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→‎top: {{Redirect2}} + "the template used to mark discussions as closed|Template:Archive top" - I nearly pointed someone to WP:ARCHIVE when I meant to point them to Template:Archive top, I'm probably not the only one confused by the overlapping names
replace hat with beginner version template
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{{shortShort description|Wikimedia project page, adviceAdvice on archiving completed discussions}}
{{About|archiving old discussions on a talk page|adding web archives to citations|Help:Archiving a source}}
{{Redirect2|Help:Archive|Help:Archiving|Wikipedia's historical archive|Wikipedia:Historical archive|help on archiving web pages|Help:Archiving a source|the template with a similar name|Template:Archive top|selfref=yes}}
{{redirect|WP:AATP|the project page with the [[WP:ATP]] shortcut|Wikipedia:Attack page}}
{{pp-vandalism|small=yes}}
{{Pp-move-indef}}
{{Beginner version|Help: Archiving (plain and simple)}}
{{Wikipedia how to|H:ARC|WP:ARCHIVE|WP:AATP}}
{{nutshell|This page explains how and why to set up archiving and archive search boxes on Wikipedia, offering multiple options and assessments of those options.|}}
 
It is customary to periodically '''archive old discussions on a talk page''' when thatthe talk page becomes too large. BulkyArchiving is often done automatically by a [[HelpWikipedia:Using talk pagesBots|talk pagesbot]]. may beStep-by-step hardinstructions to navigate,set containup obsoleteautomated discussion,archiving orcan becomebe afound burdenat for'''[[Help:Archiving users(plain withand slow Internet connections or computerssimple)]]'''. NoticesThere are placedtwo atmain thebots beginningthat of thearchive talk page to inform all editors of an archive.pages:
 
* [[User:ClueBot III]] will create archives based on the parameters set using [[User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis]].
Regular articles are not archived because previous versions may be seen in the [[Help:Page history|page history]]; the practice of archiving is peculiar to talk pages and noticeboards, which often swell to great length. Archiving one's own user talk page is optional; some users simply [[WP:BLANKING|blank the page]], as the history is kept available for future reference, but this is not considered the best practice (as it makes things more difficult to find and link). For this specific case, the use of "permalinks" can provide an easy way to display an archived view of a talk page at a given moment, though there's no control on thread organization or presentation.
* [[User:Lowercase sigmabot III/Archive HowTo|User:Lowercase sigmabot III]] will create archives based on the parameters set using [[User:MiszaBot/config]].
 
Archives can also be created manually. Manual archiving can be done [[Help:Archiving a talk page/Manual archiving|by hand]] by cutting and pasting from a talk page to an archive subpage. [[Wikipedia:One click archiving|One click archiving]] streamlines this process by adding an archive button to all talk page sections.
The [[Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines#When to archive pages|talk page guidelines]] suggest archiving when the talk page exceeds 75 KB (or 75,000 bytes), or has multiple resolved or stale discussions. However, when to archive, and what may be the optimal length for a talk page, are subjective decisions that should be adapted to each case. For example, ongoing discussions and nearby sections they reference should generally be kept intact.
 
Only noticeboards and talk pages are archived because both can become very long. The [[Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines#When to archive pages|talk page guidelines]] suggest archiving when the talk page exceeds 75 KB (or 75,000 bytes) or has multiple resolved or stale discussions. Older discussions that are still relevant can be summarized and linked using the {{Tlx|FAQ}} template. Archiving one's own user talk page is preferred but optional; some users simply [[WP:BLANKING|blank the page]].
There may be circumstances where it would be useful to keep older discussions present on a talk page, to avoid the same issues being repeatedly raised. However, this situation can be better addressed by use of the {{Tlx|FAQ}} template.
 
== Technical overview ==
{{main|Help:Archiving a talk page/Naming}}
The preferred method for archiving a talk page is to copy the older sections to a series of [[Wikipedia:Subpages|subpages]], and remove the sections from the original page. This can be performed either [[#Manual archiving|by hand]] or [[#Automated archiving|automatically]] by a [[Wikipedia:Bots|bot]].
 
