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This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense and the occasional exception. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
Hatnotes are short notes placed at the top of an article, normally to provide links to other similarly named articles or disambiguation pages. For more information about methods of disambiguating articles, see Wikipedia:Disambiguation.
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Format
In most cases, hatnotes should be created using a standard disambiguation template (as illustrated below). This permits the form and structure to change uniformly over time. Currently, each note should be italicized and indented, without a bullet before the item. A horizontal dividing line should not be placed under a note, nor after the final item in a list.
Summarize or not?
Some hatnote disambiguation templates include a summary of the present article's topic; others do not. For instance, in the article Honey, one might use the template {{otheruses4}} to produce:
- This article is about the insect-produced fluid. For other uses of the term, see Honey (disambiguation).
Alternatively, one might use {{otheruses3}} to produce:
- For other uses of the term, see Honey (disambiguation).
Either of these two styles is acceptable; the choice of style in a given article is based on editors' preference and what is likely to be clearer and easier for the reader. Where an article already has a hatnote in one of these styles, editors should not change to the other style without good reason.
Placement
Hatnotes are placed at the very top of the article, before any other items such as images, navigational templates and maintenance templates (like the "cleanup", "unreferenced", and "POV" templates).
Examples of proper use
Two articles with similar titles
Dunwich (pronounced Dun-Itch) is a town in the county of Suffolk in England, the remnant of what was once a prosperous seaport and centre of the wool trade during the early middle ages, with a natural harbour formed by the mouths of the River Blyth...
- This article is about the village in England. For H. P. Lovecraft's fictional town, see Dunwich (Lovecraft).
When two articles share the same title, except that one is disambiguated and the other not, the undisambiguated article should include a hatnote with a link to the other article. It is not necessary to create a separate disambiguation page. {{otheruses4}} may be used for this.
Linking to a disambiguation page
A monolith is a monument or natural feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock. Erosion usually exposes these formations...
- For other uses, see Monolith (disambiguation).
When a term has a primary meaning and two or more additional meanings, the hatnote on the primary topic page should link to a disambiguation page. {{otheruses}} may be used for this.
In many cases the hatnote also includes a brief description of the subject of the present article, for readers' convenience:
In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate maze-like structure constructed for King Minos of Crete and designed by the legendary artificer Daedalus to hold the Minotaur...
- This article is about the mazelike labyrinth from Greek mythology. For other uses, see Labyrinth (disambiguation).
The template {{otheruses1}} may be used for this.
Ambiguous term that redirects to an unambiguously named article
{{Redirect}} or a related template can be used when an unambiguous article name is redirected to from an ambiguous term:
Johann Sebastian Bach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Bach)
- "Bach" redirects here. For other uses, see Bach (disambiguation).
Johann Sebastian Bach (pronounced [joˈhan/ˈjoːhan zeˈbastjan ˈbax]) (March 21, 1685 O.S. – July 28, 1750 N.S.) was a prolific German composer...
Examples of improper use
Trivial information, dictionary definitions, and slang
When notes feature a trivial detail or use of a term, or links to overly specific and tendentious material, they are unwarranted.
Investment is a term with several closely-related meanings in finance and economics. It refers to the accumulation of some kind of asset in hopes of getting a future return from it...
- During a siege, to invest a town or fortress means to surround it with a contravallation and a circumvallation.
In this case, there is no direct disambiguation, and the note listed is bound to be uninteresting to most readers. The proper disambiguation simply links to a separate Invest (disambiguation) page.
Legitimate information about the topic
A previous version of the Aisha article showed:
Aisha or Ayesha (Arabic عائشه `ā'isha = "she who lives") was a wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad...
- Ayesha is sometimes used as a woman's name. Once popular only among Muslims, it was briefly popular among English-speakers after it appeared in the book She by Rider Haggard.
This is a typical and highly improper misuse of disambiguating hatnotes. Instead, the information belongs in the body of the article, or in the articles about the book, or in a separate article about names, or all three places. Hatnotes are meant to reduce confusion and direct readers to another article they might have been looking for, not for information about the subject of the article itself.
Linking to articles that are highly related to the topic
Extraterrestrial life is life that may exist and originate outside the planet Earth. Its existence is currently hypothetical: there is as yet no evidence of extraterrestrial life that has been widely accepted by scientists...
- This article is about the scientific study of extraterrestrial life; for treatment in popular culture, see Extraterrestrial life in popular culture.
Instead of using a hatnote, it is better to summarize Extraterrestrial life in popular culture under a subsection of Extraterrestrial life in conjunction with the {{main}} template. Alternatively, it could be linked to in the See also section.
Disambiguating article names that are not ambiguous
Tree (set theory)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For other uses, see Tree (disambiguation).
In set theory, a tree is a partially ordered set (poset) in which there is a single unique minimal element (called the root) and in which the set of elements less than a given element is well ordered...
