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How to Nominate an Article for Merging on wikiHow
Edited by Andrew, Harri, VC, User21 and 7 others
If you see two articles whose titles mean almost the same thing, it may be wise to nominate them for merging. Merging two articles will put the information of both articles into one. For example, if you see an article called, "How to Walk your Dog," and another one called, "How to Take your Dog for a Walk," these articles can be merged since they are talking about the same thing. If you see two possible articles to merge, follow these instructions to mark them for merging.
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EditSteps
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1Decide if the articles should be merged or not. If the articles' titles are interchangeable in all cases, then it's a good idea to merge them. You would not merge one article talking about telescopes with another about cats.
- The Merge Policy has heaps of information on this. Make sure to read it through first!
Ad - The Merge Policy has heaps of information on this. Make sure to read it through first!
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2Consider alternatives to merging. Merging a distinct title means that no one will ever have a chance to write an article on that distinct topic because the title will be tied up in a redirect, so consider ways to save the content instead of merging it.
- If an article has a distinct title but doesn't have distinct content, try editing the content to make it match the title better. For instance, if "How to Hike in Hawaii" has very general information on hiking, don't merge it to "How to Hike". Instead, find and add some Hawaii-specific hiking information to the page.
- Alternatively, place an {{accuracy}} or {{attention}} tag on the page, along with a note on the discussion page such as "The content in this article doesn't address the title very well. This article is supposed to be about hiking in Hawaii, but none of the content is specific to Hawaii. Can anyone address this?"
- If the content is very basic, a better option may be to use the {{stub}} tag, or, if it's really bad, nominate it for deletion as incomplete or inaccurate.
- If two articles have interchangeable titles but unique content, consider changing one of the titles. Let's say someone wrote an article titles "How to Sew a Cool Pillow" but the steps outline how you can make a pillow from an old t-shirt. Rather than merge the article to "How to Sew a Pillow", you can change the title to "How to Sew a T-Shirt Pillow" (which better matches the content).
- If an article has a distinct title but doesn't have distinct content, try editing the content to make it match the title better. For instance, if "How to Hike in Hawaii" has very general information on hiking, don't merge it to "How to Hike". Instead, find and add some Hawaii-specific hiking information to the page.
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3Decide which of the two titles is better. It is probably better to combine both articles into the older article, as that one already has views and is established, or into the one which clearly has a better, more searched-for title. Once you decide this, go to the article with the best title. The reason you should do this is because the article you go to will be the original article. The original article will keep their title. -
4Open the edit page of the article. While seemingly basic, this is one of the most important steps, and the rest of the steps can not be performed without it. -
5At the beginning of the introduction, before any words appear, write down the following: {{merge|Title of article you wish to merge it to}}- Please be aware that the symbol at the end is the | symbol rather than a lowercase L. Also, do not add the period at the end. The {{'s are meant to be there and are required. Also, after putting this in, do not put in anything else, unless doing so to follow the other steps.
- When writing in the name of the article you wish to merge it to do not add the, "How to..." at the beginning of the article. For example, if you are merging with, "How to Climb a Tree," then you should put, "Climb a Tree," in, rather than, "How to Climb a Tree,".
- Please be aware that the symbol at the end is the | symbol rather than a lowercase L. Also, do not add the period at the end. The {{'s are meant to be there and are required. Also, after putting this in, do not put in anything else, unless doing so to follow the other steps.
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6Hit the preview button. You should see a large notice at the top of the screen stating that this article is nominated for merging. If not, start over and try again. -
7Hit publish and wait.Ad
EditTips
- The finished link will say, "{{merge|name of article}}"
- The | symbol after the merge and before the name is the | symbol, rather than a lowercase L.
- The | symbol is located under the backspace key on some computers.
- If the edit history was really long and colourful, the article was featured, etc. an advanced merge might be called for, which can only be done by an administrator.
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EditWarnings
- Do not nominate random articles for merging with other random articles. It's not funny and is very annoying.
- Do not add the, "How to..." in the name of the article you are merging with.
EditThings You'll Need
- Computer
- Internet Connection
- Two articles in need of merging
