diff --git a/internal/topdata/wiki_deploy.go b/internal/topdata/wiki_deploy.go
index b714c49..31b0329 100644
--- a/internal/topdata/wiki_deploy.go
+++ b/internal/topdata/wiki_deploy.go
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ func DeployWikiWithOptions(p *project.Project, opts DeployWikiOptions, progress
 	if opts.Version != "" {
 		summary = fmt.Sprintf("%s (%s)", summary, opts.Version)
 	}
-	for _, plan := range plans {
+	for _, plan := range orderNodeBBDeployPlans(plans) {
 		switch plan.Action {
 		case "create":
 			created, err := client.createTopic(plan.Entry.CID, plan.Page.Title, plan.Content, summary)
@@ -241,6 +241,24 @@ func DeployWikiWithOptions(p *project.Project, opts DeployWikiOptions, progress
 	return result, nil
 }
 
+func orderNodeBBDeployPlans(plans []wikiDeployPlan) []wikiDeployPlan {
+	if len(plans) <= 1 {
+		return plans
+	}
+	ordered := make([]wikiDeployPlan, 0, len(plans))
+	for _, plan := range plans {
+		if plan.Action == "purge" {
+			ordered = append(ordered, plan)
+		}
+	}
+	for _, plan := range plans {
+		if plan.Action != "purge" {
+			ordered = append(ordered, plan)
+		}
+	}
+	return ordered
+}
+
 func loadWikiNamespaceDeclarations(p *project.Project) ([]wikiNamespaceDeclaration, error) {
 	cfg := p.EffectiveConfig().TopData.Wiki
 	path := filepath.Join(p.TopDataWikiSourceDir(), filepath.FromSlash(cfg.NamespacesFile))
@@ -687,7 +705,13 @@ func adoptExistingNodeBBPage(page wikiDeployPage, cid int, remotePagesByCID map[
 }
 
 func findExistingNodeBBPage(page wikiDeployPage, cid int, client *nodeBBClient) (wikiDeployManifestPage, bool, error) {
-	queries := []string{pageIDLeaf(page.PageID), page.Title, pageIDRemainder(page.PageID)}
+	queries := uniqueNodeBBPageSearchQueries(
+		pageIDLeaf(page.PageID),
+		page.Title,
+		canonicalWikiSegment(page.Title),
+		nodeBBPathLeaf(page.PublicPath),
+		pageIDRemainder(page.PageID),
+	)
 	for _, query := range queries {
 		query = strings.TrimSpace(query)
 		if query == "" {
@@ -708,6 +732,24 @@ func findExistingNodeBBPage(page wikiDeployPage, cid int, client *nodeBBClient)
 	return wikiDeployManifestPage{}, false, nil
 }
 
