Wikipedia:Hatnote
Examples of proper use
Examples of improper use
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. ...
This is a typical but improper use 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 related to the topic
Disambiguation hatnotes are intended to link to separate topics that could be referred to by the same title. They are not intended to link to topics that are simply related to each other, or to a specific aspect of a general 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. ...
Instead of using a disambiguation hatnote in such cases, it is better to summarize the topic Extraterrestrial life in popular culture under a subsection of Extraterrestrial life in conjunction with the {{main}} template.
This guideline does not discourage the use of disambiguation hatnotes in a situation where separate topics are related, but could nonetheless be referred to by the same title and would thus qualify for disambiguation, such as a book and its film adaptation.
Disambiguating article names that are not ambiguous
It is usually preferable not to have a hatnote when the name of the article is not ambiguous.
Water (Wu Xing)
Water (Chinese: 水; pinyin: shuǐ), is the low point of the matter, or the matter's dying or hiding stage. Water is the fifth stage of Wu Xing. ...
Here, the hatnote can be removed. A reader who is following links within Wikipedia is unlikely to end up at Water (Wu Xing) if they were looking for other meanings of water, since water does not redirect there.
A hatnote may still be appropriate when even a more specific name is still ambiguous. For example, Tree (set theory) might still be confused with Tree (descriptive set theory).
The presence or absence of hatnotes in articles with disambiguated titles has been a contentious issue, and this guideline doesn't prescribe one way or the other. There are cases where some editors strongly believe that such hatnotes should be included, such as the various articles about treaties called Treaty of Paris.
A hatnote may be appropriate in an unambiguously named article when an ambiguous term redirects to it, as explained in § Ambiguous term that redirects to an unambiguously named article above.
Each additional link in the hatnote besides the ambiguous or confusable topic(s) makes it more difficult to find the desired target. For
WTIX (980 AM) is a radio station broadcasting a Sports radio format.
In this case, the link to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the hatnote leads to an article that is not ambiguous with the title. Linking only to the possible other destination (WIST (AM)) makes it easier to find the link.
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. ...
The use of external help links in Wikipedia, though noble, cannot reasonably be maintained. In special cases, a link to an "External links" section may be appropriate, but POV favoritism can be obstructive. In this case, the hatnote was removed entirely.
Non-existent articles
Hatnotes should not contain red links to non-existent articles since hatnotes are intended to help users navigate 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
Generic hatnote
{{Hatnote}}
allows general text to be shown in hatnote format. It is appropriate when none of the other specific templates listed below includes the combination of parameters needed, or to combine several of them in a single hatnote.
{{Hatnote|CUSTOM TEXT}}
→
{{Hatnote|For other senses of this term, see [[etc…]]}}
→
{{Selfref}}
(a generic template for self-references to Wikipedia material)
Other uses of the same title ("For …, see …")
Per WP:NAMB, it is usually preferable not to have a hatnote when the name of the article is not ambiguous.
"This page is about … For other uses …"
{{About}}
is the main template for noting other uses.
Note: When used in main namespace (aka mainspace), the word "page" in the following hatnotes is replaced by "article".
{{About|USE1}}
→{{About|USE1||PAGE2}}
(When the disambiguation page has a different name – Note the empty second parameter) →{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2}}
(When there is only one other use) →{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|and|PAGE3}}
(Two pages for USE2) →{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2#SUBSECTION{{!}}PAGE2TITLE}}
(Using the {{!}} magic word to give the link a different title) →{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|other uses}}
(When there are several standard other uses and also a disambiguation page with default name – Note that the last page name is not specified) →{{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|other uses|PAGE3}}
(When there are several standard other uses and also a disambiguation page with non-default name) →{{About||USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|other uses}}
(When you don't need to state the focus of this article/page – Note the empty first parameter) →{{About|||PAGE1|and|PAGE2}}
→
- Note:
{{for||PAGE1|PAGE2}}
produces the same result.
