Wikipedia:Disambiguation

Disambiguation in Wikipedia is the process of resolving conflicts that arise when a potential article title is ambiguous, most often because it refers to ... Wikipedia:Disambiguation FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia Jumptonavigation Jumptosearch TypeofpageintheWikimediasystem "WP:DAB"redirectshere.FortherelatedarticleintheManualofStyle,seeMOS:DAB.FortherelatedWikiProject,seeWikiProjectDisambiguation. "WP:D"redirectshere.ForinformationaboutdeletiononWikipedia,seeWikipedia:Deletionpolicy.Fordisruptiveediting,seeWikipedia:Disruptiveediting. Forotheruses,seeWikipedia:Disambiguation(disambiguation). ThispagedocumentsanEnglishWikipediaeditingguideline.Itisagenerallyacceptedstandardthateditorsshouldattempttofollow,thoughitisbesttreatedwithcommonsense,andoccasionalexceptionsmayapply.Anysubstantiveedittothispageshouldreflectconsensus.Whenindoubt,discussfirstonthetalkpage.ShortcutsWP:DWP:DABWP:DISAMBIG Thispageinanutshell:ItisnecessarytoprovidelinksanddisambiguationpagessothatreaderstypinginareasonablylikelytopicnameformorethanoneWikipediatopiccanquicklynavigatetothearticletheyseek. Wikipediaguidelines Guidelineslist Policieslist Behavioral Assumegoodfaith Conflictofinterest Courtesyvanishing Disruptiveediting Don'tbitethenewcomers Don'tedittomakeapoint Etiquette Don'tgamethesystem Userpages Otherbehavioralguidelines WMFfriendlyspacepolicy Discussions Talkpageguidelines Signatures Content BiographiesofLivingPersons Citingsources Externallinks Reliablesources medicine Fringetheories Non-freecontent Offensivematerial Don'tcopylongtexts Don'tcreatehoaxes Patentnonsense Othercontentguidelines Editing Articlesize Bebold Editsummary Understandability Othereditingguidelines Organization Categories,lists,templates Categorization Disambiguation Style ManualofStyle contents lists tables Deletion Deletionprocess Speedykeep Deletionguidelinesforadministrators Projectcontent Projectpages WikiProjects Templates Userpages Userboxes Shortcuts Subpages Other Namingconventions Notability vte Disambiguation Guideline(talk) ManualofStyle(talk) Dosanddon'ts(talk) Readerhelp(talk) {{Disambiguation}} WikiProject(talk) [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Disambiguation/CJKVtask force|CJKVtaskforce]](talk) Disambigcategory Pagesinneedofcleanup Pageswithlinks TopicallistsandDABsolvertool vte DisambiguationinWikipediaistheprocessofresolvingconflictsthatarisewhenapotentialarticletitleisambiguous,mostoftenbecauseitreferstomorethanonesubjectcoveredbyWikipedia,eitherasthemaintopicofanarticle,orasasubtopiccoveredbyanarticleinadditiontothearticle'smaintopic.Forexample,Mercurycanrefertoachemicalelement,aplanet,aRomangod,andmanyotherthings. Therearethreeimportantaspectstodisambiguation: Namingarticlesinsuchawaythateachhasauniquetitle.Forexample,threeofthearticlesdealingwithtopicsordinarilycalled"Mercury"aretitledMercury(element),Mercury(planet)andMercury(mythology). Makingthelinksforambiguoustermspointtothecorrectarticletitle.Forexample,aneditorofanastronomyarticlemayhavecreatedalinktoMercury,andthisshouldbecorrectedtopointtoMercury(planet). Ensuringthatareaderwhosearchesforatopicusingaparticulartermcangettotheinformationonthattopicquicklyandeasily,whicheverofthepossibletopicsitmightbe.Forexample,thepageMercuryisadisambiguationpage—anon-articlepagewhichlistsvariousmeaningsof"Mercury"andwhichlinkstothearticlesthatcoverthem.(Asdiscussedbelow,however,ambiguoustermsdonotalwaysrequireadisambiguationpage.) Thispagediscussesthestandardwaysofhandlingtheaboveissues.Fordetailedadviceabouttheformatofdisambiguationpages,seethestylemanual. Contents 1Decidingtodisambiguate 1.1Broad-conceptarticles 2Isthereaprimarytopic? 2.1Determiningaprimarytopic 2.1.1Not"whatfirstcomesto(your)mind" 2.2Redirectingtoaprimarytopic 2.3Primarytopicwhenadisambiguationpagelistsonlyoneexistingarticlebythatname 3Disambiguationpageorhatnotes? 3.1Noprimarytopic 3.2Primarytopicwithonlyoneothertopic 3.3Primarytopicwithtwoormoreothertopics 3.4Differentspellingvariants 4Namingthespecifictopicarticles 4.1Format 5Hatnotes 5.1Usageguidelines 6Disambiguationpages 6.1Combiningtermsondisambiguationpages 6.2Namingthedisambiguationpage 6.3Pagestyle 6.4Whatnottoinclude 6.4.1Longdescriptions 6.4.2Dictionarydefinitions 6.4.3Partialtitlematches 6.4.4Listsofnames 6.4.5Relatedsubjects 6.4.6Abbreviations,initialsandacronyms 6.4.7Sisterprojects 6.4.8References 6.4.9Externallinks 6.5Preparation 6.6Construction 7Links 7.1Doubledisambiguation 7.2Incompletedisambiguation 7.3Interlanguagelinks 7.4Linkstodisambiguatedtopics 7.5Linkstodisambiguationpages 7.5.1Whentolinktoadisambiguationpage 7.5.2Howtolinktoadisambiguationpage 7.5.3Redirectstodisambiguationpages 7.5.4Visualizinglinkstodisambiguationpages 8Deletion 9Categories 10Seealso 11Notes 12Externallinks Decidingtodisambiguate ShortcutWP:D2D Disambiguationisrequiredwhenever,foragivenwordorphraseonwhichareadermightsearch,thereismorethanoneexistingWikipediaarticletowhichthatwordorphrasemightbeexpectedtolead.Inthissituationtheremustbeawayforthereadertonavigatequicklyfromthepagethatfirstappearstoanyoftheotherpossibledesiredarticles. Therearethreeprincipaldisambiguationscenarios,ofwhichthefollowingareexamples: ThepageatJokerisadisambiguationpage,leadingtoallthealternativeusesofJoker. ThepageatRiceisaboutoneusage,calledtheprimarytopic,andthereisahatnoteguidingreaderstoRice(disambiguation)tofindtheotheruses. ThepageatMichaelDobbsisabouttheprimarytopic,andthereisonlyoneotheruse.Theotheruseislinkeddirectlyusingahatnote;nodisambiguationpageisneeded. Forhowtodecidewhichofthesescenariosisappropriateinagivencase,seethefollowingtwosections: Broad-conceptarticles Mainpage:Wikipedia:Broad-conceptarticle Seealso:Category:Disambiguationpagestobeconvertedtobroadconceptarticles ShortcutsWP:CONCEPTDABWP:DABCONCEPT Iftheprimarymeaningofatermproposedfordisambiguationisabroadconceptortypeofthingthatiscapableofbeingdescribedinanarticle,andasubstantialportionofthelinksassertedtobeambiguousareinstancesorexamplesofthatconceptortype,thenthepagelocatedatthattitleshouldbeanarticledescribingitandnotadisambiguationpage.Wheretheprimarytopicofatermisageneraltopicthatcanbedividedintosubtopics,suchaschronologically(e.g.,HistoryofFrance)orgeographically(e.g.,RugbyunionintheBritishIsles),theunqualifiedtitleshouldcontainanarticleaboutthegeneraltopicratherthanadisambiguationpage.Adisambiguationpageshouldnotbecreatedjustbecauseitisdifficulttowriteanarticleonatopicthatisbroad,vague,abstract,orhighlyconceptual.WherethereareadditionalmeaningsthatarenotinstancesorexamplesofaFooprimaryconceptortype,thoseshouldbeincludedonaFoo(disambiguation)page. Forexample: