Are tag wikis with just URL ok?

Question

Recently I've been seeing a lot of edits to the tag wikis, where the body of the tag wiki is just an URL, either to wikipedia, or some documentation. I feel that this kind of wiki is unhelpful, so I usually reject the edit with a custom message, saying something along the Lines of:

A tag wiki should be more than just a link.

but I've been seeing a lot of them, so I want to confirm if my understanding of what a tag wiki is, is correct or not.

I can see that most of these edits are by new users with low reputations. I feel that since a tag edit gives you 2 points, and these users might be using it to quickly gain reputation.

Are we OK with tag wikis being only a single URL?

Answer 1

I think a tag wiki with just a bare URL should be rejected so you have my full support on the proposal outlined in your Question.

This may sometimes be coming about because new tag wiki writers are trying to write the tag wiki itself where the tag excerpt should go, because it is presented first. Having thus written the Tag Wiki in the excerpt box, all they may have left to write is a URL as reference.

Perhaps we need to try and do more education about the tag wiki excerpt being just the elevator pitch to the tag wiki. Next time I reject a "URL only" tag wiki suggestion, I will try to expand my feedback to its suggestor.

Answer 2

I agree with you, but there is one exception:

When there is no tag excerpt and no tag wiki (i.e., it is the first edition), the Edit Summary box is not available (see screenshot at the bottom).

So, if an excerpt is suggested for the first time, and it follows at least part of the tag excerpt policy, the only place to write a reference is the tag wiki box.

In such cases, where the reference is important to support the excerpt suggestion or to avoid plagiarism, I believe it would do no harm to approve.