TechInfoDepot:Controlling search engine indexing

There are a variety of ways in which TechInfoDepot attempts to control search engine indexing, commonly termed "noindexing" on TechInfoDepot, as the default position is that pages are indexed. All of the methods rely on using the noindex HTML meta tag, which tells search engines not to index certain pages. Respecting the tag, especially in terms of removing already indexed content, is up to the individual search engine, and in theory the tag may be ignored entirely.

The control methods are:
 * 1) Controlling an entire namespace, via MediaWiki software settings
 * 2) Controlling classes of pages, via MediaWiki:Robots.txt (TechInfoDepot's Robots.txt file)
 * 3) Controlling individual pages by adding the  __NOINDEX__  magic word into them, either directly or using the NOINDEX template.
 * 4) Controlling pages by adding the  __NOINDEX__  magic word into standard templates used in certain situations.

Namespace control
On English TechInfoDepot the entire  namespace is automatically noindexed via a software setting.

At the same time,  __NOINDEX__  is disabled in article space and consequently has no effect there.

Robots.txt noindexing
MediaWiki:Robots.txt noindexes sensitive or potentially sensitive types of page, primarily in the TechInfoDepot namespace - for example deletion debates.

Individual pages
Individual pages can be noindexed by adding the  __NOINDEX__  magic word into that page, either directly or using the NOINDEX template. However,  __NOINDEX__  is disabled in article space and consequently has no effect there. Therefore [ this list] of articles containing NOINDEX should be empty (although it does little harm if it is not). Pages with the keyword are listed in Category:Noindexed pages.

Standard template noindexing
Some standard templates include the  __NOINDEX__  keyword, thereby noindexing pages to which the templates are applied. Such templates should be listed in Category:TechInfoDepot templates which apply NOINDEX.

Biographies of Living Persons talkpage noindexing
The templates BLP and BLP others include the NOINDEX parameter. The BLP template is added automatically by the WikiProject Biography talkpage template, if given the parameter ; see the documentation of that template for more details. Pages using these templates are automatically categorised in Category:Biography articles of living people.

Other templates
These templates include NOINDEX together with a relevant message: See also Category:TechInfoDepot templates which apply NOINDEX.
 * User sandbox, Userspace draft
 * Sockpuppet, Sockpuppeteer, IPsock, Banned user, Blocked user and others
 * Db-meta and hence the various speedy deletion templates built on it


 * Uw-userspacenoindex provides a user warning message for inappropriate use of userspace which required noindexing.

Individual pages
Individual pages can override namespace noindexing by adding the  __INDEX__  magic word into that page, either directly or using the INDEX template. Such pages appear in Category:Indexed pages. However, INDEX does not override noindexing via MediaWiki:Robots.txt.

Nofollow HTML attribute
Since 2007, all links to other websites from English TechInfoDepot have the nofollow HTML attribute set. This means that on pages that are indexed by search engines, any links found by a search engine on those pages should not influence the link target's ranking in the search engine's index.

Namespace discussions

 * TechInfoDepot:Requests for comment/User page indexing
 * TechInfoDepot:Search engine indexing – Proposal to change the namespace settings for indexing
 * TechInfoDepot:NOINDEX of noticeboards – Dead/moot proposal to NOINDEX noticeboards
 * TechInfoDepot:Village pump (proposals)/Archive_35 – Proposal to noindex several obscure namespaces like "Image talk." Strong majority opposed.
 * TechInfoDepot:Village pump (proposals)/Archive 36 – Proposal to re-index user talk pages. Majority opposed.
 * TechInfoDepot:Village pump (policy)/Archive 59 – Mixed discussion to exclude all non-content namespaces from indexing.
 * TechInfoDepot:Village_pump_(policy)/Archive_62 – Proposal to exclude certain pages from indexing.
 * TechInfoDepot:Talk pages not indexed by Google – A proposal to tell Google not to index the Talk: namespace.

Individual template discussions

 * Template talk:Non-free_media – Proposal to NOINDEX non-free images. No consensus.
 * Template talk:WikiProject Biography/Archive 5 – Proposal to NOINDEX BLP talk page template
 * Template talk:Administrators%27 noticeboard navbox all – NOINDEX on AN archives template

Current issues

 * TechInfoDepot:Requests for comment/NOINDEX – Proposal to NOINDEX unpatrolled new articles and articles with specific deletion templates.
 * – "Create an  __NOINDEX__  equivalent to prevent indexing by internal search engine"