User:Guy vandegrift/Merging history pages

Consider two pages which I shall call Source and Destination.


 * 1) Delete Destination (you will undelete later).
 * 2) Move Source to Destination using using "More>Move" in the edit bar at the top of the screen.
 * 3) Undelete Destination using "Tools/Logs" on the right sidebar.
 * 4) Refresh/clear cache (can't you just use a different browser?)


 * See also w:Wikipedia:How_to_fix_cut-and-paste_moves

Here is an explanation provided by user:Abd:

 * Goal: Merge A and B.
 * 1) Delete B.
 * 2) Move A to B.
 * 3) View history of B and click on "View or restore ... deleted edits?"
 * 4) Restore all edits.
 * Done.


 * I put your explanation just below mine, and linked to the Wikipedia page on the subject. This current page links out of my ../Editorial tricks/ page, so I am certain I will find it next time I merge.  I also learned how to create the shortcuts on my browser in such a way that I can keep track of everything.  Thanks for your help


 * Looking over your algorithm, I noticed that you looked at the history of B in order to restore, while I went into Tools/Logs. I will check that out next time.  Although this documentation is not polished, I think its enough for now, considering that its on a user page.


 * One more thing: When I first studied this I think I did the manual merge on my practice page. Then I discovered Special:MergeHistory, but did not realize that it only worked when all the edits of one page come later than all the edits in the other.  This misunderstanding explains why I spent so much time trying to use  Special:MergeHistory.  Nothing is more destructive than the false belief that in the past you successfully used a tool that cannot do the job. --Guy vandegrift (discuss • contribs) 02:36, 27 August 2015 (UTC)

A different point of view from Wikipedia
If I am correctly reading w:Wikipedia:Merging, best practice might not involve merging histories. Instead, one can keep both pages and use a redirect. The namespace associated with one of the versions will remain forever dedicated to documenting the history. Wikipedia would use three templates to document this situation:

Template:R from merge .. Template:Merged-to .. Template:Merged-from .. Template:In use

w:Template:R from merge .. w:Template:Merged-to .. w:Template:Merged-from .. w:Template:In use