Wikipedia:WikiProject_Merge

Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge

Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge

For proposing article mergers {{merge}}, see WP:PM. For proposing category mergers {{cfm}}, see WP:CFD. For proposing template mergers {{tfm}}, see WP:TFD.
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December 2023264
January 2024344
February 2024359
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April 2024256
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Welcome to
WikiProject Merge

Several Wikipedians have formed this collaboration resource and group dedicated to improving the merging process. This page and its subpages contain their suggestions and various resources; it is hoped that this project will help to focus the efforts of other Wikipedians interested in the merge process. If you would like to help, please join the project, inquire on the talk page and see the to-do list below.

The main project focus at this time is reducing the articles to be merged backlog!

Scope

Goals

WikiProject Merge needs your help! You can assist by merging a random article from the backlog, by clicking the icon below.

Help contribute. Become a member!
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Guidelines

Main page: Wikipedia:Merging

A merge is a process by which the content of two pages are united on one page for one or more of the following reasons:

  • Unnecessary duplication of content
  • Significant overlap with the topic of another page
  • Minimal content that could be covered in or requires the context of a page on a broader topic.

A copy paste merge creates "attribution dependency". To license the content from the originating article you must, at minimum, provide a direct link to the original article in the edit summary of the page where content is being placed. You should also place the {{Copied}} tag on the originating article as well as the target article.

Merging should be avoided if the articles are sufficiently distinct to stand on their own and the resulting article will be too long or "clunky"; the separate topics could be expanded into longer standalone (but cross-linked) articles; the topics are discrete subjects and deserve their own articles even though they may be short.

If you need direction for making a new merge proposal see Wikipedia:Proposed mergers. On Wikipedia, articles may be boldly merged without any proposal taking place, though it is recommended where the merge is expected to be controversial. If you boldly merge an article and it is reverted, this should be considered part of the BOLD, revert, discuss cycle and not undone until discussion takes place—do not edit war.

Merge procedure

Main page: Wikipedia:Merging § Proposing a merge

Listing and Delisting

A merge is listed once a tag is placed on the article, such as {{Merge}} or {{Merge to}}. Removing the tag delists the article. Never remove a proposed merge tag unless you are intending to delist the article and only do so when all issues have been addressed. If the proposer of the merge did not start a discussion for the merge, and it is not obvious why the articles should be merged, it is acceptable to remove the tags. If the reason for the merge is obvious, you can either merge the articles boldly, or start a new discussion.

Editors should always close a proposal uncontroversially. Complex cases can be referred to the project's talk page. Merging an article where there was a consensus-based decision to do so at an AfD discussion that has been closed by an administrator is not controversial, and may be undertaken with no further discussion or closing procedure.

Stale merge proposals

If there has been no discussion generated after a reasonable amount of time then the merge proposal is stale. If there are no active AfD, ANI, or other dispute resolution discussions involving any of the affected pages (see below), stale merge proposals with no discussion after six months should be immediately delisted if any of the following apply:

  • The merge has been completed already.
  • Either the target or destination article has been deleted.
  • Either the target or destination article is a redirect to a different topic. (This does not include redirects for capitalization, spelling or formatting)
  • The merge discussion doesn't name both articles to be merged. (Close the discussion as void due to confusion about what articles are involved)
  • The tags propose a merge from a very narrow topic to a very wide topic, or vice versa (Example - merging Killdeer, North Dakota to United States)
  • The tags propose merging a biography to another biography without justification. This almost never makes sense, and there is a strong burden of proof on the proposer.
  • The article qualifies for speedy delete. Redirect it to a logical target if there is one, otherwise nominate for speedy deletion.
  • The article faced an articles for deletion discussion while the merge tag was on the page and not a single user proposed the merge in the discussion. Be sure to check the article history to make sure the merge tag was there during the deletion discussion.

