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
Sounds good on paper (he/him)
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Took care of it.
The Platform is making a ghost wick to IncrediblyLamePun.
Edited by Kyogre70 on Jan 15th 2024 at 4:44:29 AM
I think Sandbox.Intimacy Via Horror is making a ghost wick to Intimacy Via Horror; it's showing up in this Related page.
Edited by ClancyGardener on Dec 23rd 2023 at 4:11:27 AM
Trimming the hedges, one trope at a time.
He/Him
Gigantic is making a ghost wick to The Beard.
Art Museum Curator and frequent helper of the Web Original deprecation project
The Wanderer
Quotes.Seinfeld Is Unfunny is making a ghost wick to VideoGame.Fallout.
EDIT: ^ Placed on the cut list.
Main.Fingernails is making a ghost wick to Administrivia.Creating A Work Page For An Upcoming Work.
Edited by rmctagg09 on Dec 22nd 2023 at 5:12:33 AM
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.
Doing these...
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman
the Retromancer
What if Disambig.Pokemon Lavender was recreated, had it page-type changed so it becomes blue and cut with same reason, would it fix the green color?
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Done.
When I recreated it, it had the page type 'subpage', but the link was still green. I tried null editing the page type and switching it to another non-disambig type, but it was still green. Then I tried switching the page type to and away from 'disambig', and that worked — turned it blue.
Edited by Twiddler on Dec 28th 2023 at 10:29:52 AM
Can shapeshift (probably)
Main.Veggie Tales In The House is making a ghost wick to Open the Iris.
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Fingernails is making a ghost wick to "Creating a Work Page for an Upcoming Work" (which is now a redirect anyway).
Until next time...
Anon e Mouse Jr.
If you're responding directly to one of my posts, please ping me to make sure I see it.
Done.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanThe Related page for VideoGame.Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns Of The Patriots shows a wick for VideoGame.Metal Gear Solid 4 that doesn't show up in that redirect's Related page.
The same goes for Series.Daredevil 2015's Related page and that of the redirect Series.Daredevil.
Can shapeshift (probably)
Not Main, I made and put on Cut List.
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
Can shapeshift (probably)
So any all-orange entry can be cultisted by non-mods?
Silver and gold, silver and gold
the Retromancer
If they're nonexistent. If there's content naturally it needs to hold up.
TroperWall / WikiMagic Cleanup
Can shapeshift (probably)
Main.The Year Of Living Dangerously is making a ghost wick to The Gentleman or the Scoundrel.
ETA: Also found Main.Dark Decapodian to Celibate Hero
Edited by Coachpill on Feb 9th 2024 at 2:41:29 PM
Silver and gold, silver and gold
Doing these...
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard FeynmanThe Related page for Grand Theft Prototype seems to show a phantom wick to the redirect Gundamjack.
Edited by ClancyGardener on Feb 12th 2024 at 10:14:26 AM
Trimming the hedges, one trope at a time.
Yeah, that happens sometimes. We dunno why.
Main.Arrival shows one for Music/.
At least Gundamjack is easier to search for. Could be from how https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/article_history.php?article=Tropers.SAMAS hasn't been edited, so its wicks might be still reporting?
That would also explain the Main.Wick phantom.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/relatedsearch.php?term=Administrivia/Wick
Edited by Malady on Feb 13th 2024 at 5:18:32 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
If it is the Tropers.SAMAS page that was causing the issue, then the recent edit removing the Gundamjack wick didn't actually fix anything.
Not sure how the site's coded, but perhaps Tropers pages don't do any wick updating, instead of just being set to "Not wicking"?
Would cutting the page even help in that case?
Edited by Malady on Feb 15th 2024 at 3:47:53 AM
Disambig Needed: Help with those issues! tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13324299140A37493800&page=24#comment-576
I'm Sad Frogerson.
Quotes.Misaimed Marketing is creating a ghost wick for Transformers.
Non-main namespace pages don’t need mod intervention to be recreated and cut. You can just click the edit button.
Can shapeshift (probably)
Main.The Rose Of Algeria is making a ghost wick to Legion of Lost Souls.
Silver and gold, silver and gold
The Spooky Crew is making a ghost wick to Incredibly Lame Pun
.