Which merge template should I use?

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Do not use this tag on a Wikipedia template or category—instead see below for instructions.

  • To merge at least two pages together at an unspecified location, use {{Merge|OtherPage}}
  • To merge the contents of the tagged page into another page, use {{Merge to|DestinationPage}}
  • If the contents of another page should be merged into the tagged page, use {{Merge from|SourcePage}} – the opposite of {{Merge to}};
  • To suggest merging only some material from one page to another, use {{Merge portions from|SourcePage}} and {{Split portions|DestinationPage}}

Terminology

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Source page is the page that content is merged from.

Destination page or target page is the page that content is merged into.

Other page is any page involved in a merger.

When to use and when not to use

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These templates are used primarily to identify potential merges that would benefit from discussion. If it is obvious that a merge would be appropriate, then you may boldly merge the pages yourself without tagging and without discussion. Some editors also use these tags to mark pages that obviously require merging in the hope that someone else will merge the pages.

After adding the merge tag, you are expected to create a section on the talk page of the appropriate article (see below for details) explaining your rationale for the merge proposal. If the rationale is so obvious that it requires no explanation, then you should consider boldly merging the pages yourself, or explain on the talk page why you didn't do so yourself.

How to use

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Simple example

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Tagging a single page, without specifying source or destination, is simple:

Markup Renders as
{{Merge|OtherPage |date=December 2024 }}
or
{{Merge |OtherPage |{{subst:DATE}} }}

When you want to discuss a simple merge of one page into another, tag both source and destination page:

Markup Renders as
{{Merge to |DestinationPage |date=December 2024 }}
or
{{Merge to |DestinationPage |{{subst:DATE}} }}
Markup Renders as
{{Merge from |SourcePage |date=December 2024 }}
or
{{Merge from |SourcePage |{{subst:DATE}} }}

This allows editors at both pages to see the proposed source and destination.

Other options

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By default, the Discuss link on the template links to the top of the destination page's talk page. To specify which section, or to name a different talk page entirely, use the |discuss= AKA |talk= parameter:

{{Merge|OtherPage |discuss=Talk:OtherPage#Merger discussion |date=December 2024}}

To name multiple pages to be merged, simply separate them with a vertical pipe. You can add up to 20 articles to be merged:

{{Merge|OtherPage1 |OtherPage2 |OtherPage3 |discuss=Talk:OtherPage#Merger discussion |date=December 2024}}

To name multiple pages to merge into a single page, use the |target= parameter. For example, to merge the tagged page, as well as SourcePage1, SourcePage2, and SourcePage3 into DestinationPage, use:

{{Merge|SourcePage1 |SourcePage2 |SourcePage3 |target=DestinationPage |discuss=Talk:OtherPage#Merger discussion |date=December 2024}}

If you are placing the template in a section, you can use |section=yes to change the wording to reflect this:

{{Merge|OtherPage |discuss=Talk:OtherPage#Merger discussion |date=December 2024 |section=yes}}
  • Do not link to the pages with square brackets.
    For example, write {{Merge|OtherPage}}, not {{Merge|[[OtherPage]]}}.
  • If you don't supply a date, a bot will add it later.
  • The date might not be shown in the box. Do not be concerned about this. It is used when grouping tagged pages together into categories by date.
  • These templates will add tagged articles to Category:Articles to be merged, while non-articles (files, templates, etc.) will be added to Category:Miscellany to be merged.
  • For {{Merge}}, if you are specifying a merge of two or more pages in different namespaces, the template supports this via specification of the full page name, including the namespace prefix. |nspace= can take on namespace values, which fixes all params to the namespace specified.
  • Do not subst: these templates.

Merges from XfD discussions

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When a merge is being proposed as an option at an XfD discussion, the templates {{subst:Merge from AfD}}, {{subst:Merge from MfD}}, {{subst:Merge from CfD}}, and {{subst:Merge from TfD}} can be used to direct visitors at the merge target to the appropriate XfD discussion.

When to remove

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There is no deadline for completing proposed merges (note the absence of any such deadlines at WP:MERGE). Pages that have been tagged for a long time (frequently more than one year) generally fall into these groups:

Discussion supported the proposed merge, but no one did it yet
Feel free to merge the pages yourself.
Discussion opposed merge, but nobody removed the tags
Feel free to remove the tags yourself.
No discussion found
Feel free to remove the tags if you believe the merge would be a poor choice, or to boldly merge the pages if you believe the merge would be appropriate. Or feel free to start a discussion if you are uncertain or feel it would be controversial.

TemplateData

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This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Merge in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Merge

This is a hatnote template that proposes to merge the page it is applied to with one or more other pages.

Template parameters

This template prefers block formatting of parameters.

ParameterDescriptionTypeStatus
Other page1

This is the page with which this article should be merged. Note: 19 additional pages to merge can be added manually as optional parameters.

Page namerequired
Second page2

Second page to be involved in the merger

Page nameoptional
Third page3

Third page to be involved in the merger

Page nameoptional
Destination pagetarget

When listing several pages to merge, name one proposed destination page for the merger with this parameter.

Page nameoptional
Month and yeardate

The month and year that the template was placed (in full). "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" inserts the current month and year automatically.

Example
January 2013
Auto value
{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
Linesuggested
Discussiondiscuss discussion

Discussion related to the merge proposal; typically on the talk page of the destination page (default is ''Other page''). Insert the full page name (with namespace).

Page nameoptional
Sectionsection

If you are placing the template in a section, set this parameter to "yes".

Auto value
yes
Lineoptional
Page(s) namespacenspace

Optional namespace of the pages involved in the merger (though not the destination page, if specified). Default is "all", which allows specifying pages across multiple namespaces for merge. Can be customized according to the accepted nspace values at Template:Pagelist.

Lineoptional
This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Merge to in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Merge to

This is a hatnote template that proposes to merge the page it is applied into one or more specified pages. Use 'merge from' to tag the destination page(s).

Template parameters

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

ParameterDescriptionTypeStatus
Destination page1

This is the page into which this article should be merged. Note: 19 additional pages to merge into can be added manually as optional parameters.

Page namerequired
Second page2

Second page that the article should be merged into

Page nameoptional
Third page3

Third page that the article should be merged into

Page nameoptional
Month and yeardate

The month and year that the template was placed (in full). "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" inserts the current month and year automatically.

Example
January 2013
Auto value
{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
Linesuggested
Discussiondiscuss discussion

Discussion related to the merge proposal; default is on the talk page of the destination page. Insert the full page name (with namespace).

Page nameoptional
Sectionsection

If you are placing the template in a section, set this parameter to "yes".

Auto value
yes
Lineoptional
This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Merge from in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for Merge from

This is a hatnote template that proposes to merge one or more specified pages into the tagged page. Use 'merge to' to tag the source page(s).

Template parameters

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

ParameterDescriptionTypeStatus
Source page1

This is the page from which content should be merged into this article. Note: 19 additional pages to merge from can be added manually as optional parameters.

Page namerequired
Second page2

Second page that should be merged into this article

Page nameoptional
Third page3

Third page that should be merged into this article

Page nameoptional
Month and yeardate

The month and year that the template was placed (in full). "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" inserts the current month and year automatically.

Example
January 2013
Auto value
{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
Linesuggested
Discussiondiscuss discussion

Discussion related to the merge proposal; default is on the talk page of the destination page. Insert the full page name (with namespace).

Page nameoptional
Sectionsection

If you are placing the template in a section, set this parameter to "yes".

Auto value
yes
Lineoptional

See also

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Splitting

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Merging

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