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<templatestyles src="Help:Diff/styles.css" />
<languages/>
{{PD Help Page}}
{{Special page}}
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">A '''[[w:Diff|diff]]''' (short for difference) displays the changes between two revisions of a page.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Diffs are a fundamental component of navigation and content moderation on MediaWiki wikis.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
The platforms in the wiki ecosystem have several versions of a diff depending on which device and installation of MediaWiki is being used.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== When and why to use a diff? ==
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">The main reason to use a diff is to review a specific change to a page made by yourself or someone else.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">There are many possible reasons to do this:</span>

* <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">To help find instances of vandalism</span>
* <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">To determine when a section, sentence, or word was added or removed</span>
* <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">To determine which editor made a given change</span>
* <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">As a starting point to further actions as the diff contains [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Editing pages|{{int|editold}}]], [[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Reverts#Undo|{{int|editundo}}]], and other actions as well as links to the editor's user and talk pages.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== How to navigate to view a diff? ==
</div>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">The most common way to view a diff is through the "[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:History|Revision history]]".</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">This is accessible via the <code>{{int|skin-view-history}}</code> tab.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">From there, you can use <code>{{int|last}}</code> to view diffs of single revisions, or use the radio buttons and the <code>{{int|compareselectedversions}}</code> button to view diffs across multiple revisions.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Most [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Special pages|special pages]] that list changes will usually include links to diffs, such as:
</div>

* [[Special:RecentChanges]]
* [[Special:Watchlist]]
* [[Special:Contributions]]
* [[Special:Relatedchanges]]

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Another way to view a diff is with the [[Special:Diff]] page.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">To use this, you must know the IDs of the revisions you want to compare.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Revision IDs can be retrieved by looking at the <code>diff=123</code> portion of a diff URL, where <code>123</code> is the diff ID.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Additionally, you can use the value of the <code>oldid</code> parameter to get the diff of that revision against the previous one.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Components to a diff ==
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Below is a visual representation of the important components of a diff page which you will see when viewing the difference between two versions.
</div>

[[File:Diff-components.svg|thumb|<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Components of a diff</span>|none|600px]]

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">This interactive example shows the top of the diff page (some of the links are dummy links).</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">The older revision is shown on the left, the newer revision on the right.</span>

