Skip to top
Skip to bottom
Link=Wikipedia:Project Merge
Link=Wikipedia:Project Merge
DEMYSTIFYING MERGERS ONE ARTICLE AT A TIME ...

Also, see my copy and paste Common Editing Templates

Merger Request Notification & Discussion Banners edit

1) Install one of the following BANNERS to the Top section of the involved articles (just highlight and copy/paste):


  • On target, or destination, article (the one you're adding to):


{{mergefrom |{name of source article}| discuss=Talk:{name of target article}#Merger proposal| date=[month/year format] }}


  • On source article (the one which is being deleted):
{{mergeto |{name of target article}| discuss=Talk:{name of target article}#Merger proposal| date=[month/year format] }}

2) Install these on the articles, then create a discussion section only at the Target article's Talk Page (since a merge discussion at the other talk page would be hidden if the merger proceeds):


  • Call it something like Merger proposal (or Merge discussion of June 2021, or something just as simple); but be sure it's the same spelling you used in both of the banners (above).
  • On Target Talk Page start the discussion by highlighting and copy/pasting these lines:
==Merger proposal==
[[File:Merge-arrows.svg|25px|frameless|left]] [[Wikipedia:Proposed mergers#MERGE REQUESTS|Formal request has been received to merge]]: '''[[{name of source article}]]''' into '''[[{name of target article}]]'''; dated: {month/year}. Proposer's Rationale: ''{not stated}.'' Discuss here. ~~~~
(and, if given, state proposer's rationale).


Merging Process Templates edit

This is current Good Practice for Merging. After the content moves are made, you will need to copy, paste and focus the emboldened lines below. Replace the italicized with specific information from your Merge/Redirect:

1.–On the newly combined article page's Edit Summary at a minimum
Merged content from [[~source page~]] to here per [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge]]


  • or,


Merged content from [[~source page~]] to here. (See [[Talk:~destination page~#Proposed merger]])



2.–Replace the Entire Contents of the source page with


#REDIRECT [[~destination page~]] {{this is a redirect|from Merge}} (replaces {{R from Merge}} )


  • or, if most of the content moved into a SINGLE SECTION of the target page:


#REDIRECT [[~destination page~#~section name~]]
{{Redirect category shell|1=
{{this is a redirect|from Merge|to Section}}
}}

–or alternately:

{{this is a redirect|from Merge}}{{R to anchor}} (alternate for {{R from Merge}}{{R to Section}}) if an anchor template has been used.


  • {{Redr|from abbreviation}}
  • {{R from album}}
  • {{R from birth name}}
  • {{R from book}}
  • {{R comics with possibilities}}
  • {{R from historic name}}
  • {{Redr|high}}
  • {{R to list}}
  • {{R to list entry}}
  • {{R from maiden name}}
  • {{R from married name}}
  • {{R from other capitalization}}
  • {{R from other disambiguation}}
  • {{R from person}}
  • {{R from predecessor company name}}
  • {{R from school}}
  • {{R from short name}}
  • {{R from song}}
  • {{R with possibilities}}
  • {{R from writers}}
  • {{R from unnecessary disambiguation}}
  • {{}}
  • {{}}
  • {{}}
  • {{R printworthy}}</br>{{DEFAULTSORT: }}
  • {{R unprintworthy}}</br>{{DEFAULTSORT: }}


Other Redirect Explanation Templates

3.–On the newly blanked (redirected) article page's Edit Summary add


Merged and Redirected to [[~destination page~]] per [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge]].
  • or
Merged content to [[~destination page~#~section name~]]. See [[Talk:~destination page~#Merge proposal>]]


4.–On the same line as the Target Section sub-header (title) that the old article now points to, add


<!-- Anchor for redirect from: ["~article name~"] article; caution with changes. -->


  • or, alternatively you can use this (new) template (placed at the beginning of a paragraph of text):


