Merges and identity

What a merge is

A merge is a person's decision that two names mean the same thing, for example a nickname and a full name. Open the page you want to fold away, choose Merge…, pick the page to keep under Keep this page, and read What happens before you confirm. Editors, admins and owners can merge.

What changes

• Canon facts and pending candidates that name the old page now name the kept one. Their statements and quotes don't change.
• The old names are listed on the kept page as Merged from, so mentions keep linking. Hand-typed aliases become aliases of the kept page.
• The kept page takes the old summary and fields where its own are empty, adds the old notes to its notes, and gets the portrait and images.
• Open rule-based conflicts that only existed because these were two pages close as Resolved by merge. Their history stays.
• Waiting change proposals whose impact the merge changed show Impact out of date. and need a fresh analysis before they can be accepted.
• Later candidates that name a merged name are shown to the reviewer with the kept name, and saved under it when accepted.
• The audit log keeps a full copy of the old page and every fact's previous names, so the merge can be traced and undone by hand.

Before you merge

CanonTracker warns when the two pages are of different types, or when both have their own canon. Those are often two different things that share a name. The merge is still allowed, but read the warning first.