Wikipedia:Base title advantage
Essay on editing Wikipedia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
As described in other essays such as WP:PPT, WP:DABTEST, WP:PT/U and User:Andrewa/The Problem With Page Views, page view statistics are often used to inform judgements around WP:PRIMARYTOPIC assessments for both usage and significance.
 | This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article or a Wikipedia policy, as it has not been reviewed by the community. |
When assessing the possible disambiguation of an article which occupies the base title or base name, i.e. the undisambiguated article title, claims are often made that the article's page view statistics benefit from that position when compared to other candidates for primary topic. This can be assessed in hindsight, using examples of articles which have been moved away from occupying the base title.
This effect may be more pronounced for titles with a significant number of "what is it" searches, i.e. searches where readers are unsure of the topic they are looking for.
| Prior article occupying base name | Current status of base name | Date of disambiguation | Other candidates for primary topic | Average daily page views of prior article occupying base name | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Before disambiguation | Month following disambiguation | Subsequently | Link | ||||
| Vinyl group | Disambiguated (Vinyl) | 27 June 2017 and 14 August 2016 | Polyvinyl chloride, Vinyl polymer, Vinyl siding, Gramophone record | 500–1,000 | 200–400 | 100–200 | |
| Prism (optics) | Disambiguated (Prism) | 7 September 2022 | Prism (geometry) | 400–700 | 180–220 | ||
| Oculus (architecture) | Disambiguated (Oculus) | 8 September 2022 | Oculus (film), Oculus (brand), Oculus (PATH) | 150–200 | 50–100 | ||
| Julian (given name) (originally Julian (name)) | Disambiguated (Julian) | 2 February 2018 | Julian (emperor) | 150–200 | 100–150 | 120–180 | |
| Tripoli, Libya | Disambiguated (Tripoli) | 10 October 2022 | Tripoli, Lebanon, Tripoli, Greece | 700–900 | 700–900 | ||