{{About|USE1|section=yes}}
→
- Note: this hatnote says "section", instead of "article" or "page".
{{About|USE1|text=TEXT}}
→
"This page is about … It is not to be confused with …"
{{About-distinguish}}
is a template for noting other uses when there could be confusion with another topic.
{{About-distinguish|USE1|PAGE1}}
→{{About-distinguish2|USE1|TEXT}}
→
"For …, see …"
{{For}} can be used instead of {{About}} so as not to display: This page is about USE1. but still specify a specific other use. This effect can also be achieved by using an empty first parameter in {{About}} as in:
- For example:
{{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1}}
is the same as{{About||OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1}}
(note the empty first parameter).
However, it is somewhat clearer when using the {{For}} template, since the word "about" does not appear in the statement.
{{For|OTHER TOPIC}}
→{{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1}}
→{{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1|PAGE2}}
→{{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3}}
→
- Variations
- As with {{Other uses}}, there is a whole family of "for" templates. {{For2}} allows custom text, such as quotation marks or a link from part of the "CUSTOM TEXT", but does not supply automatic wikilinking
{{For2|OTHER TOPIC|CUSTOM TEXT}}
→ (note how CUSTOM TEXT isn't bluelinked)
- It also supports up to three topics:
{{For2|OTHER TOPIC|CUSTOM TEXT|OTHER TOPIC 2|CUSTOM TEXT 2}}
→{{For2|OTHER TOPIC|CUSTOM TEXT|OTHER TOPIC 2|CUSTOM TEXT 2|OTHER TOPIC 3|CUSTOM TEXT 3}}
→
"For other uses, see …"
When such a wordy hatnote as {{About}} is not needed, {{Other uses}} is often useful.
{{Other uses}}
→{{Other uses|PAGE1}}
→{{Other uses|PAGE1|PAGE2}}
→
- Variations
- There are, historically, a whole family of "other uses" templates for specific cases. {{About}} is the standard hatnote for "other uses" and many of them can be specified using the {{About}} template. However, the individual templates may be easier to use in certain contexts.
- Here are the variations and (when appropriate) the equivalents using the {{About}}, {{Other uses}} or {{For}} templates.
- "For other uses of …, see …"
{{Other uses of|TOPIC}}
→{{Other uses of|TOPIC|PAGE1}}
→
Redirect
=
{{Redirect|REDIRECT}}
→{{Redirect|REDIRECT||PAGE1}}
→{{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1}}
→{{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2}}
→ {{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2}{{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|and|PAGE2}}
→
- Variations
- For two sources:
- For three or more sources:
{{Redirect-multi|2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2}}
→{{Redirect-multi|3|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|REDIRECT3}}
→{{Redirect-multi|2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE|PAGE}}
→{{Redirect-multi|2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2|and|PAGE3}}
→{{Redirect-several|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|REDIRECT3}}
→
- To specify the text following "redirects here.":
{{Redirect|REDIRECT|text=TEXT}}
→{{Redirect-synonym|TERM|OTHER TOPIC}}
→
"For technical reasons, … redirects here. …
{{Technical reasons|REDIRECT}}
→{{Technical reasons|REDIRECT|PAGE}}
→{{Technical reasons|REDIRECT|DESCRIPTION|PAGE}}
→{{Technical reasons|REDIRECT|DESCRIPTION1|PAGE1|DESCRIPTION2|PAGE2}}
→
… redirects here. It is not to be confused with …
{{Redirect-distinguish|REDIRECT|PAGE1}}
→{{Redirect-distinguish|REDIRECT|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3}}
→{{Redirect-distinguish2|REDIRECT|TEXT}}
→
Similar proper names ("For other people named ...")