If the articles listed for merge meet the above standards then you may simply remove the tags as a stale merge/old proposal with no consensus. No merging takes place. Otherwise, you may participate in the discussion if you have an opinion on the merits of the proposed merge, or consider closing the discussion according to merge discussion closing procedures.

Merging content

To carry out the merge, be sure and follow the steps as laid out by Wikipedia:Merging#How to merge.

Editing and merging during disputes

Editors should not merge content during an AFD. AfD participants should not work "around" consensus by beginning a merge process on their own, before discussion. While preservation of content is a good consideration, copying may be contentious and may create additional steps and administrative work if undoing any copying is necessary. Such a merge also causes an attribution dependency breakage between articles that may require the merging of article history that would be lost if the source page is deleted. AFD participants may offer proposals and negotiate with the other participants during the discussion. If needed, editors may ask the closing admin how to rescue the content or what additional steps that need to be taken.

Using reference merge

Any editor may add contents and references if the prose used is completely original. In this manner the merged content is not merely copied and pasted but all original content makes use of the available references (see Wikipedia:EDITATAFD). Rather than merging, the content can be rewritten. In this case, there is no attribution problems as the content is new. However, one should exercise extreme caution BEFORE undertaking such a controversial merge. While it is not strictly prohibited, Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge recommends that all editors refrain from such tasks in the spirit of collaboration. Unless there is a strong case for the merge specified by deletion policy it is preferred that editors wait until the discussion period is complete.

Closing merge discussion

Closing merge proposals to begin merging

From Help:Merging

If there is clear agreement with the proposal by consensus, or if there is silence, after the debate has been open for at least two weeks, proceed with the merge. Before merging, it is recommended that you refer to this, which applies to merge targets as well as redirect targets.

Archive a proposed merge

To provide clarity that the merge discussion is over and that a consensus has been reached, it may be important to close and then archive the proposal discussion. To close a merge proposal discussion, indicate the outcome at the top. If the merge is particularly controversial, one may take the optional step of requesting closure by an uninvolved administrator at Wikipedia:Administrators' noticeboard/Requests for closure.

To archive a merge proposal discussion, a {{Discussion top}} template is generally placed between the header and the top of the discussion and a {{Discussion bottom}} template will need to be placed at the bottom of the discussion.

Here is an example of how to archive a merge proposal discussion:

== Header ==
{{Discussion top|1=The result was '''merge''' into DESTINATION PAGE. -- ~~~~}}
Hi, I would like to discuss...
{{Discussion bottom}}

You can also place the {{oldmergefull}} template at the top of the talk pages of the articles proposed to be merged.

AFD consensus to merge/redirects have been Admin closed and do not reguire further closing procedure. These may be merged and redirected with no further tasks required or associated with the merge.

Performing the merge

Performing the merge

From Help:Merging

For information on moving pages, see Help:Moving a page.
Shortcut

There are two basic types of merge; which to use depends on how much content of the source page you want to keep:

Also remember that almost all article pages have a talk page. To avoid losing quick access to that historical discussion, a link to the source article's talk-page should be placed at the top of the destination article's talk-page, such as:
Article merged: See old talk-page [[talk:PAGENAME|here]]
or use Template:Copied:
{{Copied|from=source|from_oldid=source|to=destination|diff=|date=}}

Actions which must be performed for both merge types
See also: Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia
  1. After copying the content, save the destination page with an edit summary noting merge content from [[SOURCEPAGE]] (This step is required in order to conform with Wikipedia's licensing requirements. Do not omit it nor omit the page name.)
  2. Delete all the text from the source page and replace it with #REDIRECT [[DESTINATIONPAGE]] {{R from merge}}, save the source page with an edit summary noting merge content to [[DESTINATIONPAGE]]
Full-content paste merge