Here, the problem is that the reader would not have ended up at tree (set theory) if they were interested in other types of trees, as tree does not redirect there.
However, a hatnote may still be appropriate when even a more specific name is still ambiguous. For example, Matt Smith (comics) might still be confused for the comics illustrator Matt Smith (illustrator).
A hatnote may also be appropriate in an unambiguously-named article when an ambiguous term redirects to it, as explained in the "Proper uses" section above.
External links
A previous version of the Hurricane Katrina article contained:
Hurricane Katrina, which made landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005, was one of the most destructive and expensive tropical cyclones to hit the United States...
- If you are trying to locate someone missing in Hurricane Katrina, or register yourself as found, you can use the site www.disastersearch.org [1]
The use of external help links in Wikipedia, though noble, cannot reasonably be maintained. In special cases, a link to an "External links" section with several links may be appropriate, but POV favoritism can be obstructive. In this case, the hatnote was removed entirely.
Non-existent articles
Hatnotes should not be used for articles that do not exist since the notes are intended to point the user to another article they may have intended to find. The exception is if one intends to create the linked article immediately. In that case, consider creating the new article first, before saving the addition of the hatnote.
Hatnote templates
The following list of available hatnote templates is transcluded from {{Otheruses templates}}.
Otheruses templates
To discuss these templates as a whole, please see Wikipedia talk:Disambiguation If you wish to discuss general wordings, rather than the wording or formatting of this specific template, don't post here, or else what you say will probably go unnoticed.
For a summary page on how to use these templates, see Wikipedia:Otheruses templates (example usage).
Generic
{{Dablink|TEXT}}:TEXT
-
- For example, {{dablink|For other senses of this term, see [[etc...]]}}. This template is adaptable, but fails to standardize hatnotes.
{{Selfref|TEXT}}:TEXT
-
- (Similar to Dablink, but used for messages that wouldn't make sense on mirrors of Wikipedia, such as a link in the main article namespace that links to one in the Wikipedia namespace. See Wikipedia:Avoid self-references for more details.)
Otheruses
{{About}} is the main template for giving other uses; it redirects to {{otheruses4}}.
{{otheruses4|USE1}}(disambiguous):This page is about USE1. For other uses, see Hatnote (disambiguation).{{otheruses4|USE1|USE2}}:This page is about USE1. For USE2, see Hatnote (disambiguation).{{otheruses4|USE1|USE2|PAGE2}}:This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2.{{About||USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4|USE5|PAGE5}}(alias and empty first param):
{{otheruses4|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4|USE5|PAGE5}}(fully specified):
Variations
There are also variations of {{about}}. These serve the same purpose, and are marginally easier to use for each individual purpose, but overall, it is complicated to have so many different templates; it could be argued that the time saved using them is lost as other editors have to familiarise themselves with them.
All of these templates are special cases of {{about}}.
{{otheruses}}:For other uses, see Hatnote (disambiguation).
Note: {{about}} will produce the same result.
{{otheruses1|USE}}:This page is about USE. For other uses, see Hatnote (disambiguation).
Note: {{about|USE}} will produce the same result.
{{otheruses2|PAGE}}:For other uses, see PAGE (disambiguation).
Note: this simply adds "(disambiguation)" to what you input as PAGE.
{{otheruses3|PAGE}}:For other uses, see PAGE.
Note: {{about|||PAGE}} will produce the same result - note the two empty parameters.
{{otheruses5}}:For other uses, see Hatnote (disambiguation) and Hatnotes (disambiguation).
Note: this is for when there is both a singular and plural disambiguation page; it only works when the plural is formed simply by adding "s" at the end.
{{otheruses6|PAGE1|PAGE2}}:
Note: this is for when there are two disambiguation pages, such as noun and adjective, or singular and irregular plural. There are only two parameters and at least one is required.
Note: this cannot be recreated with {{about}} - only with {{dablink}} or {{for}}.
Note: {{about|USE||PAGE}} will produce the same result - note the empty parameter.
{{[[Template:Otheruses-section}}:
Note: This template is precisely the same as {{Otheruses4}}, except it says "section" instead of "article" or "page", and indents only as far as {{Main}} and other section quasi-hatnotes.
For (other topic)
{{for}} (and {{for2}}) can be used instead of {{about}} to not include the first part - "This article is about USE". However, this can also simply be achieved with an empty first parameter in {{about}}.
For example, {{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE}} becomes {{About||OTHER TOPIC|PAGE}}.
{{for3}} is somewhat different, appending the word the in its mention of the second parameter, then generates a link using either the second or (if present) the third parameter as a parenthetical. {{the}} is simply a rendering of {{for3}} without bothering with the optional first argument.