Other people
{{Other people}}
→{{Other people|NAME}}
→{{Other people|NAME|PAGE}}
→{{Other people||PAGE}}
→{{Other people|NAME|PAGE|named=titled}}
→{{About other people|PERSON1}}
→{{About other people|PERSON1|NAME}}
→{{About other people|PERSON1|NAME|named=titled}}
→{{About other people|PERSON1|NAME|PAGE}}
→{{About other people|PERSON1||PAGE}}
→{{About other people|PERSON1|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3}}
→{{Similar names|NAME1|NAME2|NAME3|NAME4}}
→
- Note: defaults to "named" as in {{Other people}}, exists for options like "nicknamed", "known as", etc.
Other places/ships/hurricanes
{{Other places}}
, analogous to {{Other uses}} →{{Other places|PAGE}}
, analogous to {{Other uses}} →{{Other ships|SHIP1}}
→{{Other hurricanes|HURR}}
→
Distinguish
"Not to be confused with …"
{{Distinguish|PAGE1}}
→{{Distinguish|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3|PAGE4}}
→{{Distinguish|text = TEXT}}
→
"… redirects here. It is not to be confused with …"
{{Redirect-distinguish|REDIRECT|PAGE1}}
→{{Redirect-distinguish|REDIRECT|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3|PAGE4}}
→{{Redirect-distinguish2|REDIRECT|TEXT}}
→
Family names
Family names can also be clarified using inline footnotes, such as with {{Efn Chinese name}}.
For use in sections
"Main article: …"
{{Main}}
is used to make summary style explicit, when used in a summary section for which there is also a separate article on the subject:
"Further information: …"
{{Further}}
can supplement {{Main}}
in summary sections, or can indicate more details in nonsummary sections:
{{Further|PAGE}}
→{{Further|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3}}
→{{Further|topic=TOPIC|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3}}
→{{Further2|[[PAGE1]], [[PAGE2]], and other text}}
→
"See also …"
{{See also}}
can be used at the head of a section.
{{See also|TOPIC PAGE|OTHER TOPIC PAGE}}
→
- Note: use only when OTHER TOPIC PAGE is related to current article and contains a self-explanatory parenthetical.
{{See also2|[[OTHER TOPIC]]|[[OTHER TOPIC2]]|[[OTHER TOPIC3]] and other text}}
→
Article or section transclusions
{{Transcluding article|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3...}}
(used when transcluding 1 or more entire articles into a target article) →{{Transcluded section|PAGE}}
(used when selectively transcluding a section from one article into a section of the target article) →{{Transcluded section|PAGE|part=yes}}
(used when selectively transcluding a section into part of a section on the target page) →
For category pages
Category-specific templates:
{{Category see also|THIS|THAT|THE OTHER}}
→
This is a template for linking categories horizontally. Horizontal linkage is often the right solution when vertical linkage (i.e., as sub-category and parent category) is not appropriate. In most cases, this template should be used on both categories to create reciprocal linkage between the two categories.
{{Cat main|MAIN ARTICLE}}
→{{Category explanation|colourless green ideas}}
→{{Category pair|TOPIC1|TOPIC2}}
→{{Preceding category|OTHER TOPIC}}
→{{Succeeding category|OTHER TOPIC}}
→{{Contrast|OTHERCAT1|OTHERCAT2}}
→{{Contrast|OTHERCAT1|OTHERCAT2|plural=yes}}
→
Lists
What to do before editing or creating a template
This template should not be substituted. |
These templates are used in literally thousands of articles; therefore, changing the syntax could break thousands of articles. If you wish to create or edit a disambiguation or redirection template, first ask yourself the following questions:
- Is there already a template that will do this job? Since many disambiguation and redirection templates have already been created, first check: Category:Hatnote templates.
- Do I really need a new template for this? Will it likely be used on any other articles or should I just use {{Hatnote}} instead? Before creating a new template, see the template namespace guideline.
- If I change the parameters around on an existing template, do I know what the result will be? Will it break existing uses of the template and if so, can I fix all of the errors? Before making any changes, see Wikipedia:Template sandbox and test cases.