The name of the subject of the article has been changed and the new name has come into majority use.
The title has been misspelled, does not contain standard capitalization or punctuation, or is misleading or inaccurate.
It needs to bedisambiguated in some way to avoid confusion with an existing, similarly named topic, or it exists at a disambiguated name but should not because it is theprimary topic.
It is an article at adescriptive name and the scope of the article has been reduced, extended or otherwise changed.
It is an article that has been created as asubpage of a Wikipedian's user or user talk space for development purposes and it is ready to be moved to themainspace or todraft space.
It is a draft article that has been created or edited in draft space for development purposes and is ready to be moved to the mainspace.
If you believe your proposed move would benefit from wider community input
Do not move or rename a page by copying and pasting its content, because doing so fragments theedit history.Wikipedia's copyright license requires acknowledgement of all contributors, and editors continue to hold copyright on their contributions unless they specifically give up this right. Hence, it is required that edit histories be preserved for all major contributions until the normal copyright expires. See alsoWikipedia:Copying within Wikipedia.
Click the "Move" option, and fill in the details of your move.
In the first text box, enter the new name of the page (and itsnamespace).
Give a reason for the move, which is like anedit summary. Although this isn't required, it will decrease the likelihood of the move being challenged.
Keep the option to also move the page's talk page enabled, except in certain circumstances. (It only appears if the page has a talk page.)
Click theMove page button.
You did it! If the move is successful, the page will be moved to the new title and you will see a message saying "The page has been moved to ...". The old title will become aredirect, so links to the old title will still go to the new page. Successful moves are recorded in themove log; if there had been a discussion about the move, it can be useful to copy the automatic move summary in a new comment in the discussion.
If a page already exists at the target name, you can only move it if it simply redirects to the present name and only has onerevision, in which case you can move over the redirect. If the new title exists, but is a redirect to the old title and has only a single entry in its page history, then you can rename the page using the regular procedure. The most common case in which this applies is that of re-renaming a page back to its original name.
After successfully moving a page, you should perform a number of resulting clean-up tasks, such as updating the article prose to use the new name and updating anynavigational templates to link directly to the new titlerather than via a redirect.
Whether any one of the below clean-up tasks is required will depend on the circumstances of the move. Some of the most involved clean-up tasks are limited to moves that introduce a change in "topic structure", for example when an article is moved to a title which previously referred to a disambiguation page.
Update the article's prose: In most cases, the running text of an article will refer to the article subject by the title term, and will begin witha bolded instance of the title. Using Wikipedia's "find and replace" function may be helpful here, though it should not be applied blindly. For example, if the old name occurs in a direct quote, a name, or the title of a reference, it should not be replaced. For example, if the articleChocolate bar were moved to the titleCandy bar, the opening paragraph:
Update sidebars and navbars: Pages that have asidebar or navbar template will need their page title in the template edited from the old name to the new name. Until this is altered, the old page title, which usually becomes a redirect to the new title, will appear as a blue wikilink instead of as the unlinked page name in boldface type (seeWP:NAVNOREDIRECT).
Update DEFAULTSORT and DISPLAYTITLE keys:DISPLAYTITLE keys at the top of the page should be removed or updated to reflect the new title, otherwise they'll throw an error. In certain cases,default sort keys may also need to be updated. For example, if movingCat Stevens toYusuf Islam, then{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Cat}} should be replaced with{{DEFAULTSORT:Islam, Yusuf}}. Conversely, if movingLady Gaga toStefani Germanotta, then{{DEFAULTSORT:Germanotta, Stefani}} should be added.
Fix talk page archives: All talk page archives should be moved to correspond with the new name, including any that have been manually created. If the talk page is archived automatically by a bot, the {{User:MiszaBot/config}} or {{User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis}} templates contain hardcoded page names that need to be updated as well (example). In some circumstances, this involves moving a hard-coded bot subpage.
Editnotices: If a page with an editnotice is moved, the editnotices should move with them. Currently, this requires the technical assistance of anadministrator,template editor orpage mover. A few pages may be accompanied byeditnotices in the Template namespace that warn editors about specific issues for the page. For example, the editnotice for0.999... is at{{Editnotices/Page/0.999...}}. Sometimes, a page may be accompanied by a group editnotice (example), or more rarely, a protection editnotice (example).