Particle(previouslyadisambiguationpage)isabroadandabstractconceptusedtoaddressmanydifferentideasinphysics,generallyrelatingtosmallunitsfromwhichlargerthingsarecomposed.Althoughtherearemanydifferentkindsofparticlesatlevelsrangingfromthesubatomictothemacroscopic,thebroadconceptisproperlysusceptibletoexplanationinanarticle.Trulyunrelatedmeanings,suchasParticle(band),arepresentedonlyatParticle(disambiguation). ASupremecourt,Nationaltrust,orFinanceminister(orMinistryofFinance)iseachakindofentityoccurringinmultiplecountriesandpossiblyinotherpoliticalentitiesandservingthesamepurposeineach.Ratherthanhavingdisambiguationpagesatthesetitleslinkingtoexistingarticlesontheseentitiesbynation,eachshouldcontainanarticledescribingingeneraltermswhattheconceptisandhowthedifferentexamplesofthisconceptrelatetoeachother. CentralAsia,NorthernEurope,andSouthernUnitedStatesaregeographicdesignationsthathavebeenusedwithrespecttodifferentspecificboundariesovertime.Varyingusesforbroadgeographictermscanbediscussedinthecontextofanarticledescribingtheoverallagreementofwhichareasdefinitelyfallwithinthatdesignationandwhichareasareonlyoccasionallydescribedasfallingwithinthatdesignation,forcertainpurposes. TheNokiaLumiaisacellphonewithmanydifferentdesignmodels.Thefactthatdifferentmodelsinthesameseriesofproductbythesamemanufacturermayhavethesamename,orthesamecombinationofnameandnumber,doesnotmakethemambiguous.Therelationshipbetweenthesedesignmodelscanandshouldbediscussedonapagedescribingproductscreatedbyorlicensedbythesamemanufacturer. Footballmayrefertooneofanumberofteamsportswhichallinvolve,tovaryingdegrees,kickingaballwiththefoot.Althoughtheword"football"canapplytowhicheverformoffootballisthemostpopularintheregionalcontextinwhichthewordappears,allofthesevariationssharesomecommonelementsandcanbetracedtoacommonorigin.Thus,thehistoryanddevelopmentofthegeneralconceptoffootballcanbeexplainedinitsownarticle.Football(disambiguation)describesthevariousliteralusesofthewordincludingtheactualballs. ManydefinitionsoftrianglecenterareusedinEuclideangeometry,whichcoincideonlyinthespecialcaseofequilateraltriangles.Thearticlelistsadozenoftheseandalsogivesavaliditycriterionapplicabletovariousdefinitionsofcenter. Inwritingarticlesonthesesubjects,itisusefultodirectlyaddressthescopeofthetermandthehistoryofhowtheconcepthasdeveloped.Eachoftheexamplesoftheconceptortypeofthingshouldbeincludedatsomepointinthearticle,possiblyinalist,sothatnoinformationislostfromwhatwouldhavebeenpresentedinthedisambiguationpageformat.Considerusingsummarystyletoincorporateinformationaboutthesubtopicsintothemainarticle. Pagesneedingtobeexpandedtodescribetheconceptmaybetaggedwith{{Broad-conceptarticle}}. Isthereaprimarytopic? "WP:PRIMARYTOPIC"redirectshere.FortheManualofStyleguideline,seeWikipedia:ManualofStyle/Disambiguationpages§ Linkingtoaprimarytopic. Seealso:§ Incompletedisambiguation Thisguidelinesectionshouldbereadinconjunctionwiththearticletitlesdisambiguationpolicy. ShortcutsWP:PRIMARYTOPICWP:PTOPIC Althoughaword,name,orphrasemayrefertomorethanonetopic,sometimesoneofthesetopicscanbeidentifiedastheterm'sprimarytopic.Thisisthetopictowhichthetermshouldlead,servingasthetitleof(oraredirectto)therelevantarticle.Ifnoprimarytopicexists,thenthetermshouldbethetitleofadisambiguationpage(orshouldredirecttoadisambiguationpageonwhichmorethanonetermisdisambiguated).Theprimarytopicmightbeabroad-conceptarticle,asmentionedabove. WhileWikipediahasnosinglecriterionfordefiningaprimarytopic,twomajoraspectsthateditorscommonlyconsiderarethese: Atopicisprimaryforatermwithrespecttousageifitishighlylikely—muchmorelikelythananyothersingletopic,andmorelikelythanalltheothertopicscombined—tobethetopicsoughtwhenareadersearchesforthatterm. Atopicisprimaryforatermwithrespecttolong-termsignificanceifithassubstantiallygreaterenduringnotabilityandeducationalvaluethananyothertopicassociatedwiththatterm. Inmostcases,thetopicthatisprimarywithrespecttousageisalsoprimarywithrespecttolong-termsignificance;inmanyothercases,onlyonesenseofprimacyisrelevant.Inafewcases,thereissomeconflictbetweenatopicofprimaryusage(AppleInc.)andoneofprimarylong-termsignificance(Apple).Insuchacase,consensusmaybeusefulindeterminingwhichtopic,ifany,istheprimarytopic. Determiningaprimarytopic ShortcutsWP:DETERMINEPRIMARYWP:DPT Therearenoabsoluterulesfordeterminingwhetheraprimarytopicexistsandwhatitis;decisionsaremadebydiscussionamongeditors,oftenasaresultofarequestedmove.Toolsthatmayhelptosupportthedeterminationofaprimarytopicinadiscussion(butarenotconsideredabsolutedeterminingfactors,duetounreliability,potentialbias,andotherreasons)include: Wikipediaarticletrafficstatistics(fortheexacttitleofapageoraredirect)andredirecttrafficstatistics(forthetotalviewsofapageincludingtrafficcomingfromitsredirects). UsageinEnglishreliablesourcesdemonstratedwithGoogleNgramviewer,Books,Scholar,News,andTrends.Simplewebsearchesmaybeproblematicduetolimitedsources,openinterpretation,andpersonalsearchbias,whichcanbeeliminatedwiththemodifiedGooglesearchstringhttps://encrypted.google.com/webhp?complete=0&hl=en&pws=0,butmaybehelpfulifothermethodsareinconclusive. IncomingwikilinksfromSpecial:WhatLinksHere(theircount). Somegeneralprinciplesfordeterminingaprimarytopicinclude: Whilelong-termsignificanceisafactor,historicalageisnotdeterminative. Beingtheoriginalsourceofthenameisalsonotdeterminative.Boston,MassachusettsistheprimarytopicforBoston,nottheEnglishtownfromwhichittookitsname. Atopicmayhaveprincipalrelevanceforaspecificgroupofpeople(forexample,asthenameofalocalplace,orsoftware),butnotbetheprimarymeaningamongageneralaudience.Anattorneymayreadthewordhearingandimmediatelythinkofacourtroom,buttheauditorysenseisstilltheprimarytopic. Not"whatfirstcomesto(your)mind" ShortcutsWP:NWFCTMWP:BUTIDONTKNOWABOUTIT