There are several standard ways to archive a talk page. Each consists of [[Cut and paste|cutting and pasting]] sections from a talk page to an "Archive" [[Wikipedia:Subpages|subpage]]. The sections can archived [[#Manual archiving|manually]] or [[#Automated archiving|automatically]]. Manual archiving is done by editing the page by hand or using a [[Wikipedia:One click archiving|one click archiving]] script that adds an archive button to talk page sections. Automatic archiving is done by a [[Wikipedia:Bots|bot]]. There are two widely archiving bots, [[User:ClueBot III]] and [[User:Lowercase sigmabot III]].
There are two common methods of naming archive pages. The most common, and easiest, is sequentially numbered archives. Archive pages should be named as follows: take the name of the talk page, and add "<code>/Archive&nbsp;#</code>", where "<code>#</code>" is the number of the archive. Note that the word ''Archive'' has a capital ''A'', there is a space before the number, and there are no leading zeros. Templates like {{Tl|Archive list}} rely on this naming convention to automatically find the archive pages.
 
The most common method of [[Help:Archiving a talk page/Naming|naming talk page archives]] is with sequentially numbered archives. For example:
 
For example:
* The 20th archive of [[Talk:Earth]] would be named <code>Talk:Earth/Archive&nbsp;20</code>
* The first archive of [[User talk:Example]] would be named <code>User talk:Example/Archive&nbsp;1</code>
 
The second common method of naming archive pages is by year and month. With this method archive pages are typically named <code>Talk:YourPage/Archives/2013/June</code>, <code>Talk:YourPage/Archives/2013/July</code>, etc. Some things are more complex with this method of naming. When using this naming scheme the subpages should use <code>/Archives/</code> not <code>/Archive/</code> as some of the navigation templates rely on Archives being plural.
 
Remember to use the correct namespace&nbsp;– the part before the colon (<code>:</code>)&nbsp;– when archiving your own user talk page. It should start with "<code>User talk:</code>", not "<code>Talk:</code>".
 
Alternatively, archives are often named chronologically. Archive templates will not automatically detect subpages with unusual names.
 
== Are there any existing archived talk pages?==
 
Most of the methods here rely on checking if any archived talk pages already exist, and placing the new sections to be archived either into the most recent archive, or in a new archive numerically sequenced one above the existing archive. There is a search to check if any subpages exist under a talk page (and archived pages are usually placed in subpages of the existing talk page). In the search bar type:
:<code><nowiki>Special:PrefixIndex/</nowiki>''Talk:Pagename''</code>
For example
:<code>[[Special:PrefixIndex/Help talk:Archiving a talk page]]</code> will display the talk page to this help page and all its archives.
 
== Manual archiving ==
===Cut and paste procedure===
{{main|Help:Archiving a talk page/Manual archiving}}
# Edit the talk page, copying material you wish to archive to your computer's [[Clipboard (computing)|clipboard]].
# Create a new archive page at <code>Talk:Example page/Archive N</code>, where N is the lowest number for which no archive exists. (You can create the page by searching for the desired title and clicking the red link in the search results, or by editing the URL bar to point to the desired location then clicking the "Create" button.)
#*Alternatively, you may occasionally wish to create a topical archive, in which case the archive should be named according to the topic. For example <code>Talk:Example page/Place of birth debate</code>.
# Paste the clipboard contents into this archive and add {{Tlx|Talk archive}} (or {{tlx|Automatic archive navigator}} to enable navigation between archives) to the top of the code. Publish the new archive.
# Delete copied material from main talk page with edit summary mentioning the name of the new archive.
# If an archive box doesn't already exist on the main talk page, add the line {{Tlx|Archives}} below the WikiProject tags and publish. (This will not be necessary if the main talk page already contains the line {{Tlx|Talk header}}, since this template automatically contains a list of archives).
 
The most basic way to [[/Manual archiving|manually archive]] a page is to [[Cut and paste|cut the material]] from the talk page and [[Cut and paste|paste it]] into an archive. If no archive exists, you will need to create a new subpage. Create the archive subpage at <code>Talk:Example page/Archive N</code> where "N" is either "1", the next positive [[integer]], or an appropriate name for a topic-specific archive (for example <code>Talk:Example page/Place of birth debate</code>). When an archive subpage becomes too large, new archives can be created as needed.
For a more detailed set of instructions see [[/Manual archiving]]
 
When manually creating an archive, add {{tlx|Automatic archive navigator}} to the top of each archive page. If an archive box doesn't already exist on the main talk page, add the line {{Tlx|Archives}} below the WikiProject tags. For the full list of archiving templates, see [[:Category:Archival templates]]. For step-by-step instructions, see [[/Manual archiving]].
 