Full-content paste merge

From Help:Merging

Shortcut
  1. Open the source and destination pages in two separate edit windows/tabs.
  2. Cut/paste the entire content from the source page into the destination page and remove the {{mergefrom}} tag.
  3. 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.)
  4. Delete all the text from the source page and replace it with #REDIRECT [[PAGENAME]] {{R from merge}}, note the merge (including the page name) in the edit summary, and save the page.
  5. 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.
  6. Save the destination page. (Edit summary of "cleanup after paste/merge" is appropriate.)
  7. Optional: 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.
    • This is only necessary if an old redirect needs to be retargeted. If you do not to do this, a bot will usually fix it in a day or two.
  8. Add {{Copied|from=source|to=destination|diff=permanent diff}} 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.
  9. Do not ask for a history merge between the two articles. See this link for the reason

Performing a merge in this manner is beneficial when you want to include all the content from both articles in the article history of the final article.

Selective paste merge

Selective paste merge

From Help:Merging

Shortcut
  1. Open the source and destination pages in two separate edit windows/tabs.
  2. Cut/paste the non-redundant content from the source page into the destination page.
  3. Be sure to remove the {{mergefrom}} tag from the destination page before previewing
  4. Preview and edit the destination page until it looks good and consistent.
  5. 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.
  6. Save both, and note the merge (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.)
  7. Optional: 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.
    • This is only necessary if an old redirect needs to be retargeted. If you do not to do this, a bot will usually fix it in a couple of days
  8. Add {{Copied|from=source|to=destination|diff=permanent diff}} 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.
  9. Do not ask for a history merge between the two articles. See this link for the reason

Performing a merge in this manner is beneficial when the source document includes a great deal of material that is not needed in the final article.

Redirecting

Once the content is merged do not forget to blank the originating page and add:

  • #REDIRECT [[PAGENAME]] {{R from merge}}

Attribution of originating content

Further information: Wikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia

At minimum, attribution must be provided in the edit summary of the page into which content is placed. This step is required in order to conform with Wikipedia's licensing requirements. Do not omit it nor omit the page name. It is important to remember, once a merge has been made and the redirect set or even when a redirect is not set in place, to add this template on both the target and originating article talkpage and fill out completely:

{{Copied |from= |from_oldid= |to= |diff= }}

See the Template:Copied documentation for instructions.

Help contribute. Become a member!

2 people Participants

Please feel free to add yourself here, and indicate any areas of particular interest.
Please post new entries at the end of the list.