Perhapsthemostcommonlyrejectedcriterionisthattheprimarytopicshouldonlybelongtowhat"firstcomestomind".Thisargumentisinevitablytaintedbythepersonalbackground,location,biases,ethnicity,andotherpiecesofone'sownlife,butwearetryingtobuildanencyclopediathatisuntaintedbysystemicbias.Theprimarytopicisthereforedeterminedwithoutregardto(forexample)thenationalorigin,ifany,ofthearticleorarticlesinquestion. BecausemanytopicsonWikipediaaremoreinterestingorpertinenttoparticulargroups,onepotentialcriteriontocommonlyavoidiswhat"firstcomestomind".AnAmericanmightfirstthinkofthecityinAlabamawhenBirminghamismentioned,butprimarytopicbelongstothecityinEngland,whichisfarmorenotableandwhosearticleisreadmuchmoreoften.AScotmightthinkoftheScottishcitywhenthecityofPerthisreferredto,buttheprimarytopicbelongstotheAustraliancityforessentiallythesamereasonsasforBirmingham.RaleightakesyoudirectlytotheAmericancity,eventhoughaBritmaynotevenknowofthecityandonlythinkoftheexplorerorbicyclemanufacturerwhenRaleighismentioned.WhatfirstcomestoyourmindwhenyouhearthewordJava?Itmaybecoffeeoraprogramminglanguage,buttheprimarytopicbelongstotheislandwithover140millionpeoplelivingonit. ShortcutWP:TITLEPTM Partialtitlematchesshouldalsobeconsidered.Considerwhatuserssearchingwiththeterminquestionaremostlikelytobeseeking.Forinstance,NewYorkCityisapartialtitlematchfor"York"andisfarmorenotableandlikelytobesought(morepageviews)thanistheBritishcityfromwhichitgotitsname,andthevastmajorityofthetimethat"York"isusedinbooks,itisusedinthenames"NewYorkCity"anditscontainingstateof"NewYork".[a]However,sinceusersareunlikelytosearchforNewYorkwiththesearchterm"York",whichissupportedbytherareuseofunqualified"York"toreferto"NewYork"inreliablesources,YorkstillhostsanarticleontheBritishcity,andnosuggestiontochangethatwouldbeseriouslyentertained.Likewise,"Sofia"hasbeenthefirstnameofcountlessgirlsandwomenthroughouthistory;however,asasingletermitmostcommonlyreferstotheBulgariancapital,andanyonesearchingwithplain"Sofia"ismostlikelylookingforthatcity.[b] Tobeclear,itisnotourgoaltoastonishourreaders,andthetopicthatcomesfirsttomindindeedoftenissuitableastheprimarytopic.AnneHathaway,asoneofcountlessexamples,takesthereadertothemodern-dayAmericanmoviestar'spage,nottothearticleonthewifeofWilliamShakespeare.Butinnocasedo"whatcomesfirsttomind"or"whatisastonishing"havemuchbearing,eitherpositiveornegative,onwhichtopic,ifany,actuallyistheprimarytopic. Redirectingtoaprimarytopic ShortcutWP:PRIMARYREDIRECT Thetitleoftheprimarytopicarticlemaybedifferentfromtheambiguousterm.Thismayhappenwhenthetopicisprimaryformorethanoneterm,whenthearticlecoversawidertopicalscope,orwhenitistitleddifferentlyaccordingtothenamingconventions.Whenthisisthecase,thetermshouldredirecttothearticle(orasectionofit).Thefactthatanarticlehasadifferenttitleisnotafactorindeterminingwhetheratopicisprimary.Forexample: ThecitywhichisthesubjectofthearticleonGdańskusedtobecalledDanziginEnglish,butisnowusuallyreferredtoasGdańsk.Thustheprimarytopicfor"Danzig"isthiscity;DanzigredirectstoGdańsk,andthelatterpagecontainsa{{redirect}}hatnotelinkingtoDanzig(disambiguation). Theprimarytopicfor"ovens"isthecookerbutbecauseofWikipedia:Namingconventions(plurals)thearticleistitledOven.HereOvensredirectstoOven,andahatnotethenlinkstoOvens(disambiguation). Theprimarytopicforthesearchterm"Einstein"isthephysicist,butthearticletitleisAlbertEinstein.HereEinsteinredirectstoAlbertEinstein,andahatnotethenlinkstoEinstein(disambiguation). ThearticleatDefamationistheprimarytopicforfiveterms:"defamation","libel","slander","vilification",and"calumny".EventhoughthereisafilmwiththetitleLibel,thearticleatDefamationisstilltheprimarytopicforthattitleandthefilmmustbedisambiguated. Therearetimeswhenadisambiguatedarticletitle,suchasApostrophe(punctuation),maybemovedtoitsbasename(unqualifiedtitle)basedonaconsensusthatthisistheprimarytopicfortheunqualifiedterm.Whensuchapagemoveismade,theredirecttemplate{{Rfromunnecessarydisambiguation}}shouldbeusedtocategorizetheredirectthatresultsfromthemove underCategory:Redirectsfromunnecessarydisambiguation.Usingtheaboveexample,Apostrophe(punctuation)wouldredirectasfollows(whereApostrophe'stopicisprimary): #REDIRECT[[Apostrophe]] {{Redirectcategoryshell| {{Rfrommove}} {{Rfromunnecessarydisambiguation}} }} Primarytopicwhenadisambiguationpagelistsonlyoneexistingarticlebythatname ShortcutWP:PRIMARYRED Whenadisambiguationpagelistsonlyoneexistingarticlebythatname(allothersuggestedarticlesarered-linked),thenormalrulesforprimarytopicstillapply.Theexistingarticleisnotautomaticallytheprimarytopicnoristhereautomaticallynoprimarytopic.So: Ifthearticlewiththebluelinkistheprimarytopic,itshouldbetheprimarylandingpage(possiblyviaaWP:PRIMARYREDIRECT).Thedisambiguationpageshouldbeatapagewiththe(disambiguation)qualifier. Ifthereisnoprimarytopic,thenthedisambiguationpageshouldbetheprimarylandingpage. Ontherareoccasionsthatared-linkedarticlewouldbetheprimarytopic,thesituationistreatedasifthereisnoprimarytopicuntilthered-linkedarticleiswritten. Pleasenote,MOS:DABMENTIONstillapplies:anyred-linkedentrymuststillhaveabluelinktoanarticlethatcoverstheredlinkedtopic. Disambiguationpageorhatnotes? ShortcutWP:TWODABS Seealso:Wikipedia:Articletitles§ Whenaspellingvariantindicatesadistincttopic,Wikipedia:Hatnotesarecheap,andWikipedia:PrimarytopicsinWP:TWODABSsituations Formoreabouthatnotes,see§ Hatnotes. Forrulesaboutnamingdisambiguationpagesandcombiningsimilartermsonasinglepage,see§ Disambiguationpages. Asdiscussedabove,ifanambiguoustermhasnoprimarytopic,thenthattermneedstoleadtoadisambiguationpage.Inotherwords,wherenotopicisprimary,thedisambiguationpageisplacedatthebasename. Ifadisambiguationpageisneeded,butoneoftheothertopicsisofparticularinterest,thenitmaybeappropriatetolinktoitexplicitlyaswellaslinkingtothedisambiguationpage.Forexample,Inflationisabouttheprimarytopic—ariseinprices—andahatnotelinkstobothInflation(cosmology)andInflation(disambiguation). Noprimarytopic ShortcutWP:NOPRIMARY Iftherearemultipletopics(evenjusttwo)towhichagiventitlemightrefer,butperthecriteriaat§ Isthereaprimarytopic?thereisnoprimarytopic,thenthebasenameshouldleadthereadertothedisambiguationpagefortheterm.Forexample,JohnQuestedisadisambiguationpageforthetwopeoplebythatnamewhocanbefoundintheencyclopedia: JohnQuestedmayreferto: JohnQuested(RAFofficer)(1893–1948),EnglishWorldWarIflyingace JohnQuested(producer)(born1935),filmproducerandownerandchairmanofGoldcrestFilms Primarytopicwithonlyoneothertopic ShortcutWP:ONEOTHER Ifthereisaprimarytopiclocatedatthebasename,thenthequestionariseswhethertocreateadisambiguationpage,ormerelytolinktoalltheothermeaningsfromahatnoteontheprimarytopicarticle. Ifthereareonlytwotopicstowhichagiventitlemightrefer,andoneistheprimarytopic,thenadisambiguationpageisnotneeded—itissufficienttouseahatnoteontheprimarytopicarticle,pointingtotheotherarticle.