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Wikipedia:Topical archive (TA) is an alternate way to archive talk pages - according to subject matter, rather than just by the standard ordered archive (OA) that keeps a chronological discussion history.
TA is primarily intended for busy talk pages which have a long history of discussion on regular general subjects, with the idea being that the history of discussion on those subjects is valuable, and requires some sorting for archives to be easier to read and reference. The topical archive provides a place to feature selected comments, (preferably clear and definitive ones), to structurally edit comments, or to simply remove superfluous comment. Headers can be renamed for clarity and brevity if desired.
While this would be controversial to do with regular archives, TA is intended to be redundant with the normal ordered archive method and not to replace it. In order to ensure that things can be linked back properly, it is important to be able to link between ordered and topical archives from particular sections to their mates in the other. The ordered archive provides a base and keeps things from getting lost.
Process
- Topics
Make a talk subpage titled /topics. Add {{subst:topics}} and edit to customise, using relevant subjects as subpage names. These subpages will be the particular topical archives.
- Topic banner
Link to the topics subpage at the top of the main talk: {{talk:page name/topics}}. Save and in this subpage use {{subst:topics}} add standard box formatting. (needs updated template mechanics to work properly)
- Linkages
From the topical archive to the source ordered archive. Adding numbered headers can make linking easier. Use {{Ordered archive|archive number|section number}}.
This makes a note:
- The archive for this comment is at archive number.
From an ordered archive to the topical: Use {{Topical archive|subject|section}}
This makes a note:
{{Topical archive|subject|section}}
- Refactoring
Often busy talk page formatting and header titling can be cumbersome. Refactor the topical archive as needed for clarity.
- Boxes
| wikicode | result | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Template:Topical talk archive produces: |
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