ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ:WikiProject Merge/PMGGUIDE
From Help:Merging and Wikipedia:Merging
A merger 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 merger 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.
Project Merge Guidelines
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]Listing and Delisting
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]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. Local consensus should determine a merge with redirect if discussion is underway for even a very old merge proposal, however, content may still be boldy added to the target page if it is not already present, has context and has references. If content can be saved by taking the extra time to copy edit for original prose, references, formatting, etc. an editor is encouraged to do so.
If an article is original and has sufficient differences from the target article it can be retained and not be redirected or merged and delisted. A merge tag represents the efforts of an editor to gain consensus. If no other discussion is made it is an individual judgement call, whether or not to carry out a "Merge with redirect" from a proposal. If a MWR is reverted by another editor after being carried out by a project participant (or other editor) with no discussion we can assume opposition to the merge and delist as "no consensus".
Stale merge proposals
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]If there has been no discussion generated after a reasonable amount of time then the merge proposal is stale. Stale merge proposals more than one year 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.
Stale merge proposals less than a year old
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]Once a reasonable amount of time has passed and no discussion is generated the proposal becomes stale. Stale proposals of less than one year may be delisted if any or all of above apply as well as additional standards for newer proposals:
- No AFDs/ANI or Dispute resolution is in process or about to begin. Do not remove the merge tag from the proposed article if the AFD is merge related. Tags are not removed during disputes. Any edit done during an AFD is subject to admin approval or decline but are generally allowed.
- Niether article would benefit from a straight merge with redirect. Examples may be articles that receive substantial expansion or are already large enough for C class when or since proposed or a target article already far too large.
- Unreasonable merge to destination/target. Either article does reasonably fit the other.
- The article qualifies for speedy deletion. Redirect it to a logical target if there is one, otherwise nominate for speedy deletion.
- The proposal has not been closed after no less than two weeks with no discussion or two weeks from last edit with no consensus reached.
If the articles listed for merge meet the above standards then you may simply remove the tags as a stale merge/old proposal no consensus. No merging takes place.
Merging content
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]If none of the above apply or it is your decision to carry out the merge, be sure and follow the steps as laid out by Help:Merging.
Editing and merging during disputes
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]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
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]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.[೧] 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 merger specified by deletion policy it is preferred that editors wait until the discussion period is complete.
Closing Merger proposals to begin merging
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]From Help:Merging
If there is clear agreement with the proposal by consensus, or if there is silence,[೨] proceed with the merger. Before merging, it is recommended that you refer to this, which applies to merger targets as well as redirect targets.
Archive a proposed merger
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]To provide clarity that the merger 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 merger proposal discussion, indicate the outcome at the top. If the merger 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 merger 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 merger 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 merger.
Performing the merger
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]From Help:Merging
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
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 merger types
- 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.) - Delete all the text from the source page and replace it with
#REDIRECT [[DESTINATIONPAGE]]
, save the source page with an edit summary noting{{R from merge}}
merge content to [[DESTINATIONPAGE]]
Full-content paste merger
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]From Help:Merging
Full content merger ಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತ ಟಿಪ್ಪಣಿ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿದೆ: 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 [[PAGENAME]]
, note the merger (including the page name) in the edit summary, and save the page.{{R from merge}}
- 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.)
- 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.
- 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. - Afterwards, DO NOT ask for a history merger between the two articles. See this link for the reason
Performing a merger 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 merger
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]From Help:Merging
Selective merger ಸಂಕ್ಷಿಪ್ತ ಟಿಪ್ಪಣಿ ರೂಪದಲ್ಲಿದೆ: 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.
- 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.)
- 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
- 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. - Afterwards, DO NOT ask for a history merger between the two articles. See this link for the reason
Performing a merger in this manner is beneficial when the source document includes a great deal of material that is not needed in the final article.
Redirecting
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]Once the content is merged do not forget to blank the originating page and add:
#REDIRECT [[PAGENAME]] {{R from merge}}
Attribution of originating content
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]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= }}
This code, when filled, out produces the name of the two articles and the original diff from your action of adding the material in full or in part and is needed to attribute the work of the authors. Below is this example for the Merge guidelines copied in full or in part from Help:Merging.
Text from this version of Help:Merging was copied or moved into Wikipedia:WikiProject Merge/PMGGUIDE with this edit. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted so long as the latter page exists. The former page's talk page can be accessed at ಸಹಾಯ ಚರ್ಚೆಪುಟ:Merging. |
References
[ಬದಲಾಯಿಸಿ]- ↑ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Guide_to_deletion#You_may_edit_the_article_during_the_discussion
- ↑ The debate should be open for at least two weeks.