Can a mod change the redirect into "Tropers/" style and see if it fixes that?
...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tropers/RogueSeraph too, maybe.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tropers/QQQQ2
Not done going from bottom to top. Goodnight. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pagelist_having_pagetype_in_namespace.php?n=Tropers&t=redirect
Edited by Malady on Feb 20th 2023 at 8:57:27 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Okay, so the change on Yami No Izanagi seems to confirm that redirects are causing the @ namespaces, so please correct the redirects on:
There's probably more. But at least there's only 103 Tropers redirects.
Edited by Malady on Feb 21st 2023 at 6:11:06 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
(she/her)
^ That's done.
Macron's notes
Laconic.Precision F Strike has a ghost wick to Breaking Point Swearing.
I'd like to apologize for all this.