Refactor By Extracting To Page

Take a section out of one page and create a new (or find an appropriate existing) target page for it, leaving a link behind (and a backlink on the target page). AKA ExtractPage.

One way RefactoringWikiPages can happen this is generally considered to be acceptable. See also ReferDontDelete.

Up Sides: This refactoring is usually safe. Sometimes, a new topic arises in the middle of a thread, or sometimes a thread wanders from one topic to another. Long threads usually cover several topics. If you can figure out what one of the topics is, you can make a new page for it. It is easy to leave people's signatures in, and you don't change very much text, so people usually don't mind.

Down Sides: The main problem is that sometimes an article refers to something further back in the thread, perhaps rebutting it, and then moving that piece of text to another page causes it to lose some of its meaning.

Don't go nuts with this - moving all the relevant content out of a page and into a bunch of separate pages can kill the whole thing. -- PhilGoodwin

How does KentBeck say? BeBraveLittlePiglet! Link back the original context: it won't kill it unless it is already dead. -- MarcGirod

D'accord, People Who Refactor can leave the old page intact and create a refactored version. The contributing authors {of the old page} may migrate to the new buds, if they wish. -- FridemarPache

Argh! This means creating a lot of duplication, which may derive independently. This is not refactorization! -- MarcGirod

See also RefactorDontRefer.

Exactly this "Argh"-reaction drives the old remnants out to the new page. ;-) An even more MercilessRefactoring approach is RefactoringByForums. -- fp

Not sure I follow you... RefactorDontRefer seems to be concerned only with the names of the pages and links (in addition I cannot see any other motivation to keep an old misspelled page than the fact of not knowing where it can be linked from --by clicking on the title, so to me, the issue is moot). Anyway, I was concerned with the contents, especially in contexts in which there is no proof of understanding or agreement. Duplication there is just plain evil. -- MarcGirod

People who participate on Wikis seldom can resist the urge to go off on a tangent. Tangents often shred pages into chaotic, fragmentary and confusing messes. They prevent a topic from being developed in depth.

On the other hand, Tangents are how wonderful new lines of thought develop.

So when it is clear that a Tangent is developing, and it has much interest, that one should consider moving the tangential thought to a new page of its own. This will allow clarity and discussion to continue and make their content and presentation to be clear and complete.

CategoryWikiMaintenance CategoryWikiRefactoring