Wikidata:WikiProject Stanford Libraries/Merging duplicate items
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Multiple Wikidata items may be created for the same entity when data is imported from Wikipedia or other external sources, or if a user's search term doesn't match the label or aliases for the item. Duplicate items may easily be merged using the merge gadget, which can be turned on by checking "Merge" on the Gadgets page in Preferences.
How to merge duplicate items
[edit]- Check that the two items don’t link to different Wikipedia pages in the same language (under Sitelinks). If they do, the items cannot be merged.
- Confirm that the two items describe the same entity by comparing the descriptions and checking external identifiers associated with the items. Also click "What links here" under "Tools" in the left sidebar to see how the items are referenced elsewhere in Wikidata.
- On one of the duplicate items, click “More” and then “Select for merging."
- On the other item, click the round merge icon that has appeared at the top of the page. A pop-up window will appear.
- Optional: summarize the merge rationale in the box labeled "Append the following text to the auto-generated edit summary."
- In the pop-up window, click “Merge” (upper right corner). This will merge all data into the older item and create a redirect from the newer one’s URI.
- Review the item to remove or reconcile any redundant information (e.g. the same statement appears twice because one has qualifiers and the other doesn't).
How to undo a mistaken merge
[edit]- Go to the history page of the item onto which the merge has been done (the older item and the one that currently has all the merged data) and restore the revision just before the merge.
- Next, go to the history page of the merged item (the newer item and the one that currently redirects) and restore the revision just before the merge.