  1. Markvs88 (talk · contribs) (I am going to start with all merges beginning with the letter "M"... for no particularly good reason!) 20:28, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
  2. Ebe123 (talk · contribs) Overpopulated backlog. ~~Ebe123~~ → report 20:40, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
  3. Mark Miller (talk · contribs) This user has merged 1 article from the February articles for merger list Drakula (1920 film)
  4. Extra999 (talk · contribs) going to help and keep this project going 03:32, 28 February 2012 (UTC)
  5. Cerebellum (talk · contribs) - Working on AfD merges. --Cerebellum (talk) 01:02, 8 March 2012 (UTC)
  6. Wikishagnik (talk · contribs) - Working Merge and wikify tags
  7. OlEnglish (talk · contribs) - Certainly support this project and will try to help when I have time.
  8. Thegreatgrabber (talk · contribs) - Work on some random things, applying templates, just help along.
  9. Gsingh (talk · contribs) - I have begun merging articles starting from Feb 2009, will work on articles of any topic. Gsingh (talk) 04:28, 25 April 2012 (UTC)
  10. Coastside (talk · contribs) - Interested in working on scientific articles
  11. BDD (talk · contribs) I like working on the full backlog rather than the AfD one, where there are many simple fixes, including stale tags and discussions just waiting to be closed.
  12. Wbm1058 (talk · contribs) I operate User:Merge bot, which updates Wikipedia:Proposed mergers/Log; Longer term project: analyzing procedures in search of improvements to alleviate the backlog here.
  13. GenQuest (talk · contribs) I have been working on mergers (through the PM noticeboard) since October 2012. I have been doing a bunch of the Afds also, since the backlog has grown to over 125. I try to do a copyedit on the finished product whenever my editing time allows. GenQuest "Talk to Me" 22:52, 29 January 2013 (UTC)
  14. --NickPenguin(contribs) 01:22, 25 February 2013 (UTC)
  15. Skr15081997 (talk · contribs) I had done more than 50 mergers last year, and I am already a member of Mergist Association . Skr15081997 (talk) 17:16, 15 January 2014 (UTC)
  16. Iamozy (talk) 02:29, 6 February 2014 (UTC) Interested in science, especially, biology, neurology, and medicine.
  17. P199 (talk · contribs) (Working on long-overdue dead or stale merges. Have been working on this sporadically for the last few years already...) 21:16, 3 March 2014 (UTC)
  18. Capankajsmilyo (talk · contribs · count)
  19. Klbrain (talk · contribs), particularly Pharmacology and Medicine. I'm working on old merge proposals.
  20. Onel5969 (talk · contribs), will try to help out as I can. Came here through the AfD merge backlog.Onel5969 TT me 21:40, 24 April 2016 (UTC)
  21. Serial Number 54129 (talk · contribs) Anything except lists, which seem extra complicated.
  22. Kvng (talk · contribs), 21 June 2016
  23. Adityavagarwal (talk) 18:29, 21 February 2017 (UTC)
  24. Sophie means wisdom (talk · contribs)
  25. AmericanAir88 (talk) 01:50, 6 November 2017 (UTC)
  26. Million_Moments (talk) 12:10, 13 July 2018 (UTC)
  27. BRES2773 (talk · contribs) Will really work on anything.
  28. Path slopu (talk · contribs)14:28, 23 September 2018 (UTC)
  29. Samee (talk · contribs) 20:10, 18 March 2019 (UTC)
  30. Trialpears (talk · contribs) Hoping to reduce the backlog and discuss potential improvements to the process. Trialpears (talk) 10:08, 20 April 2019 (UTC)
  31. Robertsky (talk · contribs) Willing to help in any way possible. robertsky (talk) 14:07, 20 September 2019 (UTC)
  32. Newslinger (talk · contribs) 08:23, 22 October 2019 (UTC)
  33. MarcMyWords (talk · contribs · count)
  34. WikiAviator (talk · contribs) 04:42, 6 April 2020 (UTC)
  35. TimothyBlue as part of NPP and AfD.   // Timothy :: talk  14:14, 24 October 2020 (UTC)
  36. Tsistunagiska (talk · contribs) If I offer both hands to help then it will keep me out of trouble. A concept my brothers will agree I need to do more often. So here I am. --ARoseWolf 17:19, 22 April 2021 (UTC)
  37. Felix QW (talk · contribs) Will help where I can, when I can.
  38. Karthanitesh (talk) 00:44, 19 January 2022 (UTC)
  39. Joyous! | Talk 02:35, 8 November 2022 (UTC) I love chipping away at a backlog. I've settled in working on the articles whose AfD discussions concluded with a "merge" consensus.
  40. Mooonswimmer (talk · contribs) I have tons of free time, a great portion of which I devote to Wikipedia. Tackling backlogs and doing tedious maintenance work sounds quite appealing to me!
  41. Kautilyalundit (talk · contribs) As an uninvolved editor, I can help to merge articles with proper procedures.
  42. Lililolol (talk · contribs)Im still learning. 01:14, 22 April 2023 (UTC)
  43. Queen of Hearts ❤️ (no relation) 02:37, 23 November 2023 (UTC)
  44. Robertjamal12 (talk · contribs) Robertjamal12 ~🔔 14:35, 21 February 2024 (UTC)
  45. Choucas Bleu (talk · contribs) No preferences, but happy to help! Choucas Bleu (T·C) 17:24, 12 March 2024 (UTC)