=== {{anchor|Semi-automated cut and past procedure}}Semi-automated cut and paste procedure ===
[[Wikipedia:One click archiving|One click archiving]] allows you to archive any section of a talk page by clicking a button next to the section. To use this method, you'll need to install a [[Wikipedia:User scripts|user script]]. After installing one of the scripts listed below or at [[Wikipedia:One click archiving]], you will see links next to talk page headers allowing you to archive a section immediately:
[[User:Technical 13/Scripts/OneClickArchiver|OneClickArchiver]] and [[User:Σ/Testing facility/Archiver|Archy McArchface]] are userscripts designed to simplify the above manual procedure. Instead of manually copying and pasting the text, these scripts allow you to simply check which sections you wish to archive and specify a page to archive the selected sections to.
 
* [[User:Elli/OneClickArchiver]] – archives one section at a time<!--Maintained as of 2024-->
=== Other manual procedures ===
* [[User:FlightTime/OneClickArchiver.js]] - archives one section at a time<!--Maintained as of 2024-->
[[Help:Archiving a talk page/Other procedures|Other manual procedures]] were once considered equal alternatives with the cut and paste procedure described above. Over time both methods fell out of use and are generally not used. If you have used the page move procedure those pages '''do not qualify''' for [[Wikipedia:CSD#U1|speedy deletion by user request]].
* [[User:andrybak/Archiver]] – archives multiple sections at once<!--Maintained as of 2024-->
 
{{anchor|Other manual procedures}}
[[Help:Archiving a talk page/Other procedures|Other manual procedures]]—like [[Wikipedia:Moving a page|moving]] talk pages to archive subpages—are discouraged. See the discussion at [[Wikipedia talk:How to archive a talk page/Archive 1#Archive standards]] for rationale.
{{anchor|Automated_archival}}
 
== Automated archiving ==
{{for|plain and simple automated archiving|Help:Archiving (plain and simple)}}
{{shortcut|WP:AUTOARCHIVE}}
[[User:ClueBot III|ClueBot III]] and [[User:lowercase sigmabot III|lowercase sigmabot III]] can automatically create archives for any discussion page (one that has "talk" in the namespace), by moving sections to a subpage when the section has received no comments for a specified period of time. Both bots can archive sections into simple sequentially numbered archives (e.g. <code>YourPage/Archive&nbsp;1</code>, <code>YourPage/Archive&nbsp;2</code>, ...), or archive according to date (e.g. <code>YourPage/Archives/2013/June</code>, <code>YourPage/Archives/2013/July</code>, ...).
 
See the '''[[User:ClueBot III|ClueBot III page]]''' and the '''[[User:lowercase sigmabot III/Archive HowTo|lowercase sigmabot III page]]''' for detailed instructions on setting up these bots. Those pages explain each of the parameters used, such as <code>archiveheader</code>, <code>minthreadsleft</code>, etc. The examples below are also available for use. All of the examples here are intended for you to be able to copy them while viewing this page and paste them into the edit box on your target page without ''requiring'' any modification to have a working configuration.
 
=== Choosing a bot ===
'''Note:''' Make sure to establish consensus before setting up ClueBot III or lowercase sigmabot III on a talk page other than your user talk page.
 