<blockquote style="border:1px solid; padding:1em;">
{| class="diff diff-contentalign-{{dir|{{pagelang2}}|right|left}} diff-editfont-monospace" border="0" style="border-spacing:4px; table-layout:fixed; width:98%"
|- style="height:1px" 
| style="width:2%" |
| style="width:48%" |
| style="width:2%" |
| style="width:48%" |
|- class="diff-title"
| colspan="2" class="diff-otitle diff-side-deleted" | <div class="mw-diff-otitle1"><strong>[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Page history|{{int|revisionasof|22:32, 3 {{int|august}} 2003}}]] {{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Editing|{{int|editold}}]]}}</strong></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle2">[[User:Tim Starling|Tim Starling]] {{int|parentheses|[[User talk:Tim Starling|{{int|talkpagelinktext}}]] {{int|pipe-separator}} [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:User contributions|{{int|contribslink}}]]}}</div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle3"><span class="comment">{{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Edit summary|Edit summaries]] in diffs are great}}</span></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle4">[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Page history|{{int|previousdiff}}]]</div>
| colspan="2" class="diff-otitle diff-side-added" |<div class="mw-diff-otitle1"><strong>[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Page history|{{int|revisionasof|00:10, 18 {{int|august}} 2003}}]] {{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Editing|{{int|editold}}]]}} {{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Reverts|{{int|editundo}}]]}} {{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Extension:Thanks|{{int|thanks-thank}}]]}}</strong></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle2">[[User:Angela|Angela]] {{int|parentheses|[[User_talk:Angela|{{int|talkpagelinktext}}]] | [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:User contributions|{{int|contribslink}}]]}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="mw-rollback-link">[[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Rollback|{{int|rollbacklinkcount|1}}]]</span></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle3"><abbr class="minoredit" title="{{int|recentchanges-label-minor}}">{{int|minoreditletter}}</abbr> <span class="comment">{{int|parentheses|correction, + [[MediaWiki User's Guide]]}}</span></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle4">&nbsp;</div>
|-
| colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" | {{int|lineno|{{formatnum:8}}}}
| colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" | {{int|lineno|{{formatnum:8}}}}
|-
| class="diff-marker" | &#160;
| class="diff-context diff-side-deleted" | For sysops and those with the rollback flag, a revert button is shown allowing them to revert from the new version to the old one.
| class="diff-marker" | &#160;
| class="diff-context diff-side-deleted" | For sysops and those with the rollback flag, a revert button is shown allowing them to revert from the new version to the old one.
|-
| class="diff-marker" | −
| class="diff-deletedline diff-side-deleted" | This is only shown when viewing the diff between the <del style="color: black" class="diffchange diffchange-inline">current</del> version and the one <del style="color: black" class="diffchange diffchange-inline">immediately preceding it</del>.
| class="diff-marker" | +
| class="diff-addedline diff-side-added" | This is only shown when viewing the diff between the <ins style="color: black" class="diffchange diffchange-inline">recent</ins> version<ins style="color: black" class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&nbsp;of a page</ins> and<ins style="color:black" class="diffchange diffchange-inline">&nbsp;the last version by an author other than</ins> the one <ins style="color: black" class="diffchange diffchange-inline">of the most current version</ins>.
|-
| class="diff-marker" | &#160; 
| class="diff-context diff-side-deleted" | This example shows the top of the diff page, with the links described above.
| class="diff-marker" | &#160; 
| class="diff-context diff-side-deleted" | This example shows the top of the diff page, with the links described above.
|-
| colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" | {{int|lineno|{{formatnum:25}}}}
| colspan="2" class="diff-lineno" | {{int|lineno|{{formatnum:25}}}}
|-
| class="diff-marker" | &#160; 
| class="diff-context diff-side-deleted" | <nowiki></table></nowiki>
| class="diff-marker" | &#160; 
| class="diff-context diff-side-deleted" | <nowiki></table></nowiki>
|-
|colspan="2" | 
| class="diff-marker" | +
| class="diff-addedline diff-side-added" | <nowiki>[[MediaWiki User's Guide]]</nowiki>
|-
|colspan="2" | 
| class="diff-marker" | +
| class="diff-addedline diff-side-added" | 
|}
</blockquote>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Unchanged text ===
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Unchanged text is dark grey on light grey (only parts before and after changed text are shown).
</div>

{| class="diff diff-contentalign-{{dir|{{pagelang2}}|right|left}} diff-editfont-monospace" style="border-collapse:separate"
|+ <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Colour key</span>
! align="center" width="200" | <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Previous diff</span>
! align="center" width="200" | <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Newer diff</span>
|-
| class="diff-context diff-side-deleted" | <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Unchanged</span>
| class="diff-context diff-side-added" | <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Unchanged</span>
|}

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Moved text ===
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Identical text that has moved from one place to another is usually represented as added and removed text.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">On MediaWiki installations using {{ll|Wikidiff2}}, there may be an arrow icon more clearly indicating where the moved text went to.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Added text ===
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Lines containing added text have a plus icon ('''+''') before them.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">The added words and characters are highlighted and in bold.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Removed text ===
</div>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Lines containing removed text have a minus icon ('''−''') before them.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">The removed words and characters are highlighted and in bold.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
=== Replaced text ===
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
We can see what has been replaced with new content when there's a + icon and a − icon next to the phrase where the change happened.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Paragraphs which have changed are black on white, with an orange border on the old revision side and a blue border on the new version side.
</div>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Inserted and removed text is highlighted with the border color and in bold.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Where whole paragraphs have been removed or inserted, no highlighting or bolding is applied and the other side is blank.</span>

{| class="diff diff-contentalign-{{dir|{{pagelang2}}|right|left}} diff-editfont-monospace" style="border-collapse:separate"
|+<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Colour key</span>
!align="center" width="200"| <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Old revision</span>
!align="center" width="200"| <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">New revision</span>
|-
| class="diff-deletedline diff-side-deleted" | <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Paragraph changed</span>
| class="diff-addedline diff-side-added" | <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Paragraph changed</span>
|}

{| class="diff diff-contentalign-{{dir|{{pagelang2}}|right|left}} diff-editfont-monospace" style="border-collapse:separate"
|+<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Colour key</span>
!align="center" width="200"| <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Old revision</span>
!align="center" width="200"| <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">New revision</span>
|-
| class="diff-deletedline diff-side-deleted" | <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Paragraph removed</span>
| class="diff-empty diff-side-delete" | &nbsp;
|-
| class="diff-empty diff-side-added" | &nbsp;
| class="diff-addedline diff-side-added" | <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Paragraph added</span>
|}