{{anchor|"~redirected article name~"}}



5.– If time permits, Tag the Talk Pages* (a Bot will do this if you don't)



{{Rcat shell| {{R from merge}} {{R with history}} }}


  • The Destination (target) Talk-Page is tagged with (optional):


{{merged-from|~source page~|date= }} * –or– {{Copied|}} *

  • The Source Talk-Page which has discussion content, should have the following placed (without removing the old discussions, but replacing all other templates; including most project assessment templates (some projects want to keep these—they will correct if necessary). The exception is the archive index):


{{merged-to|~destination page~|date= }} *

  • NOTE: Place these tags at the top of the talk pages.


Merger Discussion Area Setup on target talk pages edit

Preferred method
==Merger proposal==

[[File:Merge-arrows.svg|50px|frameless|left]] [[Wikipedia:Proposed mergers#MERGE REQUESTS|Formal request has been received to merge]]: [[{name of source article}]] into [[{name of target article}]]; dated: {month/year}. Proposer's Rationale: {not stated}. Discuss here. ~~~~


One can include the article stats for high traffic and B-rated or better articles with the following:

==Merger proposal==

[[File:Merge-arrows.svg|50px|frameless|left]] There is a request for the merger of the {{la|~source article name~}} article into {{la|~target article name~}}. Input is welcomed below. ~~~~


Simple method
==Merger proposal==

Received request to merge the [[~source article~]] article into the [[~target article~]] article on {~date~}. Reason: <I>{None given}</I>. Discuss it here. ~~~~


[Optional] Notification to article creator or heavy contributors edit

Let the page creator and any major editor(s) of the article know what's happening by copying and placing the following notice on their Talk Page:


== Merge discussion notice==
<!--- Template:M–Notice top -->
[[File:Merge-arrows.svg|50px|frameless|left]] An article that you have been involved in editing, r.e.: [[~article~]], has been '''proposed for a [[Wikipedia:Merging|merge]]''' with another article. If you are interested in the merge discussion, please participate by going [[Talk:~article~|>>>here<<<]], and adding your comments on the discussion page. Thank you. ~~~~
<!--- Template:M–Notice bottom -->


Discussion relisted edit

:<div style="height: 20px;width: 900px; overflow:auto; border: medium solid orange; background: #eeccee">* Discussion relisted at noticeboard and is awaiting additional input here. <small>~~~~</small></div>

gives:


* Discussion relisted at noticeboard and is awaiting additional input here. GenQuest "scribble" 23:27, 16 March 2023 (UTC)


Note for Noticeboard: additional input was requested edit

:::<small class="merger-notice">Note: Requested additional input from [[Wikipedia:WikiProject ~name~]]. ~~~~</small>

or

:<!-- Begin Template:Request --> *<small><span style="color:#FF4F00;">:'''''[[~WikiProject:Name~]]'' has been notified to help generate additional comments to the above Merger Request(s).'''</span> Thanks, ~~~~</small><br /><hr style="width:90%;" /><!-- End Template:Relist -->

gives:


*:~WikiProject:Name~ has been notified to help generate additional comments to the above Merger Request(s). Thanks, GenQuest "scribble" 17:38, 5 March 2021 (UTC)


Note for Project Talk Page: additional input was requested edit

==Merger proposal== [[File:Merge-arrows.svg|50px|frameless|left]] Received request to merge the [[{source article name} ]] article into the [[{target article name}]] article on {any date form}. Reason: <I>text</I>. Discuss it <u>'''[[{target article talk page}#Merge proposal |>>>HERE<<<]]'''</u>. ~~~~


gives:


==Merger proposal==
Received request to merge the source article into the target article on {date}. Reason: reason here. Discuss it >>>HERE<<<. GenQuest "Talk to Me" 16:11, 10 July 2020 (UTC)


Merger Discussion archiving edit

Close the discussion by copying and pasting the following (as shown):