Cleaning up after a change in topic structure
A change in topic structure occurs when a page previously referred to a topic and after the move refers to a different topic. This most commonly occurs when an article is promoted to be theprimary topic for a name or vice versa, such as movingMercury (planet) toMercury. In rare cases, one topic may have its name usurped by a different topic. For example,in 2018 an article about a retail company was moved fromShinola toShinola (retail company) and the previous article became about a completely unrelated brand of shoe polish.
Fix mistargeted wikilinks: When an article, such asVenus, is moved to a disambiguated title, such asVenus (planet), the previous title will usually become adisambiguation page and other articles which used to link to the article about the planet will instead link to a disambiguation page. These links should be replaced with[[Venus (planet)|Venus]], so that they keep pointing to te correct destination. If there are many wikilinks to fix, consider using semi-automated tools such asDisamAssist orAutoWikiBrowser. (Disambiguation pages with more than 30 incoming links are automatically tagged with{{Incoming links}}, which attracts interested editors.)Fair use rationales in the File namespace should also be fixed so that the image is notmarked for deletion as orphaned.
Update disambiguation pages: A topic should belinked at the top of a disambiguation page if and only if it is the primary topic. If your moves have the effect of demoting a page from or promoting it to a primary topic, the corresponding disambiguation page should be updated accordingly.
Update hatnotes: Add or removehatnotes to allow users to navigate between topics that share a name. For example, if movingMercury (planet) toMercury, an{{Other uses}} hatnote should be added so that readers could navigate from that page toMercury (disambiguation). On the other hand, if the opposite happens, it may render existing hatnotes on the page redundant.
You arer account isable to perform a round-robin swap. Most users arenot able to perform this process. Please visitWP:RM/TR for help swapping pages.
Most users lack permission to move pages in thecategory namespace, as only administrators, page movers, and bots can move Category pages. For these users, the Move button is not displayed.
Users follow the procedure atWikipedia:Categories for discussion § Speedy renaming and merging and let a bot handle it, especially for complex cases. Moving a category manually is possible, but it requires significant post-move cleanup, and can be time-consuming. A category move is not complete until the old category contains only the soft redirect and no pages.
To move a category manually:
Move the category page. (Description wiki markup)
Change all of its subcategories. (Change the category of each subcategory to the new category.)
Change the category on every page where it is explicitly specified. (This could be hundreds or thousands of pages.)
Change the template code for every template that assigns pages to the old category. (It may be necessary topurge or perform anull edit on every page thattranscludes the templates.)
When pages are listed in a category that is not shown in the wiki-markup, this most likely means that a template placed on those pages is adding the category. When the category is moved, the template must also be changed. After the template is updated with the new category, the pages with the template are automatically placed into thejob queue and will eventually be updated with the new category. If there are avery large number of pages transcluding the template(s), the process of updating all pages through the job queue may take days, weeks, or even months to complete. Protected pages or templates may require elevated privileges to accomplish the change. In such cases, the normalprotected edit request process should be followed. Depending on the number of templates and articles that require elevated privileges to edit them, it may be more appropriate to involve an administrator from the beginning of the process (seeWikipedia:Categories for discussion).
Administrators orfile movers can move pages in the file namespace. When such a page is moved the associated file is moved as well. The move leaves a redirect that functions like the file itself. For instance, the image can be displayed by linking to a redirect to it. In non-controversial cases you can request a file to be moved by adding the template{{rename media}} to the description page of the file. Files should generally only be moved for one ofnine reasons. You can also use a script to add the rename request.Twinkle orLuckyRename (specialized for this job) can do this. For more information about appropriate names for pages in the file namespace, seeWikipedia:File names.
Place{{tlp|rename media|new name|reason}} on the page of the file. A file mover or administrator will move it if it conforms to the guidelines.
Files uploaded toWikimedia Commonscannot be moved by Wikipedia administrators or filemovers.c:Commons:File naming describes how Commons files should be named. In general, Commons aims to provide stable file names as there might be external file clients and file moving involves significant human and computing resources. Thus renaming should be used with caution. To request the rename of a file at Commons, follow the instructions atCommons:File renaming.
