Help:Moving a page

You might want to move a page for a number of reasons. For example, the title may have been misspelt or the content may have changed to the point where the existing title is inappropriate.

You must be logged in to move a page. On the page you want to move, click on the "Move" tab near the top of the screen. A form will appear allowing you to enter the new name for the page. Note that you can specify a name in a different namespace if you wish.

You should give the reason for the move. This will be recorded in the page history of the moved page under its new title as a dummy revision with no changes from the previous revision. It will also appear in recent changes.

There is a checkbox allowing you to move the associated talk page. This box should normally be checked. There is also an option to "Watch this page". Checking this box will add both the existing page title and the new page title to your watchlist.

When you click on the "Move page" button, the page and its history are moved to the new name. A new page is created at the old page name, redirecting to the new name. Note that pages which redirect to the original title are not altered. They will become double redirects. These do not work so you will have to edit these pages manually to refer to the new title.

Moving over an existing page

In general you cannot move a page over an existing page unless you are an administrator. There is one exception to this rule - if the existing page redirects to the page you want to move and only has one entry in the history, the move will be allowed. This means you can correct moves if you make a mistake provided the redirect page created in the original move has not been edited.

Administrators have the option of deleting the existing page as part of the move operation.

Other notes

You cannot move a protected page. If you think a protected page needs to be moved, you need to ask an administrator to move it for you.

You should not move a redirect page. This will create double redirects, which do not work.

If you believe the move might be controversial, make sure you discuss it with other users via the page's talk page first.