How to Archive Talk or Discussion Page Messages on wikiHow
Two Methods:ArchivingComplete Deletion
At times, Talk and Discussion pages may become quite lengthy. This can be bothersome as it may take a while to browse through messages or download a page. wikiHow can help you learn how to archive content.
EditSteps
EditMethod 1 of 2: Archiving
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1Browse to the page you want to archive.
- In this example, we'll use a user's Talk page
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2Click on the Edit tab at the top of the page.
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3Select the talk page message you'd like to archive with the Copy and Paste steps, but don't remove the messages just yet.
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4Open a new window or new tab.
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5Browse to User_talk:Username/Archive1. If it is a discussion page you are archiving, go to http://www.wikihow.com/Discussion:Title-goes-here/Archive1
- If this is not the first time you have archived, you need to create a new archive. Instead of going to User_talk:Username/Archive1 or http://www.wikihow.com/Discussion:Title-goes-here/Archive1 change the ending number to "2" or "3" and so on. Example: User_talk:Username/Archive2
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6Click on the Edit tab at the top of the page.
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7Paste all the content you copied from a Talk page.
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8Add {{talkarchive}} to the top of the archive page you just created.
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9Write a note in the edit summary box to clarify your edit.
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10Click on Publish, at the bottom of the page, to save your archive; now your messages are on a new page.
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11Go back to your regular Talk page. Click on the Edit tab at the top if you published your previous edits.
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12Remove all of the "previously-selected/previously highlighted content" with one swoosh of the Delete key on your keyboard. Leave the {{archive}} template in-place.
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13Click on Publish at the bottom of the page, to save your changes. Now your talk page should be empty, with a link to your archived page(s)
EditMethod 2 of 2: Complete Deletion
Alternatively, if you don't want to archive your messages, you can simply delete them from your Talk page. Here is how to do so:
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1Click "Edit" at the top of your Talk page.
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2Highlight all of your messages to the very bottom and press Delete or Backspace.
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3Write a note in the edit summary box to clarify your edit.
- To view your old messages, go to the page history of your Talk page. To do so:
- Go to your talk page.
- Click on the History button. This will now show you your Talk page history.
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EditTips
- Consider asking other users who have lengthy Talk or Kudos pages if they need assistance in archiving them. Do not do so without their approval, though.
- Feel free to archive any lengthy Discussion page.
- Use the same method for Discussion or Kudos pages.
- Example: Replace User_talk:Example/Archive1 with Discussion:Example/Archive1
- If you have additional coding on your talk page (e.g smaller/different font) be sure not to delete it while archiving or deleting your talk page.
EditWarnings
- Due to the fact that by archiving you are essentially "cleaning up the talk/discussion page", there should be no reason to have to add new messages to your own talk page on it. There is, however, a way to add new messages to your own talk page: Follow: How to Post on Your Own Talk Page.
EditSources and Citations
Article Info
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