Wikipedia:Splitting

Note: To comply with Wikipedia's licensing requirements, which require that all content contributors receive attribution, the page receiving the split material must have an edit summary noting "split content from [[article name]]". (Do not omit this step or omit the page name.) A note should also be made in the edit summary of the source article, "split content to [[article name]]". The {{Copied}} template can also be placed on the talk page of both articles. For further information, refer to the main Copying within Wikipedia guideline.

Step 1: Create a discussion

Skip to step 5 if making a bold split. Create a discussion on the talkpage of the page that content is to be split from. Include what sections are to be split and what the new page name should be. Example:

== Splitting proposal ==

I propose that the section about blinker liquids be split into a separate page called [[Blinker fluid]]. The content of the section is only marginally related to the main article, and this section is large and well-sourced enough to make its own page. ~~~~

Notify involved users (optional): To generate a discussion and to notify people who know a lot about the topic, it is recommended to contact involved users. These users can be: frequent contributors, the creator of the page or users who have a lot of posts on the talk page. You can notify them by {{ping |USER1|USER2|...}} or by using a notice for their talk page {{Subst:Splitnote | ARTICLE NAME | NEW ARTICLE NAME | TALK PAGE}}.

Step 2: Add notice

Use {{split}} to notify users of the proposed split. On the article (not the talkpage) add {{split|Article 1|date=April 2024}} or {{split|Article 1|Article 2|...|date=April 2024}}. This template adds a box to notify users about the split. If the new page name is unknown, use {{split}} by itself with no parameters.

Step 3: Discuss

In many cases, a hybrid discussion/straw poll is used, but remember that polling is not a substitute for discussion.

Example formatting:

 * '''Support''' – <insert reason for supporting split here> ~~~~
 * '''Oppose''' – <insert reason for opposing split here> ~~~~

Step 4: Close the discussion and determine the consensus

During discussion, a

In more unclear, controversial cases, the determination that a consensus to split has or has not been achieved should be made by an editor who is neutral and not directly involved in the split proposal or the discussion. If necessary, a request that an administrator, who is not

To close a split proposal discussion, the {{

== Split proposal ==

{{Discussion top|result=The result of this discussion was to ... ~~~~}}

<Start of discussion>
.
.
.
<End of discussion>

{{Discussion bottom}}

Step 5: Perform the splitting

See below. This is the most important step!

Step 6: Clean up

If material is split from an article, consider whether a

The following procedure can be used for splitting from a single source article to a new article. These instructions are provided for guidance, but some steps may not be necessary in all cases and these instructions may not cover every eventuality. It is advisable to read through the whole of this procedure before starting.

1. If the material you want for the new article is scattered around the source article, then prepare the source article by grouping the material to be split out into a single section. Save your changes with an edit summary like "preparing to split article". If the material you want for the new article is already in a single section, then skip this step.
2. Create the new article by opening the empty page (or redirect page).
3. Open the source article (or relevant section) to edit in another browser window (or tab) and copy the contents to be split out (from the section created in step #1) from the source article.
4. Paste into the new article with
   edit summary
   "Contents [[WP:SPLIT]] from [[Source article name]]; please see its history for attribution." and save the new article.
5. Tidy up the new article:
   • The lead sentence will need to be changed to use bold font and usually includes a link to the source article.
   • A References section should be added and categories should be added. There may also be sections of a bibliography, navboxes, See also section or External links that can be copied from the source article.
   • Adjust section headings.
   • Add any background information about the parent subject that will be necessary for the reader to understand the subtopic.
   • Resolve any cite errors that occur when invocations of a named reference are separated from their definition – i.e. copy the relevant information from the source article.
6. Create a good summary of the subtopic at the parent article.
   • Add "{{
     See
     " template instead of the "Main" template. Use the edit summary "Material [[WP:SPLIT]] to [[New article name]]" and save the edit.
   • Add a summary, usually of a couple of paragraphs and one image, of the newly created subtopic (unless complete removal is appropriate). Alternatively, with a strong lead paragraph in the new article, use an excerpt template to replace the section: {{Excerpt|Page title}}
   • There may be some external links, bibliography items, etc. that can be removed from the source article as they are now in the new article.
7. Check Special:WhatLinksHere to see whether some inlinks to the source article (especially any that were to the section that has been split off) can now be changed to point to the new article.
8. (Optionally) Add templates referring to the split to the talk pages:
   • If the new article is not being created from scratch (e.g. there is already a redirect), then go to the new article, click on 'View history' tab, select the edit where the copy was made, open it and copy the
     diff URL
     of the edit where the cut was made from the browser URL window.
   • If the new article is being created from scratch, it's a bit more complicated to obtain a
     diff URL – see Template:Copied
     .
   • Open the source article talk page to edit in a new tab.
   • Add template {{Copied|from=|from_oldid=|to=|to_diff=}} to source article talk page, and paste the diff URL into it, add the title of the new article and the date, add a descriptive edit summary and save the edit.
   • Open the new (destination) article talk page to edit in a new tab.
   • Add template {{Copied|from=|from_oldid=|to=|to_diff=}} to the new article talk page, and paste the diff into it, add the title of the source page and the date, add a descriptive edit summary and save the edit.
   • On the talk page of the new article, you can put the {{
     SubArticle}} or {{Summary in
     }} tag to create a banner that refers back to the main article.
9. (Optionally) Put WikiProject tags on the new article's talk page.
10. (If possible) Connect the new article to any corresponding articles in other Wikipedias – see
    Interwiki
    .

A list of articles that have been tagged for consideration for splitting are at Category:Articles to be split.

• Wikipedia:Proposed article splits
• Wikipedia:Naming conventions (lists) § Long (split) list naming recommendations
• Wikipedia:Summary style
• Wikipedia:Merging
• Wikipedia:Content forks – there are acceptable and unacceptable content forks. Know the difference.
• Lumpers and splitters