Wikipedia:Merging
This is an information page. It is not an encyclopedic article, nor one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting. |
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 (but it might get reverted). Otherwise, the merge should be first proposed and discussed, as detailed below.
When performing a merge, one should remember to reconcile talk pages, and to attribute copied content, as required by Wikipedia's license. At minimum, this means adding words "Merged content to/from [[page]]" to edit summaries. See How to merge below for details.
Reasons for merging
There are several good reasons to merge pages:
- Duplicate: 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.
- Overlap: There are two or more pages on related subjects that have a large overlap and might be WP:REDUNDANT. Remember, that 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. Topics with the same name that are normally covered in a single article for example Greenland deals with both the country and island (which have similar boundaries) thus a Greenland (island) article can be merged with the "Greenland" country article, see Wikipedia:Semi-duplicate.
- Short 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.
- Insufficient 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.
- Context: 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).
Merging should be avoided if:
- The resulting article would be too long or "clunky",
- The separate topics could be expanded into longer standalone (but cross-linked) articles, or
- The topics are discrete subjects warranting their own articles, with each meeting the General Notability Guidelines, even if short.
Proposing a merge
If the need for a merge is obvious, editors can be bold and simply do it. See how to merge below. Bold merges may be reverted, even though they are labor-intensive to complete, but this edit process and civil discussion produces better articles. Articles that are young or short, such as stubs differing only in title and wording, should be merged immediately. Articles that have been separate for a long time should usually be discussed first, especially those on controversial topics.
To start a discussion, perform the following steps. If the merge is difficult to perform or seems potentially controversial, you should request assistance and feedback at Wikipedia:Proposed mergers.
Do not use the discussion procedure described here to propose:
- Category merges: Category merges should be requested at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion, which uses the separate {{cfm}} template.
- Template merges: Template merges should be requested at Wikipedia:Templates for discussion, which uses the separate {{tfm}} template.
Step 1: Create a discussion
This is usually done on the proposed destination page's talk page. Exceptions:
- If the destination does not exist, do not create its talk page (it could get speedily deleted).
- If a discussion exists already, do not move it (for example, having a discussion on the source page is acceptable).
For example, if suggesting that Foo be merged into Bar, create a proposal in a new section at Talk:Bar. Start a new section at the bottom of that talk page and include the proposal itself, the list of the affected pages, and a merge rationale. A good example is the following section:
== Merge proposal ==
I propose merging [[Foo]] into [[Bar]]. I think the content in Foo can easily be explained in the context of Bar, and a merge would not cause any article-size or [[WP:UNDUE|weighting]] problems in Bar.~~~~
Notify involved users (optional)
You may optionally notify involved users (e.g. contributors to the source and destination pages), who might not be watchlisting them. One way is to simply notify them directly from the merge discussion page:
{{ping|User1|User2|User3|...}}
Message text. ~~~~
Alternatively, go to those users' talk pages and start a new section. Make sure to provide a link to the merge discussion. You may use the following standard templates to leave a standard message:
{{subst:Mergenote|Foo|Talk:Bar#Merge proposal}}
Please respect neutrality when making invitations to participate in the merge discussion. Votestacking, that is, canvassing support by selectively notifying editors who have a predetermined point of view or opinion, is inappropriate.
Step 2: Tag the relevant pages
These templates should not be substituted.
To propose a merge of two pages, place the following template at the top of each page or section:
{{merge|OTHERPAGE|discuss=Talk:DESTINATIONPAGE#Merge proposal|date=September 2024}}
If you know which page should be removed, use
{{merge to|DESTINATIONPAGE|discuss=Talk:DESTINATIONPAGE#Merge proposal|date=September 2024}}
on the source page, and
{{merge from|SOURCEPAGE|discuss=Talk:DESTINATIONPAGE#Merge proposal|date=September 2024}}
on the destination page.
If two pages are proposed to be merged into a third destination page that already exists, use
{{merge|OTHERSOURCEPAGE|target=DESTINATIONPAGE|discuss=Talk:DESTINATIONPAGE#Merge proposal|date=September 2024}}
on the source pages, and
{{merge from|SOURCEPAGE1|SOURCEPAGE2|discuss=Talk:DESTINATIONPAGE#Merge proposal|date=September 2024}}
on the destination page.
If two pages are proposed to be merged at a destination page that does not yet exist (destination does not have a talk page), use
{{merge|OTHERSOURCEPAGE|target=DESTINATIONPAGE|discuss=Talk:SOURCEPAGE#Merge proposal|date=September 2024}}
on each source page, choosing one of the source talk pages as the discussion location and ensuring the discuss
parameter directs to this talk page on both source pages.
Please use the discuss
parameter to direct to the same talk page. Otherwise, two separate discussions could take place.
If the discuss
parameter is not specified, the "Discuss" links lead to the top of each article's Talk page.
In {{merge to}}, {{merge from}}), it always leads to the destination talk page, but it is still preferable to link to a specific section of the talk page.
In other namespaces
- Do not use the above templates to propose a category merge. This should be requested at WP:Categories for discussion, which uses a separate {{cfm}} template.
- For a merge of pages within "Wikipedia" namespace (titles with the "Wikipedia:" or "WP:" prefix), do not include this prefix in the parameter.
- When proposing a merge between two different namespaces, these templates won't work because of technical limitations.
Step 3: Discuss the merge
Make sure to follow standard talk page guidelines, which includes civility and staying focused on the content, not on the involved editors, using threaded discussion formatting, not biting newcomers, and being clear and concise.
In many cases, a hybrid discussion/straw poll is used, but remember that polling is not a substitute for discussion. Example formatting:
* '''Merge''' – <insert reason for supporting merge here> ~~~~
* '''Don't merge''' – <insert reason for opposing merge here> ~~~~