Tagging multiple pages
When proposing that more than two pages be merged, it helps to be as informative as possible.Add the following template to the top of each source page:
{{Merge|OtherPage1|OtherPage2|OtherPage3|target=<destination
page>|discuss=<merger discussion talk page section>|date=April
2017}}
Add the following template to the top of the destination page:
{{Merge from|OtherPage1|OtherPage2|OtherPage3|discuss=<merger discussion talk page section>|date=April 2017}}
Controversial mergers
More than 99% of merger proposals are handled directly by the editors involved in those articles. But if you believe that your proposal will be controversial, then please follow the directions at Wikipedia:Proposed mergers to request extra attention from uninvolved editors.Merger as a result of a deletion discussion
While mergers are generally not proposed from the onset of Articles for Deletion (AfD) discussions (also see Wikipedia:Deletion policy#Alternatives to deletion), it is not uncommon for editors, in an effort to mediate and/or compromise, to suggest that the article(s) nominated for deletion instead be merged to a parent article. If there is a rough consensus for a merger at the end of a deletion discussion, the following template is placed at the top of the nominated article:{{Afd-merge to|destination article|debate name|debate closure date}}
Similarly, the following template is placed on the destination article's talk page:
{{Afd-merge from|nominated article|debate name|debate closure date}}
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 administrators' job, to perform the merger. Proceed in the manner described above.
Merger proposed after a deletion discussion
Merge is one of the outcome options that can be considered at a deletion discussion. See WP:ATD-M. Deletion discussions generally reach a broader spectrum of editors than a particular talk page. As such, talk page merger requests proposed after a deletion discussion, such as at Articles for deletion, where the merge outcome option was raised by someone participating in the deletion discussion, should identify and overcome the reason(s) listed in the deletion discussion when requesting an action different from the outcome of that deletion discussion. This does not apply if a merge outcome option was not raised by someone participating in the deletion discussion. Alternatives to talk page merger requests that follow a deletion discussion include formally relisting the page for deletion through an appropriate deletion discussion venue or posting a request at Wikipedia:Deletion review.How to merge
For information on moving pages, see Help:Moving a page.
While some mergers can be done boldly, most others (as described above) require a rough consensus.There are two basic types of merger; which to use depends on how much content of the source page you want to keep:
- Full-content paste merger – most content, clean and fast
- Selective paste merger – some content, clean but slow
{{merged-from|source page name|date}}
.Perform the following steps to merge an article into another article:
- Copy all or some of the content from the source page(s) and paste
the content in an appropriate location at the destination page. Save
the edit, leaving the following edit summary (as required by the Creative Commons Share-alike 3.0 license):
-
Merged content from [[<source page>]] to here. See [[Talk:<merger discussion talk page section>]].
- Ideally, do any necessary copyediting and rearranging in a separate, second edit rather than when you first paste the moved text. (This two-step approach simplifies attribution for the license by separating your contributions from the material that was created at the other page.)
-
- Redirect the source page whose content was just merged by replacing everything with the following:
-
#REDIRECT [[<destination page>]] {{R from merge}}
- If the content was merged to a single section within the destination
page, it is recommended that the source page be redirected directly to
that section. In that case, replace everything with the following:
#REDIRECT [[<destination page>#<section name>]] {{R from merge}} {{R to section}}
- Save the page, leaving the following edit summary: (also required by the CC-BY-SA):
Merged content to [[<destination page>#<destination section, if applicable>]]. See [[Talk:<merger discussion talk page section>]].
-
- Reconcile talk page tags. If the source page has a talk page:
- Move all {{Merge-from}} and {{Copied}} templates to the destination page's talk page
- Reconcile {{WikiProject ....}} templates
with the destination talk page. In most cases, you must copy any
WikiProject template unique to the source page to the destination page.
Be on the lookout for alternative WikiProject templates. For example, if
the destination page has a {{WikiProject Software|Computing=yes}}, you need not copy a {{WikiProject Computing|Software=yes}} there. Once the copying is done, make sure the WikiProject templates for the source article have a
|class=redirect
parameter-value pair. (If they already have a|class=
parameter, change its value to "redirect"). This should be done even for WikiProjects that do not support a redirect class at this time.
- Tag the destination page's talk page with
{{merged-from|source page name|date}}
, and the source page's talk page with{{merged-to|destination page name|date}}
. Place these tags at the top of the talk pages.- As an alternative, experienced users can add
{{Copied|from=|from_oldid=|to=|to_oldid=|to_diff=|date=}}
to both talk pages. Place at the top of the talk pages.
