Wikipedia:Page movement

Page movement sets out Wikipedia's policy on page moves and Requested moves. This policy should be interpreted using other policies and not in isolation. In particular editors should familiarise themselves with WP:CONSENSUS, WP:NAME and WP:IAR.

Introduction
On Wikipedia, usually anyone logged in can rename a page from its current name to a new one. This is also called "moving" because the effect is as if the page has been moved. A redirect is automatically created at its old name so that links still work.

Common reasons for moving pages are:
 * Decapitalization - Improper capitalization of page titles, against capitalization guidelines.
 * Misspelled – The most common reason is that a page name is misspelled or incorrectly capitalized. Please fix any and all of these as you see them.
 * NPOV – Terms used in a title express a perceived bias or point-of-view (POV). NPOV policy requires that articles be given "neutral" titles – using the most general and objective terms. (Redirect titles are not covered by NPOV policy.)
 * Disambiguation – Ambiguous titles that occur when a single term can be associated with more than one topic.

Never cut-and-paste
Pages should be moved using the Special:MovePage function, never using cut-and-paste. The latter damages attribution history — The GFDL requires acknowledgement of all contributors, and editors continue to hold copyright on their contributions unless they specifically give up this right. Hence it is required that edit histories be preserved for all major contributions until the normal copyright expires.

Edited redirects
Moved pages which have been made irreversible by trivial additions to the page history of the redirect page may be moved back without the necessity of a vote at Wikipedia:Requested moves. A non-administrator can have such redirects deleted under WP:CSD by posting at its top db-move.

Often the edits are more significant, e.g. the redirect page has been turned into a disambiguation page, or the target of the redirect has been changed.

Editors are specifically forbidden from editing redirects for the purpose of blocking page moves to that title.

After moving
After a page is moved, the redirect should generally be kept and categorized accordingly, unless the redirect is demonstrably harmful, and especially if it is a plausible or common misspelling (or not a misspelling at all). If a page was erroneously created once at the wrong title, there is a good chance it will happen again (as a duplicate article). However, if the redirect is truly an implausible search parameter and it was recently created, it may be tagged for speedy deletion by posting at its top db-r3.

Uncontroversial and controversial moves
If there is no reason to anticipate controversy on a page move, the page may simply be moved. This may be done directly or else by listing it at Requested moves.

Although it is likely that a move suggestion anticipated as potentially controversial will be removed from this section if placed there, BOLD, revert, discuss cycle applies and there is no requirement that the user moving the page be 100% certain that there is no opposition. If the move is reverted, the proponent of a page move should not edit war to achieve his goal, but instead list it as a proposal at Requested moves. There is no requirement that the person listing the page at Requested moves be a proponent of the move.

Mass moves
When requesting that multiple pages be moved, it is not necessary to have individual discussions for each one, if the issues involved are the same for each one. The talk place should take place on only one of the articles' talk pages, with notices on the other talk pages of the articles to be moved, directing editors to the discussion.

Closing a move discussion
Editors closing move discussions should consider all applicable policies and guidelines when determining consensus, most commonly WP:Consensus, WP:Naming conventions and WP:Neutral point of view. Editors who have been involved in the discussion should not close it. If consensus is unclear, non-administrators should not close the discussion. (See WP:Non-admin closure for some widely accepted guidelines as to how this applies to deletion discussions.)

Appealing the closure of a Wikipedia:Requested moves proposal
There is no formal procedure for appealing a closure of a move request. Generally speaking, if you believe the closing editor was in error, first discuss the close with that editor. If you are unable to reach agreement with him or her, you may request review on Wikipedia talk:Requested moves, where other editors and administrators can review the decision. A consensus is required to overturn a closing decision.