Some talk pages get so much traffic that they routinely accumulate too much old content. If a page reaches a point where much of the content is from old discussions that are no longer salient or the page is just too long to facilitate easy usage, it might be time to create an archive of the page. The important thing to remember when creating an archive is that it is inadvisable to move ongoing conversations away from the main talk page. If there are important conversations ongoing, those should be left in main talk page, not the subpage archive. To archive a page follow the instructions listed below. Note that you must be an established registered user to archive pages.
Begin by moving the page you wish to archive to the new archive location. The new page title should be the complete article's name with the suffix "/Archive 1" added. If the page already has an archive, simply add the lowest number not already used. For example, to archive Talk:Tier list, it would first be moved to Talk:Tier list/Archive 1. But archive 1 has already been used for that talk page, so it would be moved to Talk:Tier list/Archive 3, as that is the next lowest archive number not yet used.
Once the page has been moved, add the archive template ({{archive}}) to the archive and cut out any (if there are any) ongoing discussions that will remain in the main talk page.
Now return to the main talk page and remove the redirect. Then add in the ongoing discussions (if any) to the page.
At the top of the main talk page add the substed template Template:arcbox. This is placed inside braces (i.e. {{subst:arcbox}}). After the arcbox, but before the braces, the number of each archive should be written, each separated by a pipe (|). For example, a page with three archives would use {{subst:arcbox|1|2|3}}
When archiving talk pages, there are a few things that should be considered:
Don't archive another user's talk page. If you feel that it is too long, ask them to archive it, but do not do it yourself.
Always use the move page tool. Do not simply create a new page and cut and paste the text. This splits the content and the edit history and makes it quite difficult for editors to review.
Don't archive a talk page just to get rid of a discussion you don't like.
A talk page is a discussion page that you can find attached to some article and user pages. They exist for communicating with other users and discussing how to improve the wiki.
To get to a talk page from an article, just click the "discussion" or "talk page" link or button near the title of the page. To get to a talk page from a profile, just click the "Talk page" tab.
To start a new message, click the "Leave message" button at the top of the talk page.
Enter your message in the editor window. At the end of your message, type four tildes ("~~~~"). This will convert to a signature when you hit save.
Enter the title of your message in the "Subject/header" text field near the Publish button.
Click the Preview button to check your work.
Click Publish.
To respond to a talk page message, simply edit that area of the talk page, and indent your reply. You can indent by putting a colon (":") at the front of each line. Be sure to sign your response with ~~~~.
Keep your comments polite and friendly. It's always best to be civil, even if things get heated.
Archiving talk pages
Archives of talk pages are made when a talk page becomes too long for either the user to easily find a past conversation or for one's web browser to render the talk page in a timely manner. An archive is simply a subpage of the user talk page where old conversations are stored (e.g. [[User talk:Foo/Archive]]).
To create an archive, simply cut (Ctrl + X) all the old conversations from your talk page, and then saving it to show the reduced size. Then, create a new page in your user talk space and paste (Ctrl + V) the old conversations there. If you already have one archive, create a second archive page (e.g. [[User talk:Foo/Archive 2]]) to avoid having the the same issues that cause you to create an archive in the first place affect the archive page itself. You may also consider using the Archive Tool for auto-archiving the pages.
When archiving old discussions, it is customary to leave current, ongoing discussions on the existing Talk page. In some cases, a header text is also preserved. Also, it is good to leave a link near the top of your talk page to the archive so users can easily find previous discussions.
It is recommended that you do not attempt to archive another user's talk page. These are not subject to the recommendations on this page, and each user may choose alternate means of archive their own talk page, including choosing not to archive at all, but to instead remove old messages. Though since those messages are other users' contributions, this is generally rude to do and in bad taste, with archival being more polite and considerate of what others say.
When archiving your talk page by moving it, be aware that this causes the newly-created archive to be added to the watchlist of any user who was previously watching your talk page. This could be annoying for people who have no desire to watch your talk archives.
What if Talk Pages are unavailable?
For Articles: If a talk page is unavailable on an article page, you can usually find comments at the bottom of the page for use instead.
For User Profiles: If a talk page is unavailable on a user profile, you can usually find a Message Wall tab in the same location for use instead.
Added by Dr. Ball, M.D.
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