Vero - Wikipedia:Merging

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A merge or merger is the process of uniting two or more pages into a single page. It is done by copying some or all content from the source page(s) into the destination page and then replacing the source page with a redirect to the destination page.

Any editor can perform a merge. No permission or discussion is needed if you think the merge is uncontroversial; just do it! Otherwise, the merge should be first proposed and discussed, as detailed below. When performing a merge, remember to attribute copied content, as required by Wikipedia's copyright license. At minimum, this means including <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>Merged content from SOURCEPAGE</syntaxhighlight> in your edit summaries. See how to merge below for details.

Reasons for merging

{{#invoke:Shortcut|main}} Template:Redirect There are several good reasons to merge pages:

  1. Template:AnchorDuplicate: There are two or more pages on exactly the same subject, with the same scope. If a duplicate article was recently created, it may also be a candidate for speedy deletion under CSD A10 criteria.
  2. Template:AnchorOverlap: There are two or more pages on related subjects that have a large overlap and might be WP:REDUNDANT. Remember, Wikipedia is not a dictionary; there does not need to be a separate entry for every concept. For example, "flammable" and "non-flammable" can both be explained in an article on flammability.
  3. Template:AnchorShort text: If a page is very short (consisting of perhaps only one or two sentences) and is, in your opinion as editor, unlikely to be expanded within a "reasonable" (unspecified) amount of time, it often makes sense to merge it into a page on a broader topic.
  4. Template:AnchorInsufficient notability: Some topics may not reach the general notability guidelines, or more specific criteria, so merging is an alternative to deletion. While this can also be implemented through the articles for deletion process, merging directly may be more efficient. For example, parents or children of a celebrity who themselves are otherwise unremarkable are generally covered in a section of the article on the celebrity.
  5. Template:AnchorContext: If a short article requires the background material or context from a broader article in order for readers to understand it. For example, minor characters from works of fiction are generally covered in a "List of characters in <work>" article (and can be merged there); see also Wikipedia:Notability (fiction).

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Merging should be avoided if:

  1. the resulting article would be too long or "clunky";
  2. the separate topics could be expanded into longer standalone (but cross-linked) articles;
  3. the pages are category or templates, which should be discussed at Categories for discussion and Templates for discussion respectively.

Procedure

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If the need for a merge is obvious, editors are encouraged to be bold and simply do it themselves. See how to merge below. Young or short articles and stubs that only differ in wording should be merged immediately. Longer articles that have been separate for a long time are usually be discussed first, especially if they are about controversial topics. If the merge is difficult to perform or is potentially controversial, you can request assistance and feedback at the Proposed article mergers noticeboard.

While bold merges may be reverted entirely, the process and the discussion after the revert results in better articles. To start a merge discussion, perform the following steps.

Step 1: Create a discussion

{{#invoke:Shortcut|main}}This is usually done on the proposed destination page's talk page. For example, if suggesting that Source page be merged into Destination page, create a proposal in a new section at Talk:Destination page. If the destination does not exist, do not create its talk page.

Start a new section and include the list of the affected pages and a merge rationale. For example:

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">== Merge proposal == I propose merging SOURCEPAGES into DESTINATIONPAGE. I think the content in SOURCEPAGE can easily be explained in the context of this article, and merging them would not cause any article-size or weighting problems. ~~~~</syntaxhighlight>

If the merge proposal was incorrectly started on the source's talk page, and the proposed destination is unambiguous and exists, any editor can move the proposal to the talk page of the destination, to increase its visibility. Use the Template:Tl and Template:Tl templates.

Optionally, you can notify contributors to the pages involved. One way is to ping them in a comment on the merge proposal, such as Template:Tlx Notifying contributors to the articles. ~~~~. Alternatively, create a new topic on those users' talk pages with Template:Tlx. Respect neutrality when making invitations to participate in the discussion; selectively notifying editors is not allowed.

Step 2: Tag the relevant pages

{{#invoke:Shortcut|main}}To propose merging:

  • two articles together: place Template:Tlx at the top of the source page, and Template:Tlx at the top of the proposed destination article or section.
    • If you don't already know which article should be merged and which should remain, place Template:Tlx on both pages.
  • many articles into an existing article: place Template:Tlx on all the source pages, and Template:Tlx on the destination article.
  • many articles into a page that doesn't exist yet: place Template:Tlx on each source page.

Always use the Template:Para parameter to link to the same discussion. Otherwise, two separate discussions could take place. If the parameter is not specified, the notices lead to the top of each article's talk page. In Template:Tl, Template:Tl, it always leads to the destination talk page, but it is still preferable to link to a specific section of the talk page. (When proposing a cross-namespace merge, these templates won't work.)

Step 3: Discuss the merge

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Make sure to follow standard talk page guidelines and be clear and concise. Usually, a hybrid discussion/straw poll is used, but remember that polling is not a substitute for discussion. Example:

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">

  • Merge – The article is too short. ~~~~
  • Don't merge – The subject is notable. ~~~~

</syntaxhighlight>

Step 4: Determine consensus and close the merge discussion

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During discussion, a rough consensus may emerge to proceed with the merge. Any user, including the user who first proposed the merge, may close the discussion and move forward with the merge if enough time (normally one week or more) has elapsed and there has been no discussion or if there is almost unanimous consensus to merge. Closing of merge discussions differs from closing of requested move discussions in that closings of uncontroversial merge discussions by involved users are allowed. Admin tools are not needed unless page protection prohibits editing.