{| class="diff diff-contentalign-{{dir|{{pagelang2}}|right|left}} diff-editfont-monospace" style="border-collapse:separate"
|+<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Colour key</span>
!align="center" width="200"| <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Old revision</span>
!align="center" width="200"| <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">New revision</span>
|-
| class="diff-deletedline diff-side-deleted" | <del class="diffchange diffchange-inline" style="color:black"><span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Removed characters</span></del>
| class="diff-addedline diff-side-added" | <ins class="diffchange diffchange-inline" style="color:black"><span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Added characters</span></ins>
|}

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Linking to a diff ==
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Diffs can be linked to by copying the URL while viewing the diff — this URL has two parameters, <code>diff</code> and <code>oldid</code>.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Linking to a diff from outside a wiki can be done by using the full URL, for example:
</div>

* <code><nowiki>https://mediawiki.org/w/index.php?diff=1242287</nowiki></code>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
The diff [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Special pages|special page]] at [[Special:Diff]] makes it easier to create shorter URLs which redirect to diffs.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
From within a wiki, these links can take the following forms:
</div>

* <code><nowiki>[[Special:Diff/1242287]]</nowiki></code> → [[Special:Diff/1242287]] – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Shows the diff to the previous revision of the same page.</span>
* <code><nowiki>[[Special:Diff/1242287/prev]]</nowiki></code> → [[Special:Diff/1242287/prev]] – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Shows the diff to the previous revision of the same page.</span>
* <code><nowiki>[[Special:Diff/1242287/next]]</nowiki></code> → [[Special:Diff/1242287/next]] – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Shows the diff to the next revision of the same page.</span>
* <code><nowiki>[[Special:Diff/1242287/cur]]</nowiki></code> → [[Special:Diff/1242287/cur]] – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Shows the diff to the current revision of the same page.</span>
* <code><nowiki>[[Special:Diff/1242286/1242287]]</nowiki></code> → [[Special:Diff/1242286/1242287]] – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Shows the diff between the specified revisions of the same page which may also be reversed, e.g. <code><nowiki>[[Special:Diff/1242287/1242286]]</nowiki></code> → [[Special:Diff/1242287/1242286]], though one should avoid this.</span>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
These links may be used in the [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Edit summary|edit summary]] as well as being adapted like any other internal links, e.g. {{tmpl|0=<code><nowiki>[[</nowiki>Special:Diff/1242286/1242287{{!}}$1<nowiki>]]</nowiki></code> → [[Special:Diff/1242286/1242287|$1]]|see this diff}}.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
For example, the full URL <code><nowiki>[https://mediawiki.org/w/index.php?diff=1242287 1242287]</nowiki></code> could also be written as <code><nowiki>[[Special:Diff/1242287|1242287]]</nowiki></code>.
</div>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">By default, the later revision of the page is displayed in full below the diff — this can be turned off via a [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Preferences|preference]] (<code>{{int|tog-diffonly}}</code>) or by setting <code>diffonly=1</code> in the URL.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Links to diffs without the page text can be created:</span>

* <code><nowiki>{{canonicalurl:Special:Diff/1242287|diffonly=1}}</nowiki></code> → {{canonicalurl:Special:Diff/1242287|diffonly=1}}

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== Inline diffs ==
</div>
{{MW 1.35|and later}}
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Since MediaWiki 1.35, an inline diff (also known as a [[w:unified diff|unified diff]]) is available.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">As of 2022 this is only available with the {{ll|wikidiff2}} engine.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Inline diffs can be accessed by passing the <code>diff-type=inline</code> parameter in the URL ([https://www.mediawiki.org/w/index.php?diff=1242287&diffmode=source&diff-type=inline example]).</span>

{{MW 1.41|and later}}
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">As of MediaWiki 1.41, a toggle was added to diff pages that allows users to switch between inline and two-column in the user interface.</span> [[phab:T336716|T336716]]

<div class="mw-diff-table-prefix" dir="ltr" lang="en">
<div style="color: black" class="mw-diff-inline-legend"><span class="mw-diff-inline-legend-ins">Content added</span> <span class="mw-diff-inline-legend-del">Content deleted</span></div>
</div>