Inactive

  1. Quasihuman (talk · contribs) (I plan on working on closing merge discussions and doing simple merges. Also interested in working out new ways of streamlining the system.) 23:03, 25 February 2012 (UTC)
  2. Intwizs (talk · contribs) Badam.. tsss (drum sounds)
  3. Dondegroovily (talk · contribs) still grinding thru them 21:34, 27 February 2012 (UTC)
  4. The_mobot (talk · contribs) - Working on merge - going to try and get as much of it done as I can
  5. Khatie Lou (talk · contribs) - Will work on random articles to merge.
  6. DoctorKubla (talk · contribs) - I'll do what I can.
  7. Karl.brown (talk · contribs) - I'm still learning... 05:27, 5 April 2012 (UTC)
  8. Kelpso1 (talk · contribs) - I'll do as much as I can starting right now. 05:47, 11 April 2012 (UTC)
  9. Dark Silver Crow (talk · contribs) - Working on random articles to merge when able.
  10. Logical1004 (talk · contribs) Working on dead, or Indian election related or Physics related merges. Logical1004 (talk) 17:40, 24 March 2014 (UTC)
  11. MartinZ02 (talk · contribs)
  12. NewYorkActuary (talk · contribs) 14:59, 29 June 2016 (UTC)
  13. nerdgoonrant (talk · contribs) 24 Aug 2017
  14. The Duke of Nonsense (talk · contribs) 20:26, 30 July 2018 (BST)
  15. Pcamellon (talk · contribs) (I am interested in working on articles realted to technology, science music, computer science and electronics. Maybe other topics but these are my prefered ones.19:31, 24 October 2018 (UTC)
  16. kashmorwiki (talk · contribs)Hoping to reduce the backlog Kashmorwiki (talk) 17:13, 17 October 2020 (UTC)

Open tasks

More information Bot-reported errors for manual correction, Page ...

Categories

More information To display all subcategories click on the "►": ...
More information To display all subcategories click on the "►": ...

Tagged articles

This section is updated by Merge bot.

Milestones

  • 16,000 to be merged: March 2, 2012
  • 15,000 to be merged: May 7, 2012
  • 14,000 to be merged: June 16, 2012
  • 11,500 to be merged: January 9, 2014
  • 12,400 to be merged: November 26, 2015
  • 9,600 to be merged: December 12, 2016
  • 5,861 to be merged: July 1, 2018
  • 4,626 to be merged: October 7, 2018
  • 3,000 to be merged: May 2, 2020
  • 2,000 to be merged: December 1, 2022

Templates

More information Tag, Text that will be shown (and usage notes) ...
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User box templates

{{User WikiProject Merge}} produces:
{{User merge}} produces:
{{User mergist}} produces:
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Talk page templates

The following template can be placed along with other project banners. Rate the article for class and importance to project. This template also has the additional attribution template added to be used on each page after merge.

  • {{WikiProject Merge Copied}}
produces:
WikiProject iconMerge
This page is within the scope of WikiProject Merge, an attempt to reduce the articles to be merged backlog and improve the merging process. If you wish to help, you can edit the page attached to this talk page, or visit the project page, where you can join the project and/or contribute to the discussion.MergeWikipedia:WikiProject MergeTemplate:WikiProject MergeMerge articles

which contains contents copied from:

{{Copied}}

This template goes on the merge article talk page and target article project listings

  • {{Merge done}}
produces:

  checkY Merger complete.

If a nomination for deletion results in a merge with delete, add:

  • {{afd-merged-from}}

For a list of all merge templates, go to Category:Merge templates or Wikipedia:Template messages/Merging.

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Barnstars for WikiProject

This barnstar could be given to a prolific merger or a user who has contributed significantly to the project. It is the official barnstar for this project.

{{subst:WikiProject Merge Barnstar|Message}}

produces:

The Merging Barnstar
Message Here


Logo of Association of Mergist Wikipedians
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