When moving a page, the talk page is automatically moved as well. A talk page may includesubpages, such as archives,to-do pages, good article nominations, and the like. To ensure that these subpages are moved, check "Move all subpages, if applicable" during the move process. Talk subpages can be moved along with the move target. A list of talk page subpages is visible in the "Special:MovePage" form.
If subpages were not moved, they will show as redlinks on the new talk page. To locate lost subpages, useSpecial:Prefixindex; enter the name of the old article page followed by a "/" and set the namespace to Talk. Move individual subpages as needed.
On some occasions, one might inadvertently move a talk page incorrectly assumed by the MediaWiki software to be a talk subpage of a different article. For example,Talk:A/B testing is the talk page forA/B testing, but not technically a subpage forTalk:A. If a mover usesmove-subpages onTalk:A, the move operation wouldincorrectly moveTalk:A/B testing. (This is not an issue for the article mainspace, as it does not have subpages enabled.)
Administrators and page movers are also given an option to move up to100 subpages. They can also use theMass move tool by adding the following line to theircommon.js page, which will add a "Mass move" link to their tools menu on the left of the page:
Aportal consists of a main portal page plus tens, sometimes hundreds, of interconnected subpages. To rename a portal efficiently, post atWikipedia:Requested moves/Technical requests to ask for an administrator to move the page and its subpages, and once that is done, post atWikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Tasks to ask for an AWB user to scan all the portal pages to fix the outdated links. You may also need to visitCategories for Discussion to have a category renamed, if the portal's pages have been placed in a category; andTemplate talk:Portal, if the{{Portal}} template does not recognise the new name.
A page that is a redirect can be moved like any other page, although it is rarely useful because it has the same detrimental effect on page history as copy-pasting content to a new page, and making the old page a redirect: when moving a redirect page to a new page name, the redirect on the old page (now directing to the new redirect page) will have to be altered in order to avoid double redirects. So the content of theold page will no longer redirect to the page containing the history of that old page. The effect is that the whereabouts of the page history of the old page (now seemingly a "recently created page") are a bit trickier to find, while on the other hand the new page has a history attached to it not clarifying why it would need to be a redirect page. However, if a redirect page has to be evacuated (for example, to reuse its title), but contains a valuableedit history, then it should be moved (unlessmerging of history is suitable).
If a redirect page does not redirect to the page it would need to be redirecting to, then the only viable strategy that respects page histories is to adapt the redirect on that page, without moving the page.
Usurping a page title is the process of moving an existing page to a new title followed by creating a new page (such as a new article or a disambiguation page) on the old title, or redirecting the old title to a different destination. Once the move of the original page is completed, the old title instantly becomes aredirect, and the redirect can then be edited to become a separate, possibly unrelated article,disambiguation page, or some other type of page.
If in doubt, holding a discussion before such a move following the instructions on therequested moves page is recommended. If you wish to create the new page initially before a decision is made from a discussion, you can create it using a different, unused title for the new page you wish to create, and then usurp the title once this is agreed.
It is permitted to usurp a page title for a new article, and it generally does not require administrative assistance, thoughgood judgment should be used in determining if these are best positions for both pages. Before boldly usurping a title, it is strongly recommended that you check all incoming links and fix them as necessary. To do this, while on the new page bearing the old title, click on "What links here" below "Tools" in the menu on the left. This will list all the pages linking to the old title. Once you reach this list, check the incoming links on each of these pages and if necessary, modify them to point to the new title of the old page. For more information, seeHelp:What links here andWikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links.
If there are so many pages linking to the old title that you feel you cannot make all the changes yourself, place the template{{Converted}} at the top of the new page you created on the old title. This will let others know that the move was recently made, and that all these changes are necessary.
Move page B to the title A (allowed becauseA is evacuated) without creating a redirect
Move page C to the title B (allowed becauseB is evacuated) without creating a redirect unless it is useful as a redirect toB
This sequence is sometimes called a "round-robin move" and does not requiredeletions as it relies on the redirect-suppressing (red move) feature, available toadministrators andpage movers. The classical sequence has an advantage that it relies only on conventional operations such asWP:G6. Help with this task can be found atWikipedia:Page mover § Round-robin page moves.