{{For}}(disambiguous):For {{{1}}}, see Hatnote (disambiguation).{{For|OTHER TOPIC}}(disambiguous):For OTHER TOPIC, see Hatnote (disambiguation).{{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE}}:For OTHER TOPIC, see PAGE.{{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1|PAGE2}}:{{For2|OTHER TOPIC|CUSTOM TEXT}}:For OTHER TOPIC, see CUSTOM TEXT.{{For3||DIFFERENT MEANING|}}:For the DIFFERENT MEANING, see Hatnote (DIFFERENT MEANING).{{For3|OTHER TOPIC|DIFFERENT MEANING}}:"OTHER TOPIC" redirects here. For the DIFFERENT MEANING, see OTHER TOPIC (DIFFERENT MEANING).{{For3|OTHER TOPIC|DIFFERENT MEANING|CUSTOM PARENTHETICAL}}:"OTHER TOPIC" redirects here. For the DIFFERENT MEANING, see OTHER TOPIC (CUSTOM PARENTHETICAL).{{The|DIFFERENT MEANING}}:For the DIFFERENT MEANING, see Hatnote (DIFFERENT MEANING).
{{The|DIFFERENT MEANING|CUSTOM PARENTHETICAL}}:For the DIFFERENT MEANING, see Hatnote (CUSTOM PARENTHETICAL).
See also
{{See also|OTHER TOPIC}}:
- See also: OTHER TOPIC
This can be used when OTHER TOPIC is related to that of the current article, and already contains a self-explanatory parenthetical.
Other people
{{otherpersons}}(disambiguous):For other persons named Hatnote, see Hatnote (disambiguation).{{otherpersons|USE}}(disambiguous):For other persons named USE, see USE (disambiguation).{{otherpersons|USE|PAGE}}:For other persons named USE, see PAGE.{{otherpeople2|PAGE}}:For other persons of the same name, see PAGE.{{otherpeople3|USE1|USE2}}:This article is about USE1. For USE2, see Hatnote (disambiguation).
{{otherpeople4|USE1|USE2|PAGE}}:This article is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE.
Other places
- {{Otherplaces}}, analogous to {{Otheruses}}
- {{Otherplaces2}}, analogous to {{Otheruses2}}
- {{Otherplaces3}}, analogous to {{Otheruses3}}
Otherhurricaneuses
- For articles on storms.
{{otherhurricaneuses}}(disambiguous):For other storms of the same name, see Hatnote (disambiguation).{{otherhurricaneuses|DISAMBIG}}:For other storms of the same name, see DISAMBIG.{{otherhurricaneuses|DISAMBIG|THIS}}:This page is about THIS. For other storms of the same name, see DISAMBIG.{{otherhurricaneuses3|USE1|USE2|MAIN}}:This article is about the USE1. For the USE2, see the main article, MAIN. For other storms of the same name, see Hatnote (disambiguation).
Otherusesof (topic)
{{otherusesof}} (disambiguous):For other uses of "Hatnote", see Hatnote (disambiguation).{{otherusesof|TOPIC}}:For other uses of "TOPIC", see TOPIC (disambiguation).{{otherusesof|TOPIC|PAGE}}:For other uses of "TOPIC", see PAGE.
Redirect
{{Redirect|REDIRECT}}(disambiguous):"REDIRECT" redirects here. For other uses, see REDIRECT (disambiguation).{{Redirect|REDIRECT||PAGE}}:"REDIRECT" redirects here. For other uses, see PAGE.{{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE|PAGE}}:"REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE, see PAGE.{{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2}}(disambiguous):"REDIRECT1" and "REDIRECT2" redirect here. For other uses, see REDIRECT1 (disambiguation).{{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE|PAGE}}:"REDIRECT1" and "REDIRECT2" redirect here. For USE, see PAGE.{{Redirect3|REDIRECT|TEXT}}:"REDIRECT" redirects here. TEXT.{{Redirect4|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2}}(disambiguous):"REDIRECT1" and "REDIRECT2" redirect here. For other uses, see REDIRECT1 (disambiguation) and REDIRECT2 (disambiguation).{{Redirect5|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2}}:"REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1.{{Redirect6|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1||}}:"REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1. For other uses, see REDIRECT (disambiguation).{{Redirect8|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2}}:"REDIRECT1" and "REDIRECT2" redirect here.
"Not to be confused with"...
{{Distinguish|PAGE}}:Not to be confused with PAGE.{{Distinguish2|TEXT}}:Not to be confused with TEXT.
Notes
Do not use subst: with these templates, as that will prevent:
- propagating changes as the template is modified; and
- the What links here (WLH) listing.
Please do not edit these templates unless you know what you are doing
These templates may be used in thousands of articles, and changing the syntax could therefore break thousands of articles. If you wish to edit a disambiguation template first ask yourself:
- Is there already another template that will do this job? We have lots of disambiguation templates already, see Category:Disambiguation and redirection templates.
- Do I really need a template for this? Will it ever get used on any other articles, or should I just use {{dablink}} instead?
- Do I know what will happen if I change the parameters around? Will it break existing uses of the template, and if so, can I fix them all?
See also
Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 12 September 2008, at 12:24.
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