Editing Encyclopedia:Glossary (section)

==M==
;{{Vanchor|M|m}}
: On the [[Special:Recentchanges|Recent changes]] page, '''m''' (lower case, bold) indicates a {{slink||Minor edit}}.
;{{Vanchor|Magic word|Magicword|magicword|magic word|Magic-word|magic-word}}
: a symbol that is recognized by the [[MediaWiki]] software and, when seen in the non-commented text of the page, triggers the software to use the symbol directly instead of displaying it or [[WP:Transclusion|transcluding]] a page with that name.
;{{Vanchor|Main Page|Main page|Mainpage|mainpage}}
: The page to which every user not specifying an article is redirected. The [[Main Page]] contains links to current events, presents certain articles (like a [[#FA|featured article]] of the day and links to Wikipedia's newest articles), and serves as an entry point to browsing all articles by topic or other classification. Links to sister projects and other-language Wikipedias are also a prominent feature on the Main Page. Due to its high exposure, all content on the Main Page is [[#Protected page|protected]].
;{{Vanchor|Main Page balance|Main page balance|Mainpage balance|mainpage balance}}
: ''See {{slink||Balancing the Main Page}}.''
;{{Vanchor|Mainspace|mainspace}}
: The main article {{slink||Namespace}} (i.e., not a talk page, not a "Wikipedia:" page, not a "User:" page, etc.).
;{{Vanchor|Malplaced disambiguation page|malplaced disambiguation page}}
: When an ambiguous [[#base name|base name]] page title, such as "Foo", redirects to a page named "Foo (disambiguation)", the Foo page is said to be "malplaced". In this case, Foo (disambiguation) should be moved to the Foo title. ''See [[Wikipedia:Malplaced disambiguation pages]]''.
; {{Vanchor|MC}}
: The former Mediation Committee. ''See [[Wikipedia:Mediation Committee]].''
; {{Vanchor|ME}}
: A minor edit to an article.
; {{Vanchor|Meat puppet}}
: An account created only for the illegitimate strengthening of another user's position in votes or discussions. Unlike a {{slink||Sock puppet}}, the account is used by another person. Meat puppets are treated exactly like sock puppets in most cases, making the distinction between them largely academic.
;{{Vanchor|MedCab|Medcab|medcab|MEDCOM}}
: The Mediation Cabal. ''See [[Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal]].''
;{{Vanchor|MedCom|Medcom|medcom|MEDCOM}}
: The former Mediation Committee. ''See [[Wikipedia:Mediation Committee]].''
;{{Vanchor|Mediation}}
: An attempt by a third party to resolve an edit war or other conflict between users. There existed a [[Wikipedia:Mediation Committee]] which can do so on a more or less official basis as the penultimate step in the [[Wikipedia:Dispute resolution|dispute resolution]] process, and a [[Wikipedia:Mediation Cabal]] which acts as an informal alternative. ''See also: [[Wikipedia:What is mediation?]]; [[Wikipedia:Mediation]].''
;{{Vanchor|MediaWiki}}
: The software behind Wikipedia and its sister projects, as well as several projects not related to Wikimedia, and a namespace. ''Contrast {{slink||Wikimedia}}.'' ''See also [[Wikipedia:MediaWiki]], [[Wikipedia:MediaWiki namespace]].''
;{{Vanchor|MEDRS}}
: [[WP:MEDRS|MEDical Reliable Source]]
;{{Vanchor|Meh}}
: Common edit summary used by many Wikipedians. Generally used for minor edits that no one is expected to care about. Also use (in edit summary or directly in talk page posts) in response to posts the editor feels are uninteresting or pointless, or proposals not worth considering.
;{{Vanchor|Merge}}
: Taking the text of two pages, and turning it into a single page. ''See [[Help:Merging]].''
;{{Vanchor|Mergist}}
: A user who adheres to the principle of [[m:Mergism|Mergism]], which is a compromise between the {{slink||Inclusionist}} and {{slink||Deletionist}} principles. A Mergist is of the opinion that while many topics merit inclusion, not every topic deserves its own article, and tries to combine these "side" topics into longer, less specific articles.
;{{Anchor|Meta}}[[WP:Meta|Meta]]
: A separate [[wiki]] ([http://meta.wikimedia.org]) used to discuss general Wikimedia matters. In the past, this has been called ''Metapedia'', ''Meta Wikipedia'', ''Meta Wikimedia'', and many other combinations.
;{{Anchor|Meta page|Meta-page}}[[WP:Meta page|Meta page]], meta-page
: A page that provides information about Wikipedia. Meta pages are more correctly referred to as [[WP:project namespace|project namespace]] pages. Meta pages should not be confused with a page on Meta-Wikimedia.
;{{Vanchor|MfD|MFD}}
: [[Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion]].
;{{Anchor|Minor edit}}[[Help:Minor edit|Minor edit]]
: A minor edit is one the editor believes requires no review and could never be the subject of a dispute. An edit of this kind is marked in its page's revision history with a lower case, bolded "m" character ('''m''').
;{{Vanchor|Mirror}}
: A website other than Wikipedia that uses content originally from Wikipedia as a source for at least some of its content. ''See also [[Wikipedia:Mirrors and forks]].''
;{{Vanchor|Mop}}
: A term used to refer to administrator duties (compare '''Janitor'''). Often seen in the phrase ''to give someone a mop'' (i.e., to make someone into an administrator).
;{{Vanchor|MOS|MoS}}
# short for the [[Wikipedia:Manual of style]]
# often found in compound forms such as "MOSNUM" ("Manual of Style/Dates and numbers") and "MOSCAPS" ("Manual of Style/Capital letters"). ''See also {{slink||NC}}.''
# seen in {{slink||edit summaries}} to indicate that a change has been made to make an item comply with Wikipedia's Manual of Style
;{{Vanchor|Move}}
: Changing the name and location of an article because of a misspelling, violation of naming convention, misnomer, or inaccuracy. Involves either renaming the page or moving it and constructing a redirect to keep the original link intact. ''See also [[Help:Renaming (moving) a page]].''
;{{Vanchor|Move war}}
:An [[WP:Edit war|edit war]] in which two (or more, but almost always two) editors move a page back and forth. This may be the result of a dispute over the proper title for the page, or a dispute over whether the page should be in article space or moved into draft space for improvement.
{{/Compact ToC}}