Moving a page

Users who have created pages on a wiki, but would like to change the name of said page can use the "Move" mediawiki feature.

This feature is located via the tab list with the "v" symbol located in the far right of the navigation pane.

Location

The location of the tabbed list may vary depending on the design of the wiki.

The tab is not visible if you are not logged in. Then simply enter the new name and click "Move page". Normally you would want to leave the "Move associated talk page" option ticked.

==Instructions==

Once you click the move item from the list, you will be taken to a page where you can change some of the parameters of that page.

Starting from the move page panel:

• The first item designates the page you intend to move.
• The section item allows you to choose what title you want to grant that page. If you are changing a content page for the wiki, leave it set to main, if you are an admin or guardian changing mediawiki pages, use the appropriate title.
  • Afterwards you can tyle in the new name of the page you want to move to.

• Important
  • For the safety of the admins and your content, please enter a reason for this move in the next box. This allows us to understand the reason behind the move, and correct any mistakes accordingly.

Once you are done, you can check the boxes that pertain to what you want to do. It is highly recommended to leave the "Leave a redirect behind" checked (We talk about that below) as well as the "watch source page and target page" checked. This allows users to always be take to your new page instead of viewing outdated content. You will also be notified when someone adds content, added a colaborative effect amoung the community.

Important

If you move page "A" to a new title "B", this operation will do the following:

• Renames the title of page "A" as "B"
• Renames all the editing history of page "A" as of page "B" as well
• Creates a new page "A", whose content is a redirect to page "B"

The second point is important. By using the "Move" feature, you also move the editing history, which is desirable in most situations. The editing history allows people to see how the contents of the page were built up, and who contributed what.

However, if you do decide to copy and page content to a new page where the intent is to move the page, it would a general mess for admins and the community to keep track of changes for that particular page.

• Some examples of problems when copy pasting instead of moving
  • User editing a page that shouldn't exist
  • Users looking for pages that don't exist or are seriously outdated.
  • Admins having to moderate and/or remove a page that isn't apart of the main wiki content.

So please remember that if you intend to move the contents of a page to another page in its entirety. Only use the the move function and intructed above.

For more information on how users are able to edit/see the histort of a page (see also Tracking changes).

Redirect

When the right is enabled, one additional check box will appear when one needs to move a page (see picture above).

When moving a page and leaving the "leave a redirect button behind" checkbox checked, the move operation leaves behind a redirect (see Redirects), it should not result in any broken links,

The "What links here" feature, which can be used through the link in the Tools (at bottom of the sidebar on the left) is useful when doing this.

Proposing a move

Deciding on a page title can be a difficult aspect of wiki organization, and one which can often provoke debates. If the move you have in mind is one which might cause upset or could be considered controversial, you should propose the move first. Do this by leaving a note giving your reasons on the talk page. Your wiki may also have a move template you can mark the subject page with to help draw more attention to the proposal.

Undo a move

As with all wiki editing, a move operation can be reversed (by any user). To reverse a move operation, simply move the page back, e.g. move page "B" back to "A".

The page title "B" will still be left behind, as a redirect from "B" to "A". Any user can remove the redirect and propose that the page be deleted. However the final deletion will require sysop privileges (see Deleting a page).

Moving a page without creating a redirect

Users with the suppressredirect user right can optionally move a page without creating a redirect. This is particularly useful when undoing a move.

See also:

• Redirects#Suppressing a redirect