=== Choosing a bot. Table comparing the 2 main bots ===
[[User:ClueBot III|ClueBot III]] and [[User:lowercase sigmabot III|lowercase sigmabot III]], the two bots in current use for automated archiving, are similar in their behaviour, but have some differences in terms of features they implement and limitations on their use:
{| class="wikitable"
Line 61 ⟶ 72:
! ClueBot III
|-
! style=text-align:left; | Number of talk pages in use on.
| [https://templatecount.toolforge.org/index.php?lang=en&namespace=2&name=MiszaBot%2Fconfig 29~37,000]
| [https://templatecount.toolforge.org/index.php?lang=en&namespace=2&name=ClueBot+III%2FArchiveThis 8~10,000600]
|-
! style=text-align:left; | Index of archives?
Line 82 ⟶ 93:
|}
 
The following are example configurations to set up automatic archiving of an article talk page or user talk page. These configuration templates do not produce any visible output, so you should generally also include [[#For talk pages|a template]] such as {{tlx|Archives}} to provide readers with links to search and navigate the archives. These templates may also be configured with the parameters <code>bot</code> and <code>age</code> to include a message notifying readers that automatic archiving is taking place. For example: {{tlc|Archives|age{{=}}90|bot{{=}}[[User:ClueBot III#How to archive your page|ClueBot III]]}}.
=== Sequentially numbered archives ===
Example configurations to set up automatic archiving of an article talk page or user talk page:
 
=== Example with sequentially numbered archives ===
First: Copy the entire content of one of the following columns (starting with {{code|{{((}}}} and ending with a line containing only the text {{code|{{))}}}}) and paste it unchanged near the top of the page.
 
{| class="wikitable"
Line 91 ⟶ 101:
! colspan="2" | Sequentially numbered archives
|-
! [[User:lowercaseLowercase sigmabot III/Archive HowTo|lowercaseLowercase sigmabot III]] !! [[User:ClueBot III#How to archive your page|ClueBot III]]
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| <!-- This is intended to be able to be copied while you are viewing the page, not while editing. --><presyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">
<nowiki>{{User:MiszaBot/config
| algo=old(90d)
| archive={{SUBST:#titleparts:{{SUBST:FULLPAGENAME}}}}/Archive %(counter)d
| counter=1
| maxarchivesize=75K
Line 102 ⟶ 112:
| minthreadsleft=5
| minthreadstoarchive=2
}}</nowiki></presyntaxhighlight>
|| <!-- This is intended to be able to be copied while you are viewing the page, not while editing. --><presyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">
<nowiki>{{User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis
| age=2160
| archiveprefix={{SUBST:#titleparts:{{SUBST:FULLPAGENAME}}}}/Archive
| numberstart=1
| maxarchsize=75000
Line 113 ⟶ 123:
| minarchthreads=2
| format= %%i
}}</nowikisyntaxhighlight>
|}
</pre>
|-
| colspan="2" |Second: In general, you should also insert{{tlc|Archives}} to provide a search box; copy (starting with {{code|{{((}}}} and ending with {{code|{{))}}}} and paste. You can also use {{tlc|Archives|bot{{=}}<var>bot name</var>}}. Copy (starting with {{code|{{((}}}} and ending with {{code|{{))}}}}); this time when you paste you'll replace ''bot name'' with either Lowercase Sigmabot III or ClueBot III.
 
Both of the above examples will create archive pages, as needed, starting with <code>YourPage''TalkPage''/Archive&nbsp;1</code> and continuing with <code>YourPage''TalkPage''/Archive&nbsp;2</code>, etc., when the current archive page grows to more than 75,000 bytes. Only sections with dates that are older than 90 days (2,160 hours) will be archived, although the five sections with the most recent contributions will be retained on the talk page no matter how long ago the last contribution was added. If archives for the page already exist, then set the counter/numberstart parameter to the next archive number in the series.
 
|-
|colspan="2"|{{anchor|FULLPAGENAME}}Warning: the systemmagic variableword '''<nowiki>{{SUBST:FULLPAGENAME}}</nowiki>''' is replaced by the talk page name when the template is saved to a talk page. However some punctuation characters that can appear in a page name (<code>"&'</code>) are replaced by HTML character codes that are not recognised by the bots (see [[:mediawikiwiki:Manual:PAGENAMEE encoding#PAGENAME]] for details about these and other characters). For example <code>'</code> is replaced with <code>&#39&#59;</code> (so if the bot is to work then <code>&#39&#59;</code> must be replaced with <code>'</code>). This can be circumvented by using <code><nowiki>{{SUBST:#titleparts:{{SUBST:FULLPAGENAME}}}}</nowiki></code> to automatically sort the encoding.
|}
 
