User:SatyrTN/Split

by Joe Schmoe

Long text units may be cumbersome to edit for a number of reasons, among them limitations in the browser's edit widget, memory limits on handheld devices, and internet bandwidth issues for extremely long pages. Therefore, such text units should be split up and the parts moved to sub pages.

There are two activities involved in splitting texts. The first is actually copy/pasting the text onto the new pages, the second is linking the separate pages together. The following is a beginners' guide to accomplishing the task:

1. Find the article you wish to split. The list of long pages and the category of texts to be split is a great place to start.
2. Often, you'll notice a table of contents or similar at the top of the work. If there isn't one, you'll need to do the following:

1. Determine the best way to split up sections - usually this is by individual work (poems), chapters, or other sections. See the Style Guide for more information.
2. Note that if the chapters or sections are originally titled and not numbered ([[Title/The Dog Returns]] versus [[Title/Chapter 1]]), you'll need to make notes to correlate the two, as individual sub-pages should be named "Chapter 1" and not "The Dog Returns". This helps keep them in order when viewing categories or lists.

3. When the sections are organized in your notes or in the "Contents" box, make sure the {{Header}} template is on the current main article. This will help you get started making the subpages. The header for the main article should look like:

   {{header
    | title    = Title of the Work
    | author   = Joe Schmoe
    | section  = Contents
    | previous = 
    | next     = [[/Chapter 1|Chapter 1]]
    | notes    =
   }}
   

   Note that only the next parameter is a wikilink, and that the wikilink starts with a slash: "/". Always use the pipe convention for the wikilink: [[/Chapter 1|Chapter 1]] or, if the section has a section name, [[/Chapter 1|The Dog Returns]], otherwise the slash will show up in the link.

   Note also that if you just added the {{Header}} template, go ahead and save the page.

4. You should now see:
5. Click the "edit" link and copy the text that belongs in the first subpage.
6. If you have the capability to have two windows (or tabs) open at the same time, it is easier to have one window with that edit screen open and another one with the current subpage you're working on.
7. Hit your "back" button and follow the broken link to the new subpage (in a new window or tab if possible). Paste the text you copied into the new page.
8. Go back up to the top of the box and put in the {{header}} template for this subpage. It should look like:

   {{header
    | title    = [[../]]
    | author   = Joe Schmoe
    | section  = Chapter 1
    | previous = [[../|Contents]]
    | next     = [[../Chapter 2|Chapter 2]]
    | notes    =
   }}
   

   Note that if you have titles for sections, the two parameters "section" and "next" should look like this:

    | section  = The Dog Returns
   ...
    | next     = [[../Chapter 2|Where is the Cat?]]
   

9. Repeat the steps of copying the text from the main page into each new subpage and adding the {{header}} template as many times as necessary.
10. When all of the subpages are created, verify that you have all the text from the original main page in the new subpages.
11. Now you can delete the text from the main page Be sure to leave the {{header}} template, any categories, and any introduction text as is.
12. Add a table of contents (or hyperlink an existing one) or a contents box that looks something like:

    {| align="center" class="toccolours"
    ! style="text-align: center; font-weight: bolder; font-size: 1.2em; background-color: #ccccff;" width="250" | Contents
    |-
    | [[/Chapter I|Chapter I]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter II|Chapter II]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter III|Chapter III]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter IV|Chapter IV]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter V|Chapter V]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter VI|Chapter VI]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter VII|Chapter VII]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter VIII|Chapter VIII]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter IX|Chapter IX]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter X|Chapter X]]
    |- 
    | [[/Chapter XI|Chapter XI]]
    |}
    

13. You're done!