(Thismeansthatreaderslookingforthesecondtopicaresparedtheextranavigationalstepofgoingthroughthedisambiguationpage.) Ifadisambiguationpagedoesnotappeartobeneededbecausethereareonlytwotopicsfortheambiguoustitleandoneofthemistheprimarytopic,buttherecouldreasonablybeothertopicsambiguouswiththetitleonWikipedianoworinthefuture,an{{about}}hatnotecanbeusedtolinktoadisambiguationpage(eitherinadditiontoorinsteadofalinkdirectlytotheotherarticle).Atthesametime,the{{Oneothertopic}}templateshouldbeaddedtothetopofthedisambiguationpage,whichwillinformusersthatthepagehasonlytwoambiguousterms,oneofthemprimary;thusitmaybedeletedif,afteraperiodoftimenoadditionalambiguoustopicsarefoundtoexpandthedisambiguationpage.The{{Oneothertopic}}templatewillalsolistthearticleinCategory:Disambiguationpagescontainingonenon-primarytopic,allowingothereditorstolocatethesepagesandhelpinexpandingthem.Ifthetwo-dabpagehasbeenexpandedtoincludeadditionalambiguoustopics,{{Oneothertopic}}templateshouldberemovedandadirectlinkintheprimaryarticletotheotherarticlemaynotbeneededanymoreasalinktothedisambiguationpagealonemaybesufficient. Forexample,Retrogrademotion(disambiguation)[clarificationneeded]—whichisnowdeleted—containedlinkstoonlytwoarticles,ofwhichRetrogrademotionwastheprimarytopicandApparentretrogrademotionthesecond.Thedisambiguationpageisnotneededsinceeacharticlelinkstotheotherwithahatnote.However,ifsomemoredisambiguationlinkshadbeenadded,itcouldhavebeenusefultoexpandthehatnotewithalinktothedisambiguationpage. Primarytopicwithtwoormoreothertopics Iftherearetwoorthreeothertopics,itisstillpossibletouseahatnotewhichliststheothertopicsexplicitly,butifthiswouldrequiretoomuchtext(roughly,ifthehatnotewouldextendwelloveronelineonastandardpage),thenitisbettertocreateadisambiguationpageandreferonlytothat. Differentspellingvariants Ifthetitlesoftwoarticlesdifferonlyincapitalizationortheseparationornon-separationofcomponents(asperWP:DIFFCAPSorWP:PLURALPT),thearticleseachshouldcontainahatnotetolinktoeachother:forexampleIcecubeandIceCube. Namingthespecifictopicarticles Articletitles Allnamingconventions Category:Wikipedianamingconventions Nature Fauna(animals) Flora(plants) Arts ·Entertainment ·Media Books Broadcasting Comics Films Manuscripts Music Operas Television Videogames Visualarts People Clergy Ethnicities AncientRomans Royaltyandnobility Sports Baseballplayers Science ·Technology ·Transport Astronomy Chemistry Medicine Programminglanguages Aircraft Ships Government ·Politics ·Law Governmentandlegislation Legal Politicalparties Organizations Companies LatterDaySaints Sportsteams Numbers ·Dates Numbersanddates Places ·Events Places Events Lists ·Categories Categories Lists Longlists Stubsorting Language/country-specific Writingsystems Alllanguages Allcountries Armenian Bangladesh Burmese Chinese German Greek Hebrew Indic Irish Japanese Korean Macedonian Mongolian NewZealand OldNorse Polish Russian Tibetan Ukrainian Formatting Capitalization UseEnglish Definiteorindefinitearticleatbeginningofname Plurals Acronyms Technicalrestrictions vte ShortcutWP:NCDAB Seealso:Wikipedia:Articletitles§ Disambiguation Fordisambiguatingspecifictopicpagesbyusinganunambiguousarticletitle,severaloptionsareavailable: Naturaldisambiguation.Whenthereisanotherterm(suchasApartmentinsteadofFlat)ormorecompletename(suchasEnglishlanguageinsteadofEnglish)thatisunambiguous,commonlyusedinEnglish(evenwithoutbeingthemostcommonterm),andequallyclear,thattermistypicallythebesttouse. Comma-separateddisambiguation.Ambiguousgeographicnamesareoftendisambiguatedbyaddingthenameofahigher-leveladministrativedivision,separatedbyacomma,asinWindsor,Berkshire.[c]SeeNamingconventions(geographicnames). Parentheticaldisambiguation.Adisambiguatingwordorphrasecanbeaddedinparentheses.Thewordorphraseinparenthesesshouldbe: thegenericclass(avoidingpropernouns,asmuchaspossible)thatincludesthetopic,asinMercury(element),Seal(emblem);or thesubjectorcontexttowhichthetopicapplies,asinUnion(settheory),Inflation(cosmology);or rarely,anadjectivedescribingthetopiccanbeused,asinVector(spatial),butitisusuallybettertorephrasesuchatitletoavoidparentheses(forinstance,Vector(spatial)wasrenamedtoEuclideanvector). Naturaldisambiguationthatisunambiguous,commonlyused,andclearisgenerallypreferabletoparentheticaldisambiguation;forinstance,FandistrictandhandfanareusedinsteadofFan(district)andfan(implement).Ifnounambiguous,commonlyused,andclearnaturaldisambiguationisavailable,anothertypeofdisambiguationisused.Ifthereareseveralpossiblechoicesforparentheticaldisambiguation,usethesamedisambiguatingphrasealreadycommonlyusedforothertopicswithinthesameclassandcontext,ifany.Otherwise,choosewhicheverissimpler.Forexample,use"(mythology)"ratherthan"(mythologicalfigure)". Namingconventionsapplicabletocertainsubjectareasarelistedintheboxtotheright;theseoftencontaindetailedguidanceabouthowtodisambiguate.Inparticular,forarticlesaboutpeople,seetheDisambiguatingsectioninthepeoplenamingconvention. Format Toconformtothenamingconventions,thephraseinparenthesesshouldbetreatedjustasanyotherwordinatitle:normallylowercase,unlessitisapropernoun(likeabooktitle)thatwouldappearcapitalizedeveninrunningtext. Forcommondisambiguationwords,seeUser:Jarry1250/Findings. Hatnotes ShortcutsWP:DABLINKWP:DABLINKS Forbroadercoverageofthistopic,seeWikipedia:Hatnote. "WP:DABLINK"redirectshere.Forlinkstodisambiguationpages,see§ Linkstodisambiguationpages. Userssearchingforwhatturnsouttobeanambiguoustermmaynotreachthearticletheyexpected.Therefore,anyarticlewithanambiguoustitleshouldcontainhelpfullinkstoalternativeWikipediaarticlesordisambiguationpages,placedatthetopofthearticleusingoneormoreofthetemplatesshownbelow. Disambiguationhatnotesarenotarticlecontent—theyareassociatedwiththetitle,ratherthananyarticletopiccontent. Insomecasestherearemultipletemplatesavailable,oneincludingandanotheromittinginformationaboutthetopicofthearticle.Theshorterhatnotemaybechosenifomittingtheinformationisnotlikelytoconfusethereader. Onaprimarytopicpageforatermthathasonesecondarytopiconly(nodisambiguationpage): Type{{about|TOPIC|TOPIC2|ARTICLE(2)}}toproduce:ThispageisaboutTOPIC.ForTOPIC2,seeARTICLE(2). Type{{for|TOPIC2|ARTICLE(2)}}toproduce:ForTOPIC2,seeARTICLE(2). Onasecondarytopicpageforatermthathasoneothertopiconly(nodisambiguationpage): Asabove,butconsiderwhetherthehatnoteisreallynecessary(seethefirstoftheusageguidelinesbelow). Onaprimarytopicpagethathasanassociateddisambiguationpage: Type{{about|TOPIC}}toproduce:ThispageisaboutTOPIC.Forotheruses,seeARTICLENAME(disambiguation). Type{{otheruses}}toproduce:Forotheruses,seeARTICLENAME(disambiguation). or,ifthedisambiguationpageisnotinthedefaultlocation,type{{otheruses|NAME}}toproduce:Forotheruses,seeNAME. Whentheprimarytopicredirectstoanotherpage: