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There are questions and controversy on how large a page should be due to the problems with editing pages over a (what is now) relatively small size. Now, an article needs to be as long as necessary to properly carry the content, but where it becomes necessary to shrink an article there are options that may be used.

  • Use transclusion. The use of template macros, which are referenced via {{macro_name}} or {{macro_name|parameters}} (where the parameters are dependent on what the macro does) can be used to include boilerplate text or text altered by the parameters in an article without having to include the coding to create that text directly in the article. It can also be used to have a series of articles have the same header or footer and make them consistent.
  • Use subsidiary articles. When there is material which is tangential to the article, or related to the article's subject matter, but are in-depth coverage of a subsidiary subject related to the article, it may be appropriate to move that material to a secondary article. For example, in the article on w:chess, the subject of the rules is in a separate article with the heading Main article: w:Rules of chess.
  • Place items that are related to the article and can be separated in a section called See Also.

Finding the size of the wikitext of a page edit

There is a parser function PAGESIZE.

Examples:

  • "{{PAGESIZE:Help:Template}}" gives "87,924" [1]
  • "{{PAGESIZE:Help:Template|R}}" gives "87924" [2]

Image size edit

The size of an image or other uploaded file is shown in

See also edit

Links to other help pages

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Versions of this help page (for other languages see further)
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Editing
Starting a new page · Advanced editing · Editing FAQ · Export · Import · Shortcuts · Edit conflict · Page size
Referencing
Links · URL · Piped links · Interwiki linking · Footnotes
Style and formatting
Wikitext examples · CSS · Reference card · HTML in wikitext · Formula · Lists · Table · Sorting · Colors · Images and file uploads
Fixing mistakes
Show preview · Reverting edits
Advanced functioning
Expansion · Template · Advanced templates · Parser function · Parameter default · Magic words · System message · Substitution · Array · Calculation · Transclusion
Others
Special characters · Renaming (moving) a page · Preparing a page for translation · Talk page · Signatures · Sandbox · Legal issues for editors
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