Template:Merge

From DoomWiki.org

Auto-categorizing instance of Template:MergeIssueBox indicating that two articles are proposed for merger.

Instructions[edit]

When two or more articles contain a lot of duplicate content, or could do so in the future because they address the same topic, this template is used to propose consolidating them and turning one into a redirect.  It should be inserted at the top of the article you want to turn into a redirect.

Our written policy does not require the use of this template before a merge.  However, as with any edit which might potentially remove large blocks of text, it's best to invite comment beforehand (unless the redirect is clearly uncontroversial, e.g. to overwrite spam).  In most cases, this template should not be interpreted as an insult to the tagged article; it is used when two articles are created independently with different spellings in their titles, or when a new editor starts an article on a marginally notable subject without checking to see whether it already exists as one section of a longer article.

Syntax:

{{merge|target}}

target is the title of the article you want to keep.  The tagged article will also be added to Category:Articles to be merged, which is part of the "editors' to-do list" on the front page.

The Discuss link in the box may still be red even after you save the article.  That isn't a bug, but merely indicates that the talk page is currently blank.  It is a good idea to explain your reasoning on the talk page, if only to indicate how much text needs to be transferred from the tagged article if it is merged (the discussion may be closed by a user who didn't participate, which makes it easy to forget about the information in the old version, buried behind the redirect).