<div class="boilerplate" style="background-color: #cff; margin: 2em 0 0 0; padding: 
0 10px 0 10px; border: 1px dotted #aaa;"> <center> :The following discussion is an archived discussion of a '''''[[Wikipedia:Proposed mergers |Merge Proposal]]''''' and / or '''''[[Wikipedia:Redirect |Redirect]].''''' <span style="color:red" "font:bold">'''Please do not modify it.''' </span></br> The result of the request for the Proposed Merger of {requested article} into this talk page's article was: <!--{remove the two mask tags for this sentence and two of the following results:}
''''''''Not Done—No Consensus to Merge'''.'''Consensus Reached–Awaiting Merge'''.
''' Completed per Request''''''''.--></br>— — — — —</center>
[discussion] 
<center>—  —  —  —  — <br>  The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a [[WP:PM]].  
<span style="color:red" "font:bold">Please do not modify it. </span></br>
Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.  
 ~~~~</br></center>
<small>A copy of this template can be found [[User:GenQuest/Merge|here]].
</small></div>
<!-- Template:RM bottom -->
Gives the following output:
The following discussion is an archived discussion of a Merger Proposal and Redirect. Please do not modify it.
Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the target talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.
The result of the Proposed Merger of {requested article} to here was: Not Done — No Consensus to Merge. Consensus Reached – Awaiting Merge. Completed per Request.

[discussion]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested merge. Please do not modify it.
Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section. User User Talk
A copy of this template can be found here


Alternate close with summary box edit

{{Archive top |result = ''Agree to/Reject merging of {~/~/~} article(s) as per [[wp:~reason~]].  Non-Administrative closure--'' ~~~~ 
|status =  closed}}
[discussion] 
{{Archive bottom}}


Gives the following output:

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


[discussion]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.


Move misplaced discussion area edit

⇔ <small>This is a discussion regarding a merge to another page, and has been transposed to the talk-page of the target article to better preserve the comments in the event the merge proceeds.</small> §
Additional comments should be made at [[Talk:{target article}#Merger proposal]], not here. Thank you. ~~~~


Discussion Moved notification button edit

Placing a button on the source article's talk page pointing to the moved discussion (on the talk page of the target article). Note: You will have to copy the entire merge discussion itself over to the target article talk page by copy/paste, and then close the old discussion back at the source talk page so it doesn't receive additional comments.

{{discussion-moved|talk:<target page name>}}
gives (example):


Administrators' notice board close= edit

Please don't forget to mark the {{Initiated}} template with " |done=yes " when you mark the discussion as  Done.


Post-Merge attribution acknowledgement (edit summary) edit

Attribution only edit: A previous edit dated {~yyyy-mm-dd~} contained content copied from the Wikipedia page at {~SourceArticleName}; see that article's page history for attribution. (Additional information can be found at WP:RIA.)


Merge complete icon edit

{{merge done}}

gives

  checkY Merger complete.

Incomplete or Broken Mergers edit


<!--Template begin-->
It appears that your edit of //date//, (//edit summary details//) left an incomplete ''Merge and Redirect'' of the [[~article name~]] article and its talk page, [[Talk:~article name~]]. I have completed the Merge and Redirect for you. If you need help in the completion of [[Wikipedia:Merge|mergers]] in the future, please feel free to contact me. Thank you, ~~~~
<!--Template end-->


Merger / Mergist user-page self-identifiers edit

User box templates

{{User WikiProject Merge}} produces:
This user is a participant in
WikiProject Merge.
{{User merge}} produces:
merThis editor is a mergist.
{{User mergist}} produces:
This user is a member of the Association of Mergist Wikipedians.

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 WikiProject Merge Barnstar The Merging Barnstar
Message Here


'''*{{Split|~CurrentArticle (Article to be Kept & Moved)~|~RequestedNewArticle (to be Created)~|date=October 2018|discuss=Talk:Stagg Field#Split}}''' ~~~