=== ArchivesExample with archives by year/ and month ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
Line 135 ⟶ 142:
Note:Each time ClueBot III runs it places threads in a ''single'' archive which is the YYYY/Month of (NOW - age). If you are starting archiving with a backlog this will result in a ''single file'' with all of your old threads older than <code>age</code>. ClueBot III does not appear to run every single day. Thus, even when archiving has been running for a while, some threads may end up in an archive that is one month later than when they were last edited.<br />
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| <!-- This is intended to be able to be copied while you are viewing the page, not while editing. --><presyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">
<nowiki>{{User:MiszaBot/config
| algo=old(90d)
| archive={{SUBST:#titleparts:{{SUBST:FULLPAGENAME}}}}/Archives/%(year)d/%(monthname)s
| minthreadsleft=4
| minthreadstoarchive=2
}}</nowiki></presyntaxhighlight>
|| <!-- This is intended to be able to be copied while you are viewing the page, not while editing. --><presyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">
<nowiki>{{User:ClueBot III/ArchiveThis
| age=2160
| archiveprefix={{SUBST:#titleparts:{{SUBST:FULLPAGENAME}}}}/Archives/
| minkeepthreads=4
| minarchthreads=2
| format=Y/F
}}</nowikisyntaxhighlight>
</pre>
|-
| colspan="2" |Both of the above examples will create archive pages, as needed, with names similar to <code>YourPage/Archives/June</code>, <code>YourPage/Archives/July</code>, etc. Only sections with dates that are older than 90 days (2,160 hours) will be archived in these examples.
|-
|colspan="2"|see the Warning above for the system variable [[#FULLPAGENAME|FULLPAGENAME]]
|}
 
Line 163 ⟶ 167:
 
The <code>maxarchivesize</code>/<code>maxarchsize</code> parameter determines how large each archive is allowed to grow before a new archive is started. Keeping this value larger than a typical talk page allows the archives to be browsed more easily, but increases page load times. Each individual archive should not be larger than 512kB, because this may cause accessibility problems for some devices. Because a large batch of threads can "overshoot" the <code>maxarch[ive]size</code> parameter, the parameter should always be set lower than the maximum acceptable archive size.
 
=== Category:Pages where archive parameter is not a subpage ===
One limitation of the way automatic archival instructions are set up is how page moves will easily break the functionality. For several reasons, the bots will generally only archive to subpages; that is, the archive must reside as one or more subpages to the talk page in question.
 
When a page is renamed (moved) and the user forgets to also update the bot instructions, this means that no further archiving will take place (until the bot instructions are updated manually). To facilitate identifying cases where archiving is interrupted, the [[:Category:Pages where archive parameter is not a subpage]] was created.
 
If your talk page isn't archiving properly, you might want to check this category. If your page is included, this indicates that the specified archive pages are incorrect.
 
==Templates==
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===For talk pages===
There are many templates that can be placed on talk pages to make the page's archives visible and accessible to editors. These can be broadly divided into "boxes" (which generally appear floating to the right of the table of contents), and banners. Some pages use one or the other, and some use both. Templates dedicated to archiving should generally be [[WP:TALKORDER|placed last]], after all other talk templates, but before the discussions proper.
==== Archive link boxes ====
{{Anchor|Archive box}}
Line 184 ⟶ 195:
{{clear}}
;Example 2
{{Archives|*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_1|2003-20062003–2006]]
*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_2|2006-20072006–2007]]
*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_3|2007-20092007–2009]]
*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_4|2008-20142008–2014]]
*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_5|2014-20192014–2019]]}}
For a box with a manual archive list and a search bar {{tlp|Archives|''List of archives''}} can be used. For the box to the right the code is:
<br><codesyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">{{tlp|Archives|<br>
<nowiki>*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_1|2003-20062003–2006]]</nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_2|2006-20072006–2007]]</nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_3|2007-20092007–2009]]</nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_4|2008-20142008–2014]]</nowiki> <br>
<nowiki>*[[Help_talk:Archiving_a_talk_page/Archive_5|2014-20192014–2019]]</nowiki>}}</codesyntaxhighlight>
{{clear}}
;Example 3
{{Archives|auto=long|'''Archive box archives''':<br>[[Template talk:Archive box/Archive 1|Archive 1]], [[Template talk:Archive box/Archive 1|Archive 1]]|root=Template talk:Archives}}
For a box with both an automatic and manual list {{tlp|Archives|auto=long|''List of archives''}} can be used. The example below for [[Template talk:Archives]] where the archives for the old {{tl|archive box}} template are shown use the following code:
<code><nowikisyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" inline>{{Archives|auto=long|'''Archive box archives''':<br>[[Template talk:Archive box/Archive 1|Archive 1]], [[Template talk:Archive box/Archive 1|Archive 1]]}}</nowiki></codesyntaxhighlight>
{{clear}}
;Example 4
Line 209 ⟶ 220:
| collapsible = yes
| collapsed = yes
| style = background-color:#FFAAAA; width:140px
| box-width = 140px
| title = These are the archives!
| image = File:Crystal Clear app file-manager.png
Line 219 ⟶ 229:
}}
This template just demonstrate a lot of the parameters. Most of them are quite self explanatory. <br>
<code><nowikisyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">{{archives
| auto = short
| search = no
Line 225 ⟶ 235:
| collapsible = yes
| collapsed = yes
| style = background-color:#FFAAAA; width:140px
| box-width = 140px
| title = These are the archives!
| image = File:Crystal Clear app file-manager.png
Line 233 ⟶ 242:
| age = 1
| units = year
}}</nowiki></codesyntaxhighlight>
{{clear}}
 