The same sequences, but with only two moves, can be used for half-swapping (chain shifting) two pages (such thatA would becomeC andB would becomeA)
To undo a move from page A to page B, simply move page B back to page A. However, if someone intervened to theA→B redirect, then the move cannot be fixed without special privileges, in which case the guidance aboutundiscussed moves at the "requested moves" page may be helpful.
Note that the usual "undo" link on history ordiff pages does not work on moves. An easy way to rename the page back is clicking "View logs for this page" from thehistory page, typing in the previous page name that you want to revert to and then "revert" link from the corresponding record inSpecial:Log.
The software requires that the redirect be pointing to the page you're moving it from. Therefore, if a user moved page A to page B and then to page C, you cannot simply moveC toA. If a bot has not "fixed" thedoubleA→B redirect yet (see above), then you have to:
Move page C to page B
Move page B to page A
If page A has subsequently been edited, or the move software is behaving weirdly, only an admin can sort things out:
Delete page A (make sure it has no useful history – you may wish to add an explicit author credit on a talk page to compensate)
Move page B to page A
Delete page B (should be a history-free redirect to page A)
"Move wars" are highly unproductive, and leave vast numbers of pointless redirects littering the place, which some poor soul will have to fix.
After undoing a move, if you do not needB as aredirect, tag it for deletion (using the appropriate process on the wiki you're using, for instance 'speedy deletion' or list it at 'redirects for discussion'), or (administrators only) just delete it.
Move restrictions
To be able to move pages yourself, you must belogged in and you must have anautoconfirmed account (i.e., generally you must have had the account for four days and made at least ten article edits with it). With a few exceptions, autoconfirmed users have the technical ability to move any page.
Administrators can protect pages from moves, so that only administrators can move them. If a page is protected from moves only, the "Move" feature will be hidden. Pages that are protected from editing are implicitly protected from moves. If the old page was protected, its protection settings will generally be automatically copied to the new page, and thus be recorded in theprotection log (against thenew page name). Ifpending changes were enabled, the pending changes settings will also be moved and logged in thepending changes log against the new page title (since December 2016).
Page histories
Moving a page preserves its entire edit history before and after the move in one place, as if the page hadalways been named that way. The move itself is recorded in the edit histories of both pages.
You should never just move a page by cutting all the text out of one page, and pasting it into a new one; old revisions, notes, and attributions are much harder to keep track of if you do that. (But you may have to if, for instance, you're splitting a page into multiple topics. If you do, note it in the new page's edit summary and talk page stating where you took the text from.) In some circumstances, administrators can fix this by merging page histories. If you find a cut-and-paste move that needs to be fixed, please follow the instructions atWikipedia:Requests for history merge to have an administrator take care of it.
Technical details
Some technical restrictions prevent page names from beginning with a lowercase letter, containing certain characters, and using formatting such as italics. There are templates to fix or signal these restrictions:
Title changing or correcting templates + magic word
After moving a page, the MediaWiki software marks the old one as a new page, as the entry in thepage table connects a new page name to the page ID. Therevision table just gets entries about the move, nothing else, because the relation between page ID and revision IDs remains the same. This model avoids "changing the history", a kind of "historical revisionism".
More moves back and forth are possible, and the page history of the current title always shows all moves, and that of the other title only contains the edit line of the latest move. The move function wasintroduced in MediaWiki 1.5 in 2005, so pages moved beforeMediaWiki 1.5 do not have an entry in their move logs. The oldest moves recorded in the move logdate to June 28, 2005.
Before the release ofMediaWiki 1.28/wmf.16 in August 2016, information about a redirect overwritten by a moved page was lost. Starting with that version, deletion of the redirect has been added to the deletion log; this is the only way that non-administrators (i.e., page movers) can insert entries in the deletion log. If the deletion was the result of an earlier move of the page that is now moved back, that information is still available in the history of that page.
There was a bug in earlier versions of MediaWiki that caused inaccurate dates in edit histories. In these versions of the software, if a page was moved over a redirect, the edit history of the newly created redirect would show the latest move with the correct user name, but with the date and time when the overwritten redirect was created. The date and time of the actual page move was therefore lost (though it appeared in therecent changes list). Seea demonstration of this bug.
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