Commons:History merging and splitting
Shortcut: COM:HMS · COM:HISTMERGE This page provides information on issues and solutions relating pages and files that underwent cut-and-paste moves (which its history has to be put back together), and inappropriate merging/overwriting (of which its history needs to be split).
Contents
History merging[edit]
Because most users have the ability to use the move page function, cut-and-paste moves are usually done by people who are not aware of that function, or when the move function fails (e.g. because the target has history), and people who aren't aware of the Administrators Noticeboard forum to ask for help from an administrator.
When a cut-and-paste move is done, the page history of a page can be split among two or more different pages. This is very undesirable, because we need to keep the history with the content for copyright reasons. In most circumstances, administrators are able to fix this by merging page histories.
| Instructions for admins |
|---|
Special:MergeHistory makes it possible to automatically merge the history of two pages. |
History splitting[edit]
COM:SPLIT
Over time, pages or files may change from one underlying topic to a completely separate topic. Normally, this should be accomplished through moves of pages, or by reuploading an altered file on a slightly different title. However, if a user is unfamiliar with those processes they may simply change the subject of a page or file (overwriting the old). If this is not caught immediately it is very easy for the new topic to build up a substantial edit history of its own.
| Instructions for admins |
|---|
A history merge could also be undone in this way. |
Requesting a merge or split[edit]
To request a merge or split, fill the following template, and submit it at the bottom of this page. Remember, both files need to be of the same type. Merging of more than two files may also be possible in some cases.
== [[:FILE/PAGE 1]] → [[:FILE/PAGE 2]] == * Request: [Split or Merge] * Reason: --~~~~
- For merges, replace
FILE/PAGE 2with the page you wantFILE/PAGE 1contents to be merged into. - For splits, replace
FILE/PAGE 2with the new filename which you want the newer content to be moved fromFILE/PAGE 1.
 |
|---|
Current requests
See also categories: en:File:Cesare Maria De Vecchi.jpg → it:File:Cesare Maria De Vecchi.jpg[edit]
- Request: Merge
- Reason: Reason: These two photos share the same URL, however one of them is from the Italian Wikipedia page while the other is from the English one. The english one was created earlier this year and is a crop out of Cesare from the march on rome, and is not a portrait let alone an official portrait of him. I noticed that the Italian wikipedia uses his official portrait, which was uploaded to the site in 2014, and even has the same URL as the english one. Ive been trying to work this out with 4nn1l2 and after much talk he has decided that It would make sense for the English Wikipedia to use the official portrait. So i am making this request to finalize that and finally change the URL and picture to the right one.
--Scu ba (talk) 02:36, 19 August 2018 (UTC)
- I know that we simply revert overwritten files and ask the user to upload the image as a new file under a new name according to COM:OVERWRITE. But I also think we should be flexible and consider some exceptional cases. The first version of File:Cesare Maria De Vecchi.jpg has been uploaded on 20 February 2018 which is not very old. On the other hand, it:File:Cesare Maria De Vecchi.jpg has been uploaded to the Italian Wikipedia on 23 March 2014. This file could have been transferred to Wikimedia Commons earlier. Alas, that this did not happen. Instead, a low-quality image was uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. The portrait is of higher quality and better suits the encyclopedia, so I think it deserves the simple and natural filename of Cesare Maria De Vecchi.jpg. We can rename the 1922 photo of March on Rome to something like File:Cesare Maria De Vecchi, March on Rome 1922.jpg. 4nn1l2 (talk) 07:30, 19 August 2018 (UTC)
- dummy comment to postpone bot archiving. 4nn1l2 (talk) 08:05, 2 September 2018 (UTC)
Current admin volunteers[edit]
- Rehman (talk · contribs)
- PierreSelim (talk · contribs)
- Ankry (talk · contribs)
- Revent (talk · contribs)
- ~riley (talk · contribs)