Line 239 ⟶ 248:
Automatic archive boxes for Year/Month archives are a bit more complicated.
 
The most common method is by using the {{Tl|Archives by months}} template to generate links to your existing archives. It produces a live link for each existing archive month within a year. It is commonly used in something similar to:
{| border="0"
|-
| width="400" |<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">{{Archive box |search=yes |collapsible=yes |
| colspan="2" |The most common method is by using the {{Tl|Archives by months}} template to generate links to your existing archives. It produces a live link for each existing archive month within a year. It is commonly used in something similar to:
bot=ClueBot III |age=90 |
|-
title=[[Help:Archiving a talk page|Archives]]<!--
| width="300" |<pre><nowiki>{{Archive box |search=yes |collapsible=yes |
--> ([[{{#titleparts:{{TALKPAGENAME}}|1}}/Archive index|index]])|
bot=ClueBot III |age=90 |</nowiki>
{{Nowrap|'''2004''': {{Archives by months|2004}}}}
<nowiki>title=[[Help:Archiving a talk page|Archives]]<!--</nowiki>
{{Nowrap|'''2005''': {{Archives by months|2005}}}}
<nowiki>--> ([[{{#titleparts:{{TALKPAGENAME}}|1}}/Archive index|index]])| </nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20042006''': {{Archives by months|20042006}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20052007''': {{Archives by months|20052007}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20062008''': {{Archives by months|20062008}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20072009''': {{Archives by months|20072009}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20082010''': {{Archives by months|20082010}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20092011''': {{Archives by months|20092011}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20102012''': {{Archives by months|20102012}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20112013''': {{Archives by months|20112013}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20122014''': {{Archives by months|20122014}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20132015''': {{Archives by months|20132015}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''20142016''': {{Archives by months|2014}}2016}}</nowiki>
}}</syntaxhighlight>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''2015''': {{Archives by months|2015}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>{{Nowrap|'''2016''': {{Archives by months|2016}}}}</nowiki>
<nowiki>}}</nowiki> </pre>
| style="vertical-align:top;" | {{Archive box |search=yes |title=[[Help:Archiving a talk page|Archives]]<!--
--> ([[{{#titleparts:{{TALKPAGENAME}}|1}}/Archive index|index]]) |collapsible=yes |bot=ClueBot III |age=90
Line 277 ⟶ 285:
{{Nowrap|'''2014''': {{Archives by months|2014}}}}
{{Nowrap|'''2015''': {{Archives by months|2015}}}}
{{Nowrap|'''2016''': {{Archives by months|2016}}}}
}}
|}
Line 289 ⟶ 297:
==== Archive link banner ====
 
Instead of putting the archive links in a box that floats to the right or left, some prefer the links in a banner like {{tl|Talk header}}. Yearly and alphabetic archives are automatically detected in addition to regular sequential archives. A search box is by default included and if the page is archived by bots an auto archiving notice can be included by specifying {{para|archive_age}} in days.
 
