Help:Archiving

Archiving is a process used on MediaWiki to reduce the size of a page by moving old or resolved discussions to a separate page. This is commonly done on talk pages and noticeboards to keep the page manageable and to prevent database errors due to excessive page size.

Purpose of Archiving

Archiving is done to keep pages clean and manageable. It also helps in preventing database errors that can occur due to excessive page size. Archiving is not deleting; it is moving content from one place to another. The archived content is still available for viewing and reference.

When to Archive

There are no hard and fast rules about when to archive a page. It is generally done when a page becomes too large and unwieldy. Some pages are archived regularly, such as the Village pump, while others are archived as needed.

How to Archive

Archiving can be done manually or automatically. Manual archiving involves moving the content to be archived to a new page, usually a subpage of the original page. Automatic archiving is done using a bot, such as MiszaBot or ClueBot III.

Manual Archiving

To manually archive a page, follow these steps:

1. Create a new subpage under the page to be archived. The subpage is usually named "/Archive " followed by a number.
2. Move the content to be archived to the new subpage.
3. Add a link to the new subpage at the top of the original page.

Automatic Archiving

Automatic archiving is done using a bot. The bot will automatically move old or resolved discussions to an archive page. To set up automatic archiving, follow these steps:

1. Add the appropriate template to the top of the page. The template will include parameters to specify how old a discussion must be to be archived and how often the bot should archive the page.
2. Create an archive page if one does not already exist. The bot will automatically create new archive pages as needed.

See Also

• Wikipedia:Archive
• Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines
• Wikipedia:Database errors

Archiving Resources
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