Ifthereisonlyonesecondarytopic,type{{redirect|REDIRECT|TOPIC2|ARTICLE(2)}}onthetargetpagetoproduce:"REDIRECT"redirectshere.ForTOPIC2,seeARTICLE(2). Ifthereisadisambiguationpage,type{{redirect|REDIRECT}}toproduce:"REDIRECT"redirectshere.Forotheruses,seeREDIRECT(disambiguation). Othervariationsonthesetemplatesareavailable,includingtemplatesforspecificsubjectssuchasplaces,numbers,etc.TemplatesarelistedandillustratedatWikipedia:Hatnotes#Templates. Usageguidelines Itisusuallypreferablenottoadddisambiguationhatnotestoapagewhosenamealreadyclearlydistinguishesitselffromthegenericterm.However,forsometopicsthisisagoodidea.Forexample,TreatyofParis(1796)shouldincludeahatnotepointingtothedisambiguationpageTreatyofParis(disambiguation),sincemanyusersmightnotknowthatthereismorethanonetreatywiththisname,andwecannotpredictwhatexternalsearchengineswilllinkto.Inothercases,suchahatnoteisnotnecessary.Forexample,Mirror(1975film)isclearlyaboutonespecificmovieandnotaboutanyofthemanyothermeaningsof"Mirror",andmostuserswillknowtotypeMirrorinthesearchboxtofindothertopics. Asnotedabove,disambiguationhatnotesshouldbeplacedatthetopofanarticle,wheretheyaremostvisible.Foralternativesthatarerelatedtothearticlebutarenotasourceofambiguity,the"Seealso"sectionattheendofthearticleismoreappropriate. Donotusepipingtochangethetitleofdisambiguationentrylinks.Showingtheactuallinkedentrytitleavoidsconfusion.(Pipingmaybeusedforformattingortechnicalreasons;seetheManualofStyleexceptions.) Consolidatemultipledisambiguationlinksintoasfewdisambiguationhatnotesaspossible. SeeWikipedia:Hatnoteforotherguidelinesontheproperuseofdisambiguationhatnotes. Disambiguationpages ShortcutsWP:DPAGEWP:DPAGES Adisambiguationpageisanon-articlepagethatlistsandlinkstoencyclopediaarticlescoveringtopicsthatcouldhavehadthesametitle.Thepurposeofdisambiguationpagesisallowingnavigationtothearticleonthetopicbeingsought.Theinformationonadisambiguationpageshouldbefocusedongettingthereadertotheirdesiredarticle. Combiningtermsondisambiguationpages ShortcutWP:DABCOMBINE Asingledisambiguationpagemaybeusedtodisambiguateanumberofsimilarterms.Setsoftermswhicharecommonlysocombinedinclude: Termsthatdifferonlyincapitalization,punctuationanddiacriticmarks.Theseshouldalmostalwaysshareadisambiguationpage.Forexample,thetermsOe,Ōe,OEandO.E.aredisambiguatedonasinglepage(Oe). Correspondingsingular,pluralandpossessiveforms,orcompoundwords.Forexample,thetermsEaglenest,EagleNest,Eagle'sNestandEagleNestsallappearatEagle'sNest,andStars(disambiguation)redirectstoStar(disambiguation). Variantspellings.Forexample,HonorandHonourbothappearatHonor(disambiguation). Variantformsofnames.Forexample,FredSmithalsoincludespersonsnamedFrederickSmith. Termswhichdifferbythepresenceorabsenceofanarticle(e.g."a","an",or"the"inEnglish).Forexample,Cure(disambiguation)alsocontainsinstancesofTheCure. Editorialjudgementshouldbeusedindecidingwhethertocombinetermsinthewaysdescribedabove.Ifacombineddisambiguationpagewouldbeinconvenientlylong,itmaybebettertosplitthedisambiguationpageintoseparatepages. Whenacombineddisambiguationpageisused,redirectstoit(orhatnotes,asappropriate)shouldbesetupfromallthetermsinvolved. Namingthedisambiguationpage ShortcutWP:DABNAME "WP:DABNAME"redirectshere.FortheManualofStyleguidelineonpeople'snamesindisambiguationpages,seeMOS:DABNAME. Seealso:Wikipedia:Articletitles Thetitleofadisambiguationpageistheambiguoustermitself,providedthereisnoprimarytopicforthatterm.Ifthereisaprimarytopic,thenthetag"(disambiguation)"isaddedtothenameofthedisambiguationpage,asinJupiter(disambiguation). Whenadisambiguationpagecombinesseveralsimilarterms,oneofthemmustbeselectedasthetitleforthepage(withthe"(disambiguation)"tagaddedifaprimarytopicexistsforthatterm);thechoiceshouldbemadeinlinewiththefollowingprinciples: Awordispreferredtoanabbreviation,forexampleArm(disambiguation)overARM. Whennowordcanbeformed,allcapitalsispreferred.Forexample,thedisambiguationpagefor"ddb"isDDB,not"Ddb". Englishspellingispreferredtothatofnon-Englishlanguages. Singularsarepreferredtoplurals. Thesimplestformofthetermispreferredtothosecontainingpunctuation,diacriticsandarticles;forexampleSAispreferredtoS.A.,andShadow(disambiguation)ispreferredtoTheShadow(disambiguation). Thespellingthatreflectsthemajorityofitemsonthepageispreferredtolesscommonalternatives. Inaddition,whenadisambiguationpageexistsattheambiguousterm,thereshouldalsobearedirecttoitfromthe"(disambiguation)"title;inotherwords,if"TermABC"isadisambiguationpage,aredirectfrom"TermABC(disambiguation)"shouldbecreatedifitdoesnotalreadyexist.Thistypeofredirectisusedtoindicateanyintentionallinkstothedisambiguationpage,todistinguishthemfromaccidentalorerroneousincominglinksthatshouldbedisambiguatedtotheappropriatearticle. Pagestyle ShortcutWP:DABSTYLE Mainpage:Wikipedia:ManualofStyle/Disambiguationpages Eachdisambiguationpagecomprisesalist(ormultiplelists,formultiplesensesoftheterminquestion)ofsimilarlytitledlinks. Linktotheprimarytopic(ifthereisone): Aschoolisaninstitutionforlearning. Starteachlistwithashortintroductorysentencefragmentwiththetitleinbold,andendingwithacolon.Forexample: Blockbustermayreferto: Trytostarteachentryinthelistwithalinktothetargetpage,unlessthelinkprovidedgivescontextratherthanasynonymousmeaning. Eachbulletedentryshouldhaveanavigable(blue)link,normallyastheentryitself(seethepreviousbullet),orinthedescriptioniftheentryisred-linkedorunlinked. Rarelyshouldabulletedentryhavemorethanonenavigablelink;includingmorethanonelinkcanconfusethereader. Donotpipethenameofthelinkstothearticlesbeinglisted.