'''{{tl|Talk header}}''' and '''{{tl|Auto archiving notice}}'''
 
<nowiki>{{Talk header}}</nowiki>
{{Talk header}}
 
'''The archive links show up in a row at the bottom of the above banner.''' ToFor seea examplesreal goworld toexample see '''[[SpecialTalk:WhatLinksHere/Template:talkheaderProxima Centauri]].'''
 
==== Archive notice banner ====
 
<nowiki>{{Auto archiving notice|bot=ClueBot III|age=14}}</nowiki>
{{Auto archiving notice|bot=ClueBot III|age=14}}
<nowiki>{{Auto archiving notice|bot=Lowercase sigmabot III|age=14}}</nowiki>
{{Auto archiving notice|bot=Lowercase sigmabot III|age=14}}
 
"Age" is in days. For notice examples; see: '''[[Special:WhatLinksHere/Template:Auto archiving notice]].'''
 
== Archive indexing ==
{{Notice|[[User:Legobot|Legobot]]'s archive indexing task is currently not functioning on a regular basis and has not been for quite some time. It is unclear when, or if, this bot will be functioning.}}
Having an archive index makes finding old discussions on a given topic easier, particularly in pages with many archives, or when the archives are of considerable size. An archive index, when one exists, is typically stored on the page <code>Talk:YourPage/Archive index</code>. While it is possible to generate an index by hand, the <code>/Archive index</code> page is normally generated automatically. There are two bots which automatically create indexes: [[User:Legobot|Legobot]] and [[User:ClueBot III|ClueBot III]].
 
Line 319 ⟶ 315:
! Numbered archives !! Archives/Year/Month
|- valign="top" <!-- This is intended to be able to be copied while you are viewing the page, not while editing. -->
| <pre><nowikisyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">{{User:HBC Archive Indexerbot/OptIn
|target=/Archive index
|mask=/Archive <#>
|leading_zeros=0
|indexhere=yes
}}</nowiki></presyntaxhighlight><!-- This is intended to be able to be copied while you are viewing the page, not while editing. -->
|| <pre><nowikisyntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">{{User:HBC Archive Indexerbot/OptIn
|target=/Archive index
|mask=/Archives/<year>/<month>
|indexhere=yes
}}</nowiki></presyntaxhighlight>
|}
 
[[User:ClueBot III|ClueBot III]] automatically creates an archive index when archiving. ClueBot III stores the archive indexes it creates on unique pages in its user space. The archive index for the page you are archiving can be [[WP:TRANS|transcluded]] onto your <code>Talk:YourPage/Archive index</code> page by putting the following text in that page:<br />
<code><nowiki>{{User:ClueBot III/Master Detailed Indices/{{NAMESPACE}}: {{BASEPAGENAME}}}}</nowiki></code><!-- This is intended to be able to be copied while you are viewing the page, not while editing. -->
 
== Archive searching ==
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== Continuing discussions ==
If a thread has been archived prematurely, such as when it is still relevant to current work or was not concluded, unarchive it by copying it back to the talk page from the archive, and deleting it from the archive. Do not unarchive a thread that was effectively closed; instead, start a new discussion and link to the archived prior discussion.
It is difficult to say exactly when a discussion "ends" and when it is continuing. Given that archived discussions are immutable, archiving a discussion effectively ends that particular discussion. When reopening a discussion is desired, links to archived discussions can be provided in the new discussion thread.
 
== Example pages ==
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== See also ==
* [[Help:UsingArchiving talk(plain pagesand simple)]]
*[[Help:Using talk pages]]
* [[Wikipedia:Closing discussions]]
* [[Wikipedia:Refactoring talk pages]]
* [[Module:Archive list]] is the, [[Wikipedia:Lua|Lua]] code that drives Archive templates
* Pages that need archiving
** [[Wikipedia:Database reports/Long pages|Database report of long pages]], contains a list of long talk pages.
** [[:Category:Archive requests|Category Archive requests]] is populated by the {{Tl|Archiveme}} template.
 
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Archiving_a_talk_page"