Help:Moving a page
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Moving (renaming) a page means giving it another name. This is done by using the "move" action of tab "More" at the top. The tab is not visible if you are not logged in. Then enter the new name and click "Move page". Normally you would want to leave the "Move associated talk page" option ticked.
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.
When you go to the move log for the source page,[1] you will find a record showing the reason behind a move. This is also displayed in the edit summary of the move, but may not be fully displayed due to the maximum edit summary length.
If you move contents around by copying and pasting (not using the move feature), you do not achieve this (see also Help:Tracking changes).
When the move operation leaves behind a redirect (see Help:Redirects), it should not result in any broken links except the possibility of double redirects – that is, pages redirecting to "A" which becomes a redirect itself. You might want to hunt down pages or other redirects which link in to the redirect, and change their text to link directly to the new title. The "What links here" feature, which can be used through the link in the Tools (at bottom of the sidebar) is useful when doing this.
Instructions
Before you move a page, consider whether you're following these guidelines for the wiki involved. The guidelines for most wikis are similar to these:
- Experiment in a sandbox before making changes.
- Adhere to standard naming conventions when choosing a title.
- Check for ongoing discussions on the talk page before making edits.
- Avoid trying to move and edit a page simultaneously - if you open the edit box for a page (or its talk page), then move the page, then save, your edit can be applied to the redirect from the move rather than the page you moved.
- Consider noting the fact that you moved the page on its talk page (although the move itself will be recorded as part of the page history).
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.
When the right is enabled, one additional check box will appear when one needs to move a page (see picture at right).
Moving over a redirect
If the destination page already exists as a redirect pointing to the source page with only one revision, it is possible to automatically delete the redirect to make way for the move, even without the right to delete pages. If the destination page redirects elsewhere or has more than one revision, it cannot be deleted automatically, and will need to be deleted manually by an administrator to make way for the move.
Undo a move
As with almost all wiki editing, a move operation can be reversed (by any user). To reverse a move operation, move the page back, e.g. move page "B" back to "A".
Another way to reverse a move operation is by clicking "View logs for this page" from the history page and then the "revert" link from the corresponding record in "Move Log".
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 Help:Deletion and undeletion).
Note that the "undo" link in the history page only reverts edits to the page, and cannot undo moves.
Page swapping
To swap pages A and B with their histories, you can:
- Move A to C (no redirect).
- Move B to A (no redirect).
- Move C to B (no redirect).
People who do not have the suppressredirect right will need to ask someone who does to perform the move for them.
URL parameters
These query strings can be added to the URL of Special:MovePage in order to fill out fields and check boxes in advance.
| Parameter | Meaning |
|---|---|
wpOldTitleNs=n
|
Namespace number of existing page |
wpOldTitle=
|
Title of existing page |
wpNewTitleNs=n
|
Target namespace number |
wpNewTitle=
|
Target page title |
wpMovetalk=1
|
Move talk page, if one exists. |
wpReason=
|
Text for reason field |
wpWatch=1
|
Watch source and target pages |
Special namespace restrictions
Pages in the "File:" and "Category:" namespaces require special permissions (movefile and move-categorypages respectively) to move. Moving a category additionally requires updating all pages in that category to point to the new name, which is not done automatically.
Moving a redirect page
Moving a redirect page, like any other page, is possible but not recommended due to its negative impact on page history. When a redirect page is moved to a new name, the old page's redirect must be updated to avoid double redirects, resulting in the old page no longer redirecting to the page containing its history. This makes locating the page history of the old page more challenging, while the new page inherits a history without clarifying the necessity for it to be a redirect page.
If a redirect page fails to direct users to the intended destination, the best approach, while maintaining page histories, is to adjust the redirect on that page without relocating it.
Protection
Administrators can protect a page from getting moved. If a user does not have permission to edit a page, they also cannot move it.
Other observations
When a page is moved, it appears in "Recent Changes" under "Move log," linking to a log of all moves. However, moving a watched page doesn't show up on the watchlist; both the old and new names remain watched after the move.
Subpages, like talk page archives and template documentation pages, don't move automatically when the main page is moved. Administrators can move up to 100 subpages along with the main page.
Automate moving subpages
Users with the move-subpages user right can optionally move subpages of a page (up to $wgMaximumMovedPages, defaulting to 100), preserving its "tree" structure. If you specify the root page you want to move in the title (by visiting Special:MovePage/Some page), the special page displays the subpages of that root page.
Ensure all subpage titles (and their corresponding talks) are freely accessible for this to function effectively.
Also, MediaWiki does not offer a special page with which to perform a batch operation for page moves. There may be alternatives, depending on your situation:
- Extension:Replace Text
- MoveBatch.php: a maintenance script for renaming a batch of pages.
- Manual:Pywikibot/movepages.py