[d](Seeexceptions.) Entriesaresentencefragments;donotendthemwithperiodsorotherpunctuation. Includethetemplate{{disambiguation}}(oranotherdisambiguationtemplate,suchas{{Geodis}}or{{Hndis}})atthebottomasanindicatorofthepage'sstatus.Formoreinformation,seetherelevantManualofStylesubpage. Forprimeexamplesofdisambiguationpages,seeLiftandAurora(disambiguation). Whatnottoinclude ShortcutsWP:DABNOTWP:DABNOINCLUDE Longdescriptions Thepurposeofadisambiguationpageistodirectareaderseekinginformationonatopictotherightpage.Itiscommontoaddalittleadditionalinformation(whichmaymakereferencetothefullarticleunnecessary).Forexample,thedisambiguationpageforRooseveltcontainstheentry"FranklinD.Roosevelt(1882–1945),32ndU.S.president".Ontheotherhand,"FranklinD.Roosevelt(1882–1945),USpresident1933–1945,DemocraticParty,acentralfigureinworldevents,creatoroftheNewDeal,inawheelchairfrompoliosince1921,diedinoffice"wouldbeinappropriate;itsummarisesthearticleratherthanmerelydisambiguating. Dictionarydefinitions ShortcutWP:DABDIC Adisambiguationpageisnotalistofdictionarydefinitions.Ashortdescriptionofthecommongeneralmeaningofawordcanbeappropriateforhelpingthereaderdeterminecontext.Otherwise,therearetemplatesforlinkingthereadertoWiktionary,thewikidictionary;seeTemplate:Wiktionary.Itisalsonotaninterlanguagedictionary;whileGenevaisGinebrainSpanishandotherlanguages,GinebraisnotlistedintheGenevaarticle,sotheGinebradisambiguationpageshouldnotincludeGeneva. Partialtitlematches ShortcutsWP:PARTIALWP:PTM "WP:PARTIAL"redirectshere.ForinformationaboutWikipedia'spolicyonpartialblocks,seeWikipedia:Partialblocks. "WP:PTM"redirectshere.Forthearticletitleguidelineonprimarytopics,seeWP:TITLEPTM. Adisambiguationpageisnotasearchindex.Alinktoanarticletitlethatmerelycontainspartofthedisambiguationpagetitle,oralinkthatincludesthepagetitleinalongerpropername,wherethereisnosignificantriskofconfusionbetweenthem,isconsideredapartialtitlematch,andshouldnotbeincluded.Forexample,LouisvilleZooisnotincludedatZoo(disambiguation)becausepeopleoutsideLouisvillewouldnotreadilyidentifyitasthe"Zoo",andincludingallzoosintheworldinthedisambiguationpageisimpractical(thoughListofzoosislistedinthe"Seealso"section).Addalinkonlyifthearticle'ssubject(ortherelevantsubtopicthereof)couldplausiblybereferredtobyessentiallythesamenameasthedisambiguatedterminasufficientlygenericcontext—regardlessofthearticle'stitle.Forinstance,theMississippiRiverarticlecouldnotfeasiblybetitledMississippi,sincethatnameisusedbytheUSstatearticle,butitisincludedatMississippi(disambiguation)becauseitssubjectisoftencalled"theMississippi". Placenamesareoftendividedbetweenaspecificandgenericpart,forexampleNorthCarolina(where"Carolina"isthespecific,and"North"thegenericpart).Commongenericsarecompasspoints,upper/lower,old/new,big/small,etc.Itisentirelypropertoincludesuchplacenamesindisambiguationpageswiththespecifictitle(NorthCarolinaisproperlylistedatCarolina(disambiguation));butonlyexceptionallyunderthegenerictitle:KingstonuponHullisproperlylistedatHull(disambiguation)[e]butwedonotexpecttoseeNorthCarolinainNorth(disambiguation),justaswedonotexpecttoseeMississippiRiverinRiver(disambiguation)). Insteadoflistingpartialtitlematches,consideraddingthe{{lookfrom}}or{{intitle}}templatesinthe"Seealso"section,whichlinktoallarticlesstartingwithorcontainingaparticularterm,respectively. Listsofnames ShortcutWP:NAMELIST Topreventdisambiguationpagesfromgettingtoolong,articlesonpeopleshouldbelistedatthedisambiguationpagefortheirfirstorlastnameonlyiftheyarereasonablywellknownbyit.WereasonablyexpecttoseeAbrahamLincolnatLincoln(disambiguation),butveryfewsourceswouldrefertothewaltzcomposerHarryJ.Lincolnbyanunqualified"Lincoln",soheislistedonlyattheLincoln(surname)anthroponymyarticle.Thisisevenmorewidespreadforfirstnames—manyhighlynotablepeoplearecalledHerb,buttypinginHerbgetsyouanarticleonplants.Herb(disambiguation)doesnotevenlistanypeoplenamed"Herb",butinsteadlinkstoHerb(surname)andHerb(givenname),wherearticlesonpeoplenamed"Herb"arelisted.Consensusamongeditorsdeterminesifanarticleshouldbelistedonthedisambiguationpage. Relatedsubjects ShortcutWP:DABRELATED Includearticlesonlyifthetermbeingdisambiguatedisactuallydescribedinthetargetarticle.Forexample,auseofthetermsetisdiscussedinthearticleonvolleyball,soSet(disambiguation)legitimatelyincludesanentryfor"Set,ateam'ssecondcontactwiththeballinvolleyball". Abbreviations,initialsandacronyms ShortcutsWP:DABABBREVWP:DABACRONYM Donotaddarticlestoabbreviationoracronymdisambiguationpagesunlessthetargetarticleincludestheacronymorabbreviation—weareresolvinganambiguity,notmakingyetanotherdictionaryofabbreviations.Ifanabbreviationisverifiable,butnotmentionedinthetargetarticle,consideraddingittothetargetarticleandthenaddingtheentrytothedisambiguationpage.Inparticular,donotincludepeopleandotherthingssimplybecauseoftheirinitials,unlessthoseinitialshavebeenwidelyused.JohnFitzgeraldKennedyiswidelyknownasJFKandthisisdiscussedinthearticle,sotheinitialsareappropriatelydisambiguated;however,MarilynMonroewasnevercommonlyknownas"MM",norwasA.A.Milneknownaseither"AA"or"AAM".Omitdescriptionsthatareobviousfromthetitle,like(forPNP):"PhilippineNationalPolice,thenationalpoliceforceoftheRepublicofthePhilippines".(SeealsoMOS:DABACRO.) Sisterprojects ShortcutWP:DABSISTER Disambiguationentriesshouldnotbecreatedfortopicswhoseonlycontentisonsisterprojects.LinkstoWiktionarymaybeappropriateinsomecontexts.[f] References ShortcutWP:DABREF Donotincludereferencesindisambiguationpages;disambiguationpagesarenotarticles.Incorporatereferencesintothearticleslinkedfromthedisambiguationpage,asneeded. Externallinks Donotincludeexternallinks,eitherasentriesorindescriptions.DisambiguationpagesdisambiguateWikipediaarticles,nottheWorldWideWeb.TonoteURLsthatmightbehelpfulinthefuture,includethemonthetalkpage. Preparation Beforeconstructinganewdisambiguationpage,determineaspecifictopicnameforallexistingpages,andthenameforthedisambiguationpage.Moveanypagewithaconflictingtitle(e.g.thesameexacttitle)toitsmorespecificname.UsetheWhatlinksherelistforthemovedpagetoupdatepagesthatlinktothatpage. Construction Ifanarticlehasbeenmovedtomakewayforthedisambiguationpage,usetheWhatlinksherelistofthemovedpagetoaccesstheredirectpagecreatedbythemove,andreplacethatredirectpagewiththenewdisambiguationpage. Usethenewdisambiguationpagetofindandreplace(seeTableofkeyboardshortcuts#Textediting)anyexistingdisambiguationlinksinexistingpageswithalinktothenewdisambiguationpage. NotethatthestandardlinktemplateswillactuallypointtoaTermXYZ(disambiguation)versionofthenewname. Usethered-linkonanexistingpagetocreatearedirectpagemarkedwiththe{{Rtodisambiguationpage}}template. Forexample,TermXYZ(disambiguation)couldberedirectedtothenewdisambiguationpageTermXYZasfollows: #REDIRECT[[TermXYZ]] {{Rtodisambiguationpage}} Links Doubledisambiguation ShortcutsWP:DDABWP:DOUBLEDAB Adoubledisambiguationisalinktoadisambiguationpagefromanotherdisambiguationpage.Thiskindofdisambiguationistypicallymorespecificthanonewithasimplifiedname.ThiskindofdisambiguationisrelativelyrareonWikipedia. Forexample,MontgomeryisadisambiguationpagethatincludesalinktoMontgomeryCounty,asecondarydisambiguationpage.Becausetheintendedtargetpageisalsoadisambiguationpage,thelinkisto"MontgomeryCounty(disambiguation)"ratherthandirectlyto"MontgomeryCounty".Therearetworeasonsforthis:Oneissothepagewillnotshowupasanerrorneedingtobefixed,andtheotherissoourreadersknowitisalinktoadisambiguationpage(see§ Linkstodisambiguationpagesforfurtherinformationoncreatingintentionallinkstodisambiguationpages). Incompletedisambiguation ShortcutsWP:INCDABWP:INCOMPDAB Seealso:Wikipedia:Partiallydisambiguatedpagenames Usually,aqualifiedtitlethatisstillambiguoushasnoprimarytopic,andthereforeshouldredirecttothedisambiguationpage(ortoasectionofit).Thisaidsnavigationandhelpseditorsavoidaccidentallycreatingnewarticlesunderthestill-ambiguoustitle.Suchredirectsshouldbemarkedwith{{Rfromincompletedisambiguation}}(whichplacesthemunderCategory:Redirectsfromincompletedisambiguation).Forexample,Aurora(album)isaredirect: #REDIRECT[[Aurora(disambiguation)#Albums]] {{Rfromincompletedisambiguation}} Insomecases,itmaybemoreappropriatetoredirectreaderstoalistratherthanadisambiguationpage.Forexample,Cleveland(NFL)shouldnotbeadisambiguationpage,butshouldinsteadredirecttoListofClevelandsportsteams#Football. Inindividualcasesconsensusmaydeterminethataparentheticallydisambiguatedtitlethatisstillambiguoushasaprimarytopic,butthethresholdforidentifyingaprimarytopicforsuchtitlesishigherthanforatitlewithoutparentheticaldisambiguation.Aswithanyothertermwithaprimarytopic,itshouldeitherbethetitleofthearticleforthattopicorredirecttoit.SeeListofpartiallydisambiguatedarticletitles. Interlanguagelinks Puredisambiguationpagesshouldcontaininterlanguagelinksonlywhereasimilarproblemofdisambiguationexistsinthetargetlanguage;thatis,theyshouldrefertoanotherdisambiguationpage,nottooneofthemanymeaningsfromthelist. Linkstodisambiguatedtopics ShortcutWP:FIXDABLINKS Linkstodisambiguationpagesmaybeintentional(seebelow),butinmanycasestheyarenot.Ifalinktoadisambiguationpageisintendedforoneoranotherofthetopicswiththeambiguousname,itshouldbechangedtolinktotheappropriatearticle.TheWikipedia:Disambiguationpageswithlinks(DPL)projecttrackssuchlinksandliststoolsandpracticalsuggestionsforfixingthem. Linkspreviouslypointingtoanarticlemaysuddenlybecomelinkstoadisambiguationpage.Thiscanhappen,forexample,whenadisambiguationpageiscreatedoveraredirect,whenoneismovedtoatitleformerlyoccupiedbyanarticle,orwhenaredirectisretargetedfromanarticletoadisambiguationpage.Theresultinglinkswillneedtobecorrected.Forahandfuloflinks,thiscanbedonebytheeditorswhocreatesuchdisambiguationpagesorproposesuchmovesorredirectchanges,orbythosewhocarrythemout.Forchangeswithlargerimpacts,ataskforcemaybeneeded.[g] Linkstodisambiguationpages ShortcutsWP:INTDABLINKWP:INTDABWP:INTDABSSeealso:Template:Dablinks/FAQ§ What'swrongwithlinkstodisambiguationpages?Linkstodisambiguationpagesfrommainspacearetypicallyerrors.Inordertofindandfixthoseerrors,disambiguatorsgeneratereportsoflinksneedingtobecheckedandfixed.Becausethesereportscannotdistinguishcaseswhereaneditorhasmadesuchalinkwiththeintenttopointtothedisambiguationpage,thecommunityhasadoptedthestandardofroutingallintentionaldisambiguationlinksinmainspacethrough"Foo(disambiguation)"redirects.Thismakesitclearthatsuchlinksareintendedtopointtothedisambiguationpage. Forexample: Intextorina"Seealso"sectionofanarticlethatisnotitselfadisambiguationpage: Incorrect:Therearemanyplacesnamed[[Springfield]] Correct:Therearemanyplacesnamed[[Springfield(disambiguation)|Springfield]] Onadisambiguationpage,anintentionallinktoanotherdisambiguationpagethatdoesnotcontain"(disambiguation)"inthetitle: Incorrect:[[Springfield]] Incorrect:[[Springfield(disambiguation)|Springfield]] Incorrect:[[Springfield|Springfield(disambiguation)]] Correct:[[Springfield(disambiguation)]] Inahatnote: Incorrect:{{otheruses|Springfield}} Correct:{{otheruses|Springfield(disambiguation)}} Correct:{{otheruses|Springfield(disambiguation){{!}}Springfield}}[h] Itmaybenecessarytocreatetheredirect("Springfield(disambiguation)"intheseexamples)ifitdoesnotalreadyexist.Thisisdescribedbelow. Whentolinktoadisambiguationpage Withfewexceptions,creatinglinkstodisambiguationpagesiserroneous.Linksshouldinsteadpointtoarelevantarticle.Thepurposeofadisambiguationpageistogivealistofarticlesthatislikelytoincludewhatareaderislookingforwhentheyhavetypedanambiguoustermintothesearchbox.DisambiguationpagesarenotarticlesandsoshouldnotbetaggedasorphanspertheOrphancriteria. Theexceptions,whenanintentionallinktoadisambiguationpageisappropriate,are: Disambiguationhatnotes:WatergateredirectstoWatergatescandal,whichcarriesahatnotelinkingtoWatergate(disambiguation)forotheruses. Linksfromonedisambiguationpagetoanotherforfurtherdisambiguation:BritishhasalinktoBritain(disambiguation)forfurtherdisambiguation.ShortcutWP:FURTHERDAB Linksfromsetindexes:Laing(surname)containsalinktoJohnLaing(disambiguation). Exceptionally,ina"Seealso"listofinterestinginternallinkswhereseveraldifferentarticlesmightbeofinteresttothereaderandmultipleonesarelistedonthedisambiguationpage. Inaredirectpage(below) Howtolinktoadisambiguationpage ShortcutWP:HOWTODAB Tolinktoadisambiguationpage(ratherthantoapagewhosetopicisaspecificmeaning),linktothetitlethatincludesthetext"(disambiguation)",evenifthatisaredirect—forexample,linktotheredirectSpringfield(disambiguation)ratherthanthetargetpageat"Springfield". Iftheredirectdoesnotyetexist,createitandtagitwith{{Rtodisambiguationpage}}. Ifyouarelinkingwithinatemplate,suchasahatnotetemplate,youcanstillusepipesyntaxsothatthelinkdoesnotshowthenewqualifier.Todothis,usethe{{!}}character-substitutiontemplate. Thishelpsdistinguishaccidentallinkstothedisambiguationpagefromintentionalones.(Foruseinnavboxes,seethe{{D'}}template.)Thereisnothingwrongwithlinkingtoaredirectinsteadoflinkingdirectlytothedisambiguationpage;redirectsare"cheap"andarebasicallytransparenttothereader. Redirectstodisambiguationpages Validcausesforredirectingtoadisambiguationpageinclude: Incompletedisambiguation(seeabove) Redirectsfrommisspellings:Britianredirectstothe"Britain"disambiguationpage. Redirectsfromalternativespellingsifseparatedisambiguationpagesarenotwarranted:TürkredirectstotheTurkdisambiguationpage. Redirectsfromvariationsincapitalisation,wordseparation,orpunctuation,ifseparatedisambiguationpagesarenotwarranted:BulletProofredirectsto"Bulletproof(disambiguation)". Theruleaboutlinkingthrougha"(disambiguation)"redirectdoesnotapplytoredirectstodisambiguationpages:Donotcreateadoubleredirect,butmakearedirecttothedisambiguationpagedirectly(thusBillCox,aredirectfromanalternativename,redirectstothedisambiguationpageanddoesnotgothroughtheredirectWilliamCox(disambiguation)).Althoughitispermissibleforthisredirecttobemade,itgenerallyshouldnotbelinkedtoinanarticleforthesamereasonsdirectlinkstodisambiguationpagesarediscouraged. SeeCategory:Redirectstodisambiguationpages. Visualizinglinkstodisambiguationpages