Wikipedia:Proposed article mergers

Prior to being merged into AfD, the Proposed article mergers process was used to create and close new merge proposals. To begin a new merge discussion, editors followed the now-historical instructions at § Historical merge proposal procedure. If a merge is unlikely to be contested, you can still be bold and complete it without initiating a discussion. If you have reason to believe that merging an article could be controversial, nominate it for merging at AfD. If you want to nominate more than one article for merging, you can do so in the same nomination.

Historical merge proposal process

On 24 March 2026, there was consensus to merge the proposed article mergers (PAM) process into AfD. What follows is the historical process for creating and conducting formal merge discussions, prior to the merge with AfD. As some pages are still using the old process, steps 3-5 are still relevant to the process.

Step 1: Create a discussion

This is usually done on the proposed destination page's talk page. For example, if suggesting that Source page be merged into Destination page, create a proposal in a new section at Talk:Destination page. If the destination does not exist, do not create its talk page.

Create a new topic and include the list of the affected pages and a merge rationale. For example:

== Merge proposal ==
I propose merging [[SOURCEPAGES]] into [[DESTINATIONPAGE]]. I think the content in SOURCEPAGE can easily be explained in the context of this article, and merging them would not cause any article-size or [[WP:UNDUE|weighting]] problems. ~~~~

If a merge proposal has been incorrectly created on the source's talk page and the proposed destination is unambiguous and exists, any editor can move the discussion to the talk page of the destination page, to increase its visibility. Use the {{Moved to}} and {{Moved from}} templates.

Optionally, you can notify contributors to the pages involved. One way is to ping them in a comment on the merge proposal, such as {{ping|User1|User2|User3|...}} Notifying contributors to the articles. ~~~~. Alternatively, create a new topic on those users' talk pages with {{subst:Mergenote|PAGENAME|Talk:PAGENAME#Merge proposal}}. Respect neutrality when making invitations to participate in the discussion; selectively notifying editors is not allowed.

Step 2: Tag the relevant pages

To propose merging:

Always use the |discuss= parameter to link to the same discussion on all pages; otherwise, two separate discussions could take place.

Step 3: Discuss the merge

Make sure to follow standard talk page guidelines and be clear and concise. Usually, a hybrid discussion/straw poll is used, but remember that polling is not a substitute for discussion. Example:

* '''Merge''' – The scope of the articles is the same.  ~~~~
* '''Don't merge''' – The resulting article would be too long. ~~~~

During the course of the discussion, editors may suggest merging pages that were not part of the original proposal. When this happens, add the merge templates to those additional pages and ensure that adequate time is provided for editors to comment before the discussion is closed.

Step 4: Close the discussion

During discussion, a rough consensus may emerge to proceed with the merge. Any user, including the user who first proposed the merge, may close the discussion and move forward with the merge if enough time has elapsed (normally 7 days or more) and the consensus is clear or there has been no discussion. Closing of merge discussions differs from closing of requested move discussions in that closings of uncontroversial merge discussions by involved users are allowed.

In more unclear, controversial cases, the determination that a consensus to merge has or has not been achieved should be made by an editor who is neutral and not directly involved in the merge proposal or the discussion. The discussion can be listed at the Proposed article mergers noticeboard to attract the attention of more editors. If necessary, you can request that an uninvolved editor close the discussion at the Closure requests noticeboard. If a consensus is formed against the merge shortly after it was performed, it can easily be reversed.

To close a merge discussion, use the {{Discussion top}} and {{Discussion bottom}} templates. Then:

Step 5: Perform the merge

Following the merge of PAM into AfD, the detailed procedure for carrying out merges is now described at Wikipedia:Merging § Procedure.

Articles with consensus to merge

If a merge discussion has been closed with consensus to merge, you can optionally list it at Wikipedia talk:Merging or at Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Merge to attract editors interested in carrying out the merge. Any editor can perform these merges by following the merging instructions!

Jump to a random article with consensus to merge!
   Merge a random article!

Notes

  1. ↑ If the parameter is not specified, the notices lead to the top of each article's talk page. In {{Merge to}} and {{Merge from}}, it always leads to the destination talk page, but it is still preferable to link to a specific section of the talk page. When proposing a cross-namespace merge, these templates won't work correctly.
  2. ↑ This is an example usage:
    == Merge proposal ==
{{Discussion top|result=The result of this discussion was... . ~~~~}}

I propose merging ...
: Rest of the discussion...

{{Discussion bottom}}
  3. ↑ To add {{Old merge}}, use this format:
    {{Old merge
| otherpage = DESTINATIONPAGE
| result = '''not merged'''
| talk = Talk:DESTINATIONPAGE#Merge proposal
| date = {{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}
}}

See also