Editing Help:Watchlist (section)

== Controlling which pages are watched ==
[[File:Unwatched page in Vector.png|thumb|320px|This screenshot shows a page that is not on the watchlist of the user. Clicking on the star will add it to the watchlist.]]
[[File:Watched page in Vector.png|thumb|321px|The star on this page is blue to indicate that it is on the watchlist of the user.]]
There are four ways to control which pages you have on your watchlist:
# '''Tab at top of page''': When viewing a page, click the star symbol [[File:MediaWiki Vector skin white star watchlist icon.svg]] between the 'View history' tab and the search box at the very top of the page, to respectively add or remove the page from your watchlist.<ref>When the star (or in other appearances "watch" or "unwatch") is clicked, the {{msg|addedwatchtext}} or {{msg|removedwatchtext}} message is shown above the page, and "{{int:watch}}" is changed to {{int:unwatch}} or conversely. Depending on the browser this is done without reloading the whole page, using [[w:Ajax (programming)|AJAX]].</ref> Note that the star symbol is available in the default website design ("skin"); in other skins, the tab says "watch" or "unwatch".
#* '''Watching pages that don't exist''': You can watch a page even if neither the content page nor the talk page exists, enabling you to be alerted if either the content page or the talk page is created. To do that, go to the page's URL, either by typing the URL directly or following a (broken) link, and then press "Watch" (depending on the skin you may have to press Cancel first).
# '''Option at bottom of edit box''': When editing a page, check or uncheck "Watch this page" before saving (above the 'Show preview' button).
# '''Edit entire watchlist''': Click "Edit your list of watched pages" button at the top of the watchlist page to view or alter the list of watched pages directly. The first option takes you to [[Special:Watchlist/edit]], where the watched pages are listed with checkboxes that can be used to remove items. The second takes you to [[Special:Watchlist/raw]], which has a text area with a list of watched pages, one title per line, sorted by [[WP:Namespace|namespace]] number and then [[Help:Alphabetical order|alphabetically]]. You can edit the list directly, copy it to an external editor or replace it with a list created elsewhere. Duplicates are automatically removed on saving. ''In the list, redlinked (non-existent) pages are still watched, as are their talk pages, and this applies to subpages and their talk pages. When you click watch (star) on, for example, a <code>User Talk:</code> page, the link is [[canonicalization|canonicalized]] to <code>User:</code> in the list.''
# '''Popups gadget''': If you have the [[Wikipedia:Tools/Navigation popups|popups]] gadget enabled, you can use it to watch or unwatch a linked page without having to view it.

If you check "Add pages I edit to my watchlist" on [[Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-watchlist|the "Watchlist" tab of your user preferences]], then the "Watch this page" checkbox will always be checked by default when you edit pages. Other similar options are "Add pages I create to my watchlist", "Add pages I move to my watchlist", and (for [[Wikipedia:Administrators|administrators]]) "Add pages I delete to my watchlist".

[[WP:TWINKLE|Twinkle]] has the option to automatically add articles it's used on to your watchlist (including [[WP:PROD|PROD]] nominations, [[WP:XFD|XfD]] nominations and [[WP:ROLLBACK|reverts]]). To change these settings, go to [[Wikipedia:Twinkle/Preferences]].

It should also be noted that:
* Because no one owns any article, there is no requirement to watch articles you have created or contributed to, so you are not expected to check to see whether the content has been vandalised, challenged (e.g., for lack of sources), discussed on the article's talk page, and so forth. The only page you are expected to keep an eye on is your own talk page.
* [[Help:Using talk pages|Talk pages]] are not listed at [[Special:Watchlist/edit]] or [[Special:Watchlist/raw]], but they are automatically watched whenever their corresponding non-talk pages are watched.
* Additional page titles may sometimes appear on your watchlist as a result of page moves.

===Temporarily watching pages===
{{more|mw:Help:Watchlist expiry}}
A new watchlist feature (Watchlist Expiry) was introduced in 2020. It enables users to optionally select to watch a page only for a limited period of time. (1 week, 1, 3 or 6 months, or 1 year). This is done by clicking the hollow blue star icon and selecting the preferred time period in the dropdown, which then appears. Once the chosen watch period has expired, the page is automatically removed from your watchlist. You can alter the watch period at any time, including switching from temporary to permanent watching, or unwatching completely at any time. Temporarily watched pages are usually represented by a half-filled blue star icon (as opposed to a fully-filled blue star, which represents a permanently watched page).

If you simply want to permanently watch a page as usual, you do not need to change any of your current processes.

===Clearing the watchlist===
To remove all entries in the watchlist click on [[Special:EditWatchlist/clear|'''Clear the watchlist''']]. You will be prompted to confirm your selection. Once confirmed, all entries will be removed from your watchlist. <u>There is no way to reverse this action.</u> You may want to back up your watchlist locally by copying all of the lines from the [[Special:EditWatchlist/raw|raw watchlist]] to a file before clearing.

=== Limitations ===
* '''Special pages''': It is not possible to watch automatically generated pages, such as [[Help:Special page|Special pages]].
* {{anchor|page categorization}}'''Category membership''': Watching a [[Wikipedia:Categorization|category]] page will pick up changes to the text of the category page itself. If "Hide categorization of pages" is disabled at {{Section link|Special:Preferences#mw-prefsection-watchlist}}, or "page categorization" is unchecked after "Hide:" on the watchlist, then it will also show pages being added or removed from the category. However, it will not report changes to subcategories or member pages contained in the category.
* '''Transcluded text''': When a watched page contains transcluded text, such as [[Help:Template|templates]], the form of the page may change as a result of changes to the transcluded pages. These changes will not show up on your watchlist unless you are watching the transcluded pages as well.
* '''Sections''': It is not possible to watch just a part or section of a page. However, for talk pages, it is possible, though not through the watchlist, to subscribe to receive [[Wikipedia:Talk pages project#Notifications for topic subscriptions|notifications for changes to sections]].
* '''Other wikis''': It is not possible to receive watchlist notices on the English Wikipedia for changes made to pages watchlisted on other Wikipedia languages or Wikimedia wikis. See [[Wikipedia:Global watchlist]] for work on this.