ShortcutWP:DABDISPLAY Linkstodisambiguationpagescanbedisplayedinorangeinthesettingsunder"Gadgets"bychecking"Displaylinkstodisambiguationpagesinorange". Deletion Althoughdisambiguationpagesarenotarticles,adisambiguationpagemaybelistedatArticlesfordeletiontodiscusswhetherthedisambiguationpageshouldbedeleted. Categories ShortcutWP:DBC Disambiguationpagesarenotarticlesandshouldnotbecategorizedassuch.Articlecategoriesshouldleadreaderstorelevantarticles;disambiguationpagesshouldbeplacedindisambiguationcategoriesonly.Somecategoriesareautomaticallyprovidedbyuseofthe{{disambiguation}}templateandparameters(geo,surname,etc.).Hiddencategoriesmayappearduetomaintenanceorothertagsandtemplates,butotherexplicitcategories(suchas"Category:MountainsofFooland")shouldnotbeusedondisambiguationpages.Whenadisambiguationpageincludesalistofname-holders(incaseswheretheseparateanthroponymylistarticlehasnotyetbeencreated),explicitcategoriessuchas"Category:Fooishsurnames"areacceptableonthedisambiguationpageuntiltheanthroponymyarticleissplitfromthedisambiguationpage. Seealso ThispageisreferencedintheWikipediaGlossary. Wikipedia:ManualofStyle/Disambiguationpages Wikipedia:WikiProjectDisambiguation Wikipedia:Disambiguationpageswithlinks Wikipedia:Disambiguationdosanddon'ts Help:Disambiguation Wikipedia:ManualofStyle/Disambiguationpages§ Redlinks Wikipedia:Setindexarticles Wikipedia:Pageviewsandprimarytopics,anessay Wikipedia:Ambiguoussubjects Notes ^SeeGoogleNgramViewerresultsforYork/NewYorkandYorkis/NewYorkis. ^UScities(suchasAnaheim,California)arenotconsideredaspartialtitlematcheswhendecidingwhethertheyaretheprimarytopicforthebasename("Anaheim").Theyareconsideredfulltitlematchesforprimaryredirectconcern;theonlyreasonthatmanyUScityarticlesarelocatedattheelongatedtitleistheWikipediaguidelinetokeepstatenamesintitlesforvirtuallyallUScitiesandcounties. ^Inrunningprose,itismorecommoninBritishandsomeotherCommonwealthEnglishvarietiestousea"WindsorinBerkshire"pattern,while"Windsor,Ontario,"ismorecommoninNorthAmericanEnglish.Thisdialectaldistinctiondoesnotapplytoarticletitles,whichfollowconsistent,prescribedpatterns. ^IntegraltopurposeofaDABpageistocommunicatetheactualtitlesofentriesthatareatvariancewiththebasetitleonemightexpect—weretheentriesnotambiguouswitheachother. ^KingstonuponHullisanexceptioninthat–unlikemostplaceswithagenericmodifierlikeNewcastleuponTynebeingshortenedto"Newcastle"andthusnotappearingatTyne(disambiguation)–KingstonuponHullisfarmorecommonlyshortenedto"Hull". ^ThereisnoconsensusaboutexemptinglinkstoWikipediasinotherlanguagesfromthisprohibition(thiswasdiscussedin2018andin2019). ^ThepresentformofthisguidelinedatestoDecember2020,andistheresultofanearlierdiscussion.Previously,thetextimpliedthatclosersofRMdiscussionsshouldfixanyresultantdablinks,buttherewasbroadagreementagainstsuchastrongrequirement. ^Thisisanexampleofhowtogeneratealinkwithoutdisplaying"(disambiguation)",whenthelinkredirectstoapagetitlewithout"(disambiguation)". Externallinks Dispenser'sDabsolver,atoolfordisambiguatinglinks vteWikipediakeypoliciesandguidelines (?) Fivepillars Ignoreallrules Content (?)P Verifiability Nooriginalresearch Neutralpointofview WhatWikipediaisnot Biographiesoflivingpersons Copyright(Copyrightviolations) Imageuse Articletitles G Notability Autobiography Citingsources Reliablesources Reliablesources(medicine) Donotincludecopiesoflengthyprimarysources Plagiarism Don'tcreatehoaxes Fringetheories Patentnonsense Externallinks Conduct (?)P Civility Consensus Harassment Vandalism Ignoreallrules Nopersonalattacks Ownershipofcontent Editwarring Disputeresolution Sockpuppetry Nolegalthreats Childprotection Paid-contributiondisclosure G Assumegoodfaith Conflictofinterest Disruptiveediting DonotdisruptWikipediatoillustrateapoint Etiquette Gamingthesystem Pleasedonotbitethenewcomers Courtesyvanishing Respondingtothreatsofharm Talkpageguidelines Signatures Deletion (?)P Deletionpolicy Proposeddeletion Biographies Criteriaforspeedydeletion Attackpage Oversight Revisiondeletion Enforcement (?)P Administrators Banning Blocking Pageprotection Editing (?)P Editingpolicy G Articlesize Bebold Disambiguation Hatnotes Broad-conceptarticle Understandability Style ManualofStyle Contents Accessibility Datesandnumbers Images Layout Leadsection Linking Lists Classification Categories,lists,andnavigationtemplates Categorization Templatenamespace Projectcontent (?)G Projectnamespace WikiProjects Userpages Userboxes Shortcuts Subpages WMF (?)P TermsofUse Listofpolicies Friendlyspacepolicy Licensingandcopyright Privacypolicy Listofallpoliciesandguidelines P:Listofpolicies G:Listofguidelines Summariesofvaluesandprinciples Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Disambiguation&oldid=1064452336" Categories:WikipediaeditingguidelinesWikipediaglossaryitemsWikipediadisambiguationWikipediaarticletitlehelpHiddencategories:ProjectpageswithshortdescriptionWikipediasemi-protectedprojectpagesWikipediamove-protectedprojectpages Navigationmenu Personaltools NotloggedinTalkContributionsCreateaccountLogin Namespaces ProjectpageTalk English expanded collapsed Views ReadViewsourceViewhistory More expanded collapsed Search Navigation MainpageContentsCurrenteventsRandomarticleAboutWikipediaContactusDonate Contribute HelpLearntoeditCommunityportalRecentchangesUploadfile Tools WhatlinkshereRelatedchangesUploadfileSpecialpagesPermanentlinkPageinformationWikidataitem Print/export DownloadasPDFPrintableversion Inotherprojects WikimediaCommonsWikivoyage Languages AfrikaansالعربيةAragonésঅসমীয়াAsturianuAzərbaycancaتۆرکجهবাংলাBân-lâm-gúBasaBanyumasanБашҡортсаБеларускаяБеларуская(тарашкевіца)भोजपुरीБългарскиBoarischBrezhonegCatalàCebuanoČeštinaCymraegDanskDeutschEestiΕλληνικάEspañolEsperantoEuskaraفارسیFrançaisGaelgGalegoГӀалгӀайગુજરાતી한국어Հայերենहिन्दीHornjoserbsceHrvatskiIdoIlokanoBahasaIndonesiaInterlinguaÍslenskaItalianoעבריתJawaಕನ್ನಡҚазақшаLatinaLatviešuLëtzebuergeschLietuviųLimburgsMagyarМакедонскиമലയാളംمصرىمازِرونیBahasaMelayuꯃꯤꯇꯩꯂꯣꯟMirandésМокшеньNederlandsनेपाली日本語НохчийнNorskbokmålNorsknynorskNouormandភាសាខ្មែរPiemontèisPlattdüütschPolskiPortuguêsRipoarischRomânăRomaničhibРусскийSeelterskShqipසිංහලSimpleEnglishسنڌيSlovenčinaSlovenščinaŚlůnskiکوردیСрпски/srpskiSrpskohrvatski/српскохрватскиSundaSuomiSvenskaTagalogதமிழ்Татарча/tatarçaతెలుగుไทยТоҷикӣTürkçeУкраїнськаاردوTiếngViệtVolapükWalon文言吴语ייִדיש粵語Zeêuws中文 Editlinks