- As an alternative, experienced users can add
- Fix any double redirects using Special:WhatLinksHere. A bot automatically fixes this problem but it may take a day or two.
- Check the merged content for non-free files. If any of these files are present, edit the non-free use rationales to replace the old article title with the new one. This is required under the non-free content criteria.
Full-content paste merger
![]() |
Full content merger in a nutshell: A full merger copies all the text from the source page. |
- Open the source and destination pages in two separate edit windows/tabs.
- Cut/paste the entire content from the source page into the destination page and remove the {{mergefrom}} tag.
- Save the destination page, with an edit summary noting
merged content from [[article name]]
(This step is required in order to conform with Wikipedia's licensing requirements. Do not omit it nor omit the page name.) - Delete all the text from the source page and replace it with
#REDIRECT [[NAME OF DESTINATIONPAGE]] {{R from merge}}
, note the merger (including the page name) in the edit summary, and save the page.- Note that some categories might not be appropriate for the target page and should be considered to be left on the redirect.
- Edit the destination page again and delete the redundant content, editing until it looks good and consistent. The destination can be tagged with {{In use}} temporarily to prevent edit conflicts.
- Save the destination page. (Edit summary of "cleanup after paste/merger" is appropriate.)
- Check "What links here" on the source page for double-redirects.
- Double-redirects will fail to link, and must be renamed to redirect to the current page name.[1]
- Add {{Merged-to}} and {{Merged-from}} onto the talk pages of the articles, specifying the corresponding article in each case. This not only helps clarify attribution at the destination, but helps prevent inadvertent later deletion of the source history. This step is optional but recommended.
- Afterwards, DO NOT ask for a history merger between the two articles. See this link for the reason
Selective paste merger
![]() |
Selective merger in a nutshell: A selective merger transfers only some of the text from the source page into the target article. |
- Open the source and destination pages in two separate edit windows/tabs.
- Cut/paste the non-redundant content from the source page into the destination page.
- Be sure to remove the {{mergefrom}} tag from the destination page before previewing
- Preview and edit the destination page until it looks good and consistent.
- Delete all the text from the source page and replace it with
#REDIRECT [[PAGENAME]] {{R from merge}}
.- Note that PAGENAME in the code above should be the title of the destination page.
- Note that some categories might not be appropriate for the target page and should be considered to be left on the redirect.
- Save both, and note the merger (including the page names) in the edit summaries. (This step is required in order to conform with Wikipedia's licensing requirements. Do not omit it nor omit the page name.)
- Check "What links here" on the source page for double-redirects.
- Double-redirects will fail to link, and must be renamed to redirect to the current page name.[1]
- Add
{{Copied|from=|from_oldid=|to=|to_oldid=|to_diff=|date=}}
onto the talk pages of both articles. This not only helps clarify attribution at the destination, but helps prevent inadvertent later deletion of the source history. This step is optional but recommended. - Afterwards, DO NOT ask for a history merger between the two articles. See this link for the reason
Pages to merge
- Current pages tagged for merging can be found at Category:Articles to be merged, which lists pages that have been tagged for merging on a particular month (tagging began in September 2006).
List of merger templates
Main page: Category:Merge templates
See also
Articles to be merged | |||
---|---|---|---|
|
|||
All articles | 8,105 |
- Category:All articles to be merged, containing all articles that need to be merged
- Category:Articles to be merged, containing articles that need to be merged, sorted by month
- Category:Merge templates, containing all possible merger templates that can alternatively be used in merger proposals
- Category:Redirects from merges, containing redirects resulting from completed mergers
- Wikipedia:Proposed mergers, to request assistance with merging
- Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge, a project initiated to clear merger backlog
- Wikipedia:Article size
- Wikipedia:Articles for merging, a failed proposal
- Wikipedia:Content forking
- Wikipedia:How to fix cut-and-paste moves
- Wikipedia:Requests for history merge
- Wikipedia:Merge and delete
- Wikipedia:Merge what?
- Wikipedia:Moving a page
- Wikipedia:Splitting
- Wikipedia:Template messages/Merging
Notes
- In order to prevent technical errors from occurring (a redirect that redirects back to itself, creating what's known as an infinite loop) the software fails to link any double redirects (read more at Wikipedia:Double redirects). Although it's a good idea to fix the most important ones if you can, any that you miss will eventually be fixed by automated scripts ("bots") later on.