+func uniqueNodeBBPageSearchQueries(values ...string) []string {
+	queries := []string{}
+	seen := map[string]struct{}{}
+	for _, value := range values {
+		query := strings.TrimSpace(value)
+		if query == "" {
+			continue
+		}
+		key := strings.ToLower(query)
+		if _, ok := seen[key]; ok {
+			continue
+		}
+		seen[key] = struct{}{}
+		queries = append(queries, query)
+	}
+	return queries
+}
+
 func fetchNodeBBWikiPageMapping(page wikiDeployPage, cid int, remotePage nodeBBWikiPage, client *nodeBBClient) (wikiDeployManifestPage, bool, error) {
 	topic, err := client.getTopic(remotePage.TID)
 	if err != nil {
diff --git a/internal/topdata/wiki_deploy_test.go b/internal/topdata/wiki_deploy_test.go
index ab207fd..469f61b 100644
--- a/internal/topdata/wiki_deploy_test.go
+++ b/internal/topdata/wiki_deploy_test.go
@@ -1197,6 +1197,110 @@ func TestDeployWikiCreateCollisionAdoptsExistingNodeBBPage(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDeployWikiCreateCollisionSearchesCanonicalTitleSegment(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	sourceDir := filepath.Join(root, "pages")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(sourceDir, "itemtypes"), 0755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("create source dir: %v", err)
+	}
+	generated := `<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:page=itemtypes:blank_magicwand -->
+<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:managed:start hash="sha256:local" -->
+<h1>Wand (not enchanted)</h1>
+<p>Generated wand page</p>
+<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:managed:end -->
+`
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(sourceDir, "itemtypes", "Wand_not_enchanted.html"), []byte(generated), 0644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write source page: %v", err)
+	}
+	old := `<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:page=itemtypes:blank_magicwand -->
+<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:managed:start hash="sha256:old" -->
+<h1>Wand (not enchanted)</h1>
+<p>Old wand page</p>
+<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:managed:end -->
+`
+
+	createCalls := 0
+	var updated string
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		switch {
+		case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/plugins/westgate-wiki/namespace/58/pages" && r.URL.Query().Get("q") == "":
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{"response": map[string]any{"pages": []any{}, "hasMore": false}})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodPost && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/topics":
+			createCalls++
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			w.WriteHeader(http.StatusBadRequest)
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{
+				"status": map[string]any{
+					"code":    "bad-request",
+					"message": "A wiki page with this URL already exists in this namespace. Rename the page before publishing.",
+				},
+				"response": map[string]any{},
+			})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/plugins/westgate-wiki/namespace/58/pages" && r.URL.Query().Get("q") == "blank_magicwand":
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{"response": map[string]any{"pages": []any{}, "hasMore": false}})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/plugins/westgate-wiki/namespace/58/pages" && r.URL.Query().Get("q") == "Wand (not enchanted)":
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{"response": map[string]any{"pages": []any{}, "hasMore": false}})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/plugins/westgate-wiki/namespace/58/pages" && r.URL.Query().Get("q") == "Wand_not_enchanted":
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{
+				"response": map[string]any{
+					"pages": []map[string]any{
+						{"tid": 77, "title": "Wand (not enchanted)", "titleLeaf": "Wand (not enchanted)", "slug": "77/wand-not-enchanted", "wikiPath": "/wiki/Itemtypes/Wand_not_enchanted"},
+					},
+					"hasMore": false,
+				},
+			})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/topics/77":
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{"response": map[string]any{"tid": 77, "mainPid": 88}})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/posts/88":
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{"response": map[string]any{"pid": 88, "tid": 77, "content": old}})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodPut && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/plugins/westgate-wiki/edit-lock":
+			respondWikiEditLock(t, w, r, 77, "wand-collision-lock")
+		case r.Method == http.MethodPut && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/posts/88":
+			var req struct {
+				Content           string `json:"content"`
+				WikiEditLockToken string `json:"wikiEditLockToken"`
+			}
+			if err := json.NewDecoder(r.Body).Decode(&req); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("decode update request: %v", err)
+			}
+			if req.WikiEditLockToken != "wand-collision-lock" {
+				t.Fatalf("expected collision recovery update to include edit lock token, got %q", req.WikiEditLockToken)
+			}
+			updated = req.Content
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{"response": map[string]any{"pid": 88, "tid": 77}})
+		default:
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected request %s %s", r.Method, r.URL.String())
+		}
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	manifestPath := filepath.Join(root, "deploy-manifest.json")
+	result, err := DeployWikiWithOptions(&project.Project{}, DeployWikiOptions{
+		SourceDir:    sourceDir,
+		Endpoint:     server.URL,
+		Token:        "nodebb-token",
+		ManifestPath: manifestPath,
+		CategoryIDs:  map[string]int{"itemtypes": 58},
+		AllowCreates: true,
+	}, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("DeployWikiWithOptions collision recovery failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if result.Created != 0 || result.Updated != 1 || createCalls != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected collision recovery to update existing page, result=%#v createCalls=%d", result, createCalls)
+	}
+	if !containsAll(updated, "<p>Generated wand page</p>") {
+		t.Fatalf("expected collision recovery to update adopted page:\n%s", updated)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDeployWikiReportsAndArchivesStalePages(t *testing.T) {
 	root := t.TempDir()
 	sourceDir := filepath.Join(root, "pages")
@@ -1395,6 +1499,82 @@ func TestDeployWikiPurgesTrackedStaleGeneratedTopic(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestDeployWikiPurgesTrackedStaleTopicsBeforeCreatingReplacementPages(t *testing.T) {
+	root := t.TempDir()
+	sourceDir := filepath.Join(root, "pages")
+	if err := os.MkdirAll(filepath.Join(sourceDir, "skills"), 0755); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("create source dir: %v", err)
+	}
+	generated := `<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:page=skills:replacement -->
+<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:managed:start hash="sha256:local" -->
+<h1>Replacement</h1>
+<p>Generated replacement page</p>
+<!-- sow-topdata-wiki:managed:end -->
+`
+	if err := os.WriteFile(filepath.Join(sourceDir, "skills", "replacement.html"), []byte(generated), 0644); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write source page: %v", err)
+	}
+	manifestPath := filepath.Join(root, "deploy-manifest.json")
+	if err := saveDeployManifest(manifestPath, wikiDeployManifest{
+		Version: "nodebb-v1",
+		Pages: map[string]wikiDeployManifestPage{
+			"skills:retired": {Hash: "old-hash", Title: "Replacement", Namespace: "skills", TID: 7, PID: 42, CID: 3},
+		},
+	}); err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("write deploy manifest: %v", err)
+	}
+
+	var calls []string
+	server := httptest.NewServer(http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
+		switch {
+		case r.Method == http.MethodGet && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/plugins/westgate-wiki/namespace/3/pages":
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{"response": map[string]any{"pages": []any{}, "hasMore": false}})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodDelete && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/topics/7":
+			calls = append(calls, "purge")
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{"status": map[string]any{"code": "ok"}})
+		case r.Method == http.MethodPost && r.URL.Path == "/api/v3/topics":
+			calls = append(calls, "create")
+			if len(calls) != 2 || calls[0] != "purge" {
+				t.Fatalf("expected stale purge before create, got calls %#v", calls)
+			}
+			w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
+			_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(map[string]any{
+				"response": map[string]any{
+					"tid": 11,
+					"mainPost": map[string]any{
+						"pid": 99,
+						"tid": 11,
+					},
+				},
+			})
+		default:
+			t.Fatalf("unexpected request %s %s", r.Method, r.URL.String())
+		}
+	}))
+	defer server.Close()
+
+	result, err := DeployWikiWithOptions(&project.Project{}, DeployWikiOptions{
+		SourceDir:    sourceDir,
+		Endpoint:     server.URL,
+		Token:        "nodebb-token",
+		ManifestPath: manifestPath,
+		CategoryIDs:  map[string]int{"skills": 3},
+		AllowCreates: true,
+		StalePolicy:  "purge",
+	}, nil)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatalf("DeployWikiWithOptions purge-and-create failed: %v", err)
+	}
+	if result.Created != 1 || result.Purged != 1 {
+		t.Fatalf("expected one create and one purge, got %#v", result)
+	}
+	if strings.Join(calls, ",") != "purge,create" {
+		t.Fatalf("expected purge before create, got %#v", calls)
+	}
+}
+
 func TestDeployWikiPurgeTreatsAlreadyMissingTrackedTopicAsSuccess(t *testing.T) {
 	root := t.TempDir()
 	sourceDir := filepath.Join(root, "pages")