Page history & changes

Every page records every version ever saved. Open a page's History tab, or go straight to /history/wiki/Page name.

The timeline

History is a timeline, newest first. Each entry carries an icon for what happened — created, edited, renamed, or deleted — with the editor, the time (in your own timezone), the change in size, and the edit summary. Entries from the same page are joined by a line; the line breaks where a different page previously held this title.

Each revision is numbered per title — r1, r2, r3 … — and that number is its permalink: /history/rN/wiki/Page name (for example /history/r3/wiki/Ancient Egypt). From an entry you can view that exact version, diff it against the one before, or restore it. Comparisons have permalinks too: /history/diff/r2/r3/wiki/Page name shows exactly what changed between two revisions, word by word.

History follows the title

History is tied to the title, not to one underlying page. /history/wiki/Title shows every revision ever written under that title — even across renames and re-use — so a title's past stays with the title.

Renames

Renaming a page is itself a recorded revision. On the new title you'll see a "moved from <old title>" entry; on the old title, a "moved to <new title>" branch links forward. Nothing is lost — you can trace a page across every name it has held.

Deleting & restoring

Curators and sysops can delete a page from its editor. Deletion is reversible: the page is hidden behind a short tombstone (its history stays readable), and an Undelete button brings it back exactly as it was. The tombstone also offers "Create a new page here" if you'd rather start something fresh at that title.

(There is a separate, permanent purge available to sysops through the JSON API — that one erases the history and cannot be undone. It has no button in the web UI.)