User:NYKevin/archive template/help

This page deals with how to use  .

For archivers
To archive a page using this method:
 * 1) Copy and paste the raw wikitext to be archived into Special:ExpandTemplates, putting the title of the talk page into "context title"
 * 2) Perform a normal cut and paste archive, but use the resulting wikitext from ExpandTemplates instead of the original
 * 3) Open a new tab and go to the talk page you are archiving, then switch to the tab with the archive.
 * 4) Right before the archive, put the following wikitext:
 * 5) Type the name of the talk page you archived, including its namespace (Talk:, Wikipedia talk:, etc.) between the first and second |'s
 * 6) Switch to the tab with the talk page
 * 7) Go to the history of the talk page being archived
 * 8) Click the date of the edit immediately before your archival edit(s).
 * 9) Look in the URL for a string of text saying "oldid=" followed by a number.  Copy that number.
 * 10) Switch tabs again
 * 11) Paste the number between the second and third |'s
 * 12) Switch tabs
 * 13) Find the first edit after the last archival.  Click "cur" next to it.
 * 14) Look for the text "(N intermediate revisions not shown.)" (N is a number).  Copy the number
 * 15) Switch tabs once more
 * 16) Paste the number between the third and fourth |'s.  If it is a word (e.g. twenty instead of "20"), change it to a number.  Increase it by 2 (so if it was 20 now it's 22).
 * 17) Switch tabs
 * 18) Click "history" at the top of the page
 * 19) Add &limit=1 to the end of the URL
 * 20) Click "older 1"
 * 21) Look at the URL for a string saying "offset=" followed by a number.  Copy that number
 * 22) Switch tabs (last time!)
 * 23) Put the number right after the last |
 * 24) Add talkarchive and the like where appropriate (normally top and bottom of the page)
 * 25) Type an edit summary
 * 26) Preview to make sure it worked right
 * 27) Hit Save page
 * 28) You're done!

For Admins, Arbiters, Mediators, and the curious
This is not a panacea for falsification of archives. Nonetheless, it makes them much harder to falsify. If the validity of an archive is disputed, the following tips may help: This should put some weight behind an archive, or expose it as a fake
 * Find the original history by hand, and compare it to the view shown by clicking the "original history" "tab." Pay particular attention to the dates -- As far as I know, they cannot be falsified.
 * When viewing history, check the URL to make sure you're really on Wikipedia, and use NoScript. Also try to use as many mirrors as possible (it's difficult to falsify multiple mirrors and their URLs).
 * Check the usernames for homoglyphs and the like (recommend using a cryptographic hash, or better yet, multiple hashes)
 * Click the "refactoring history" "tab"
 * Click the edit tab (the real one) and check the wikitext, comparing it to expected values (see the template's documentation.)
 * Click "view original"