In more unclear, controversial cases, the determination that a consensus to merge has or has not been achieved should be made by an editor who is neutral and not directly involved in the merge proposal or the discussion. The discussion can be listed at the Proposed article mergers noticeboard to attract the attention of more editors. If necessary, you can request that an uninvolved editor close the discussion at the Closure requests noticeboard. Template:Anchor If a consensus is formed against the merge shortly after it was performed, it can easily be reversed.

To close a merge proposal discussion, the Template:Tl and Template:Tl templates are used. After closing the merge proposal discussion, remove all the Template:Tl templates from the source and destination pages.

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">== Merge proposal == Template:Discussion top

I propose merging ...

Rest of the discussion...

Template:Discussion bottom</syntaxhighlight>

  • If there is consensus to merge, add the Template:Tl template to the source and destination pages:Template:Pb<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">

Template:Being merged</syntaxhighlight>

  • If there is consensus against merging or no consensus, you can optionally place the Template:Tl template on the corresponding talk page:Template:Pb<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">

Template:Old merge</syntaxhighlight>

Step 5: Perform the merge

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The main reason that the merge backlog includes thousands of articles is because the people who support the merge neglect to undertake this final step. Any editor, including the editor who originally proposed the merge, is permitted to perform a merge in accordance with consensus. Merging pages does not require intervention from an administrator. To merge articles, follow the steps below.

  1. Copy all or some of the content from the source page and paste the content in an appropriate location at the destination page. If the source page contains any good content, copy it over instead of just redirecting it. Remove the Template:Tlx or Template:Tlx templates from the article. Publish the edit, leaving an edit summary similar to the one below (linking to the source article is required by copyright):
    <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>Merged content from SOURCEPAGE. See Talk:DESTINATIONPAGE#Merge proposal.</syntaxhighlight>
    Ideally, do any necessary rearranging and copyediting in a separate edit, to simplify attribution. Copy and paste the content to transfer and immediately publish the page with the edit summary above, even if it duplicates some parts. (You can place Template:Tl or Template:Tl to let editors know you're currently working on it.) Then, edit the page a second time to clean it up.
  2. Redirect the source page whose content was just merged. To do this more quickly, you can install the easy-merge script and follow the instructions on its documentation. To do it manually, replace everything in the source page with:
    <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>#REDIRECT DESTINATIONPAGE </syntaxhighlight>Template:Tlx
    Or, if you merged the content to a section:
    <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>#REDIRECT DESTINATIONPAGE#Section </syntaxhighlight>Template:Tlx
    Then publish your changes, using an edit summary such as:
    <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>Merged content to DESTINATIONPAGE. See Talk:DESTINATIONPAGE#Merge proposal.</syntaxhighlight>
  3. Reconcile talk page tags. If the source page has a talk page:
    • Move any previously added Template:Tlx and Template:Tlx templates to the destination page's talk page.
    • Reconcile the various Template:Tlx templates: copy them from the source page to the destination and remove duplicates (look out for alternative templates; e.g. Template:Tlx is the same as Template:Tlx).
  4. (Optional) Tag the talk pages with the relevant templates, for posterity. This action is perfomed automatically when using the easy-merge script. To do it manually, place Template:Tlx atop the destination's talk page and Template:Tlx atop the source's talk page.
    However, do not add them if the merge is the result of an AfD discussion and the Template:Template link template is already on the destination's talk page.
    Experienced users can alternatively add Template:Tlx to the top of both talk pages. This is especially useful to replace many similar merge tags and collapse them into one.
  5. (Optional) Fix any double redirects found at Special:WhatLinksHere. A bot does this automatically, but it may take a day or two.
  6. Check for non-free images (or other files). Examples: a book cover, a poster, a logo, etc. The description page of such an image will have a red copyright icon and a non-free use rationale (a summary box with Non-free use rationale in the title, or a Fair use section) – the article title mentioned in such a rationale should be updated. This is required under the non-free content criteria.

Note 1: Most merged articles are not good candidates for merging of page version histories because they have been edited in parallel and the collation of their edit states would create unhelpful and/or misleading diffs. In most cases, requests for a history merge should not be submitted.

Merge as a result of a deletion discussion

{{#invoke:Shortcut|main}} Template:Redirect In Articles for deletion discussions, editors may suggest that the articles nominated for deletion be merged to an appropriate article as an alternative to deletion. If there is a rough consensus for a merge at the end of a deletion discussion, the following template is placed at the top of the nominated article: <syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">Template:Tlx</syntaxhighlight>

Similarly, this template is placed on the destination article's talk page:

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext"> Template:Tlx </syntaxhighlight> This informs users involved in those pages that content is to be merged as a result of a deletion discussion. It is the involved editors' job, not the closing editors' job, to perform the merge. Proceed in the manner described above. See also Wikipedia:Merge what?, an essay encouraging not to just vote "merge" in AfD discussions.

See also

Template:Merge progress

Template:Merge backlog

Merge templates

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{{Wikipedia:Template index/Merging/List|only merge=y|noheading=Y}} Template:PAM templates

Template:Reflist Template:Help navigation

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