Topic Split Workflow

When you discover that a topic is too big for one wiki page then you can split the page into two.

Use this workflow when title conflicts arise and there is no preferred version.

# Method

Add links to the existing page to one or more new pages with more specific titles.

Create the pages starting with paragraphs that illuminate the distinctions.

Move paragraphs to the new pages as appropriate. Arrange and explain to make each page whole.

Revise the original page to explain background material and direct further reading to the appropriate new page.

# Example

Say you were writing about Adam Smith. You might think of him as libertarian but discover that he was also a socialist. Just create two new pages, Adam Smith Libertarian and Adam Smith Socialist.

Rewrite your Adam Smith page to mention these two and how to tell them apart.

Then drag the paragraphs that don't belong in Adam Smith anymore to one or the other of the two new pages rearranging as appropriate. Aside: we call this "refactoring" because it has been inspired by a programming technique of that name. Before refactoring programmers had to guess the right name for everything before they started.