LOL I have been burned on the "merge" before.

The worst was several years of input and who knows how many posts. I started to test the waters with removed topics and mashing them together. Kind of figured out a way but do not even want to try and type it into a post. Too much confusion and you will get no relief when you loose a large amount something. There is workings I believe in the works and testing being had. This I know but do not ask me how.
Best advice is do not splurge on the merge for right now like Mark S has said.