1. Minimize this page to your taskbar and then log back in to Wikipedia and go to the Talk page that you want to archive. Minimizing this page will allow you to refer to it by opening and minimizing it again as you proceed through the steps. You could also print out these instructions and then check them off after completion.
2. On the Talk page that you want to archive, look at the address bar at the top of the browser. It should read: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:[the article's name]. Add the name /Archive_1 at the very end of the address and highlight and copy (Ctrl-C) the last two segments Talk:[article's name]/Archive_1 for pasting momentarily in a subsequent step.
Example: the address for the Psychokinesis Talk page is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Psychokinesis.
The address segment you would want to create and copy is Talk:Psychokinesis/Archive_1
(If you are doing Archive 2 or Archive 3 , etc., you would number it accordingly.)
3. While still on the current Talk page, click the top tab: "edit this page."
4. An Editing Talk page will appear. Paste (Ctrl-V) the Talk:[article's name]/Archive_1 that you just copied in step 2 into the left search box. Do not press "Go" yet.
5. Highlight and copy (Ctrl-C) the entire source code from the current Talk page as it appears in the editing box. You will be pasting this code in a few moments a subsequent step.
6. Now you can click the "Go" button to conduct a search for Talk:[article's name]/Archive_1
7. On the next Search page, You will see the phrase in red text: "create this page." Click on it.
8. An Editing Talk:[article's name]/Archive_1 page with an empty compose box will appear. This is where you will create the new page for Archive 1.
9. Paste (Ctrl-V) the source code from the current Talk page into the Archive 1 compose box.
10. After the source code has been pasted, at the top of the source code, delete any templates for Wiki Talk page notices. They are not needed for archive pages. If you are creating Archive 2 or Archive 3, etc., keep the previous Archive template that already appears in the code. Pages that are archived have their own special notice. Add the following Wiki template to the top of the code:
{{talkarchive}}
11. Enter: "Archive 1 created" in the bottom edit summary box.
12. Click the "Preview" button. If everything looks okay, click "Save page." You have now created Archive1 for the article's Talk page. Archive pages have their own History tab. The first entry will be the "Archive 1 created" attributed to you.
13. Return to the article's current Talk page. You may need to find it through a search for the article or try the History folder. It is now time to empty the page.
14. Click the top tab: "edit this page."
15. On the Editing Talk page, you can now delete as much of the current Talk page as necessary to allow space for new topics. There may be some currently active discussions or other material that should be kept. This is a judgment call. Other editors may decide to return currently unresolved discussions on their own. Obviously, it would defeat the purpose of clearing out the page of old material if this is overdone.
16. Add the following Archive info box template at the top of the new Talk page code. Place it under any templates for Wiki Talk page notices that may already be there. The date should be the same day Archive1 was created:
{{archive box|
*[[Talk:[article's name]/Archive 1|Archive 1]] - Month/Day, Year
}}
Example: Here is how the source code looks at the top of the current Talk:Telepathy page.
17. Enter: "Archive 1 created." or similar note, along with any other comments in the bottom edit summary box. Some editors put the words "ARCHIVE 1 CREATED." in capital letters because of its importance.
18. Click the "Preview" button. There should be an Archive box in the upper right displaying the link to Archive1 and date created. If everything looks okay, click "Save." Creation of the Archive1 page is complete!
5Q5's Wiki tags and flags collection (copy and paste from here)Edit
Note to visitors: feel free to copy any of these examples to your own User page for easier access (hey, it's not like I own them...). To get these display effects, make sure you copy from the source code for this section.
Boxes - articles
This first box will match the white background of the article's page. The color value can be changed, however, and the border can be set to zero. Both these boxes are indented in the article.
Edit