{| class="diff diff-contentalign-{{dir|{{pagelang2}}|right|left}} diff-editfont-monospace" border="0" style="border-spacing:4px; table-layout:fixed; width:98%"
|- style="height:1px" 
| style="width:2%" |
| style="width:48%" |
| style="width:2%" |
| style="width:48%" |
|- class="diff-title"
| colspan="2" class="diff-otitle diff-side-deleted" | <div class="mw-diff-otitle1"><strong>[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Page history|{{int|revisionasof|22:32, 3 {{int|august}} 2003}}]] {{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Editing|{{int|editold}}]]}}</strong></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle2">[[User:Tim Starling|Tim Starling]] {{int|parentheses|[[User talk:Tim Starling|{{int|talkpagelinktext}}]] {{int|pipe-separator}} [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:User contributions|{{int|contribslink}}]]}}</div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle3"><span class="comment">{{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Edit summary|Edit summaries]] in diffs are great}}</span></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle4">[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Page history|{{int|previousdiff}}]]</div>
| colspan="2" class="diff-otitle diff-side-added" |<div class="mw-diff-otitle1"><strong>[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Page history|{{int|revisionasof|00:10, 18 {{int|august}} 2003}}]] {{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Editing|{{int|editold}}]]}} {{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Reverts|{{int|editundo}}]]}} {{int|parentheses|[[Special:MyLanguage/Extension:Thanks|{{int|thanks-thank}}]]}}</strong></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle2">[[User:Angela|Angela]] {{int|parentheses|[[User_talk:Angela|{{int|talkpagelinktext}}]] | [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:User contributions|{{int|contribslink}}]]}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<span class="mw-rollback-link">[[Special:MyLanguage/Manual:Rollback|{{int|rollbacklinkcount|1}}]]</span></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle3"><abbr class="minoredit" title="{{int|recentchanges-label-minor}}">{{int|minoreditletter}}</abbr> <span class="comment">{{int|parentheses|correction, + [[MediaWiki User's Guide]]}}</span></div>
<div class="mw-diff-otitle4">&nbsp;</div>
|}

<div class="mw-diff-inline-moved mw-diff-inline-moved-destination mw-diff-inline-moved-upwards">
For sysops and those with the rollback flag, a revert button is shown allowing them to revert from the new version to the old one.

This is only shown when viewing the diff between the <del style="color:black" class="mw-diff-inline-moved">current</del> version and the one <ins style="color: black">of a page and the last version by an author other than the one of the most current version.</ins>.
This example shows the top of the diff page, with the links described above.

<ins style="color: black">
<nowiki>[[MediaWiki User's Guide]]</nowiki>
</ins>
<div><ins style="color: black; font-family: 'Menlo','Consolas','Liberation Mono','Fira Code','Courier New',monospace;
    font-size: 87.5%;" title="Content added">↲ newline</ins></div>
</div>
</blockquote>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
The following changes were introduced for inline diff:
</div>

* <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Legends and tooltips that explain the blue and yellow highlights.</span> ([[phab:T324759|T324759]])
* <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Annotation that represent when one or more lines are added or deleted.</span> ([[phab:T330247|T330247]])

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== How to report bugs? ==
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
Bugs should be [[Special:MyLanguage/How to report a bug|reported on Phabricator]] under the {{phabricator inline tag|MediaWiki-Page-diffs}} tag.
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== User Preferences ==
</div>

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
The following user [[Special:MyLanguage/Help:Preferences|preferences]] are available in the <code>{{int|prefs-diffs}}</code> section of the <code>{{int|prefs-rendering}}</code> preferences tab:
</div>
<section begin="prefs" />
; {{int|tog-diffonly}}
: <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Toggle the display of the page text below the diff.</span> <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">This text is the later of the two revisions of the page.</span>
; {{int|tog-norollbackdiff}}
: <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Whether to show the diff of the rolled back revision after a rollback.</span>

<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Some extensions also add their own preferences related to diffs.</span>
<span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">One such extension is {{ll|Extension:RevisionSlider}}, which can be disabled in preferences using the <code>{{int|revisionslider-preference-disable}}</code> preference in that section.</span>
<section end="prefs" />

<div lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">
== See also ==
</div>
* {{ll|Help:History}} – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Navigating and understanding page history.</span>
* {{ll|Visual diffs}} – <span lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr">Diffs in the VisualEditor and VisualDiff extensions.</span>
{{Help}}