Wikipedia:Hatnotes

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This page is part of the Manual of Style, and is considered a guideline for Wikipedia. The consensus of many editors formed the conventions described here, and Wikipedia articles should heed these guidelines. Before making any major changes to these guidelines, please use the discussion page to ensure that your changes reflect consensus.

Shortcut: WP:HAT WP:HN WP:HATNOTE

Hatnotes are short notes placed at the top of an article before the primary topic, generally to provide 1) disambiguation of closely related terms or 2) to summarise a topic, and explain its boundaries. "Hatnote" is also a polite term to refer to improper disambiguation links which exceed standard length, link directly to trivial topics (ie on "War" "For the band, see War (band)") instead of a disambiguation page, self-references to Wikipedia, or otherwise misuses of the disambiguation scheme which can be regarded as link-spam.

Note: The dispute regarding the proper usage of summaries and extended disambiguation notes, is currently unresolved (see #Summarize or not? below). Most agree that they should be limited to the simplest possible form, preferably only linking to a standard [[Article (disambiguation)]] page, allowing slightly more extensive hatnotes are warranted in certain cases. This style guideline is intended to make this process more efficient by giving article pages a consistent look, and avoiding distracting information (such as extraneous links).

[edit] Format

In most cases, a standard Wikipedia:Disambiguation template should be used. This permits the form and structure to change gracefully and 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.

[edit] Summarize or not?

There is an ongoing dispute as to whether hatnote disambiguation templates should include a brief summary of the article's topic in their first sentence if they refer to "other uses". For instance, consider the article Honey. One type of hatnote, exemplified by {{otheruses4}}, would be along the lines of:

This article is about the insect-produced fluid. For other uses of the term, see Honey (disambiguation).

The other type, exemplified by {{otheruses3}}, would omit the first sentence, leaving the hatnote like:

For other uses of the term, see Honey (disambiguation).

Pro-summarizers argue that it's confusing and bad style to write the hatnote such that the reader must read the words "other uses", look down a line, and read the first sentence or paragraph before being able to understand what the "other uses" actually refers to. Anti-summarizers feel, on the other hand, that it's pointless and annoying to duplicate a description that should be in the lead paragraph anyway.

Note that this argument is inapplicable to cases where only one other use exists. If the phrase "other uses" does not exist, it would appear no one would strongly favor including an article summary, so it's best to use a template such as {{for}}. (See, for instance, Kubla Khan.)

At present, this dispute is unresolved. Therefore, according to general Wikipedia precedent, it would be best to avoid changing over the style used in any given article until consensus is reached (if it ever is; see the AD-CE dispute for a case where this situation is perpetual).

[edit] Placement

Place hatnotes at the very top of the article, before images and templates (like navigational and "series" templates). For example, don't do this:

[[Image:Frog.jpg]]         <-- article content
{{otheruses}}              <-- meta content
A '''frog''' is an animal  <-- article content

In terms of document structure, it is awkward to have article content, then meta content, then article content again. Analogously, in HTML it would be bad form to put <title> and <meta> tags within <body>.
In terms of accessibility, not everyone is using or has the CSS functionality that "floats" images and templates to the right or left, which in turn gives many people the perception that a hatnote placed after an image or template looks OK. Imagine if someone without CSS landed on this version of the Bread article but happened to be in the wrong place. They'd have to scroll, or perhaps in the case of a blind user, have their screen reader trodge through a long "cuisine" template before reaching the navigation aid they desire. Likewise, those who redistribute Wikipedia content may choose to change or eliminate CSS entirely. (To test the CSS-less realm in Firefox, go to View, Page Style, No Style.)
Similarly, Wikipedians may decide to change the look of the hatnote templates in the future, like how it is currently done on the German Wikipedia. If such a change were made, hatnotes that look fine now despite not being at the very top of the article would visually clash with proximate images and templates.

[edit] Examples of proper use

[edit] Two articles with the same title

This article is about the village in England. For H. P. Lovecraft's fictional town, see Dunwich (Lovecraft).

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...

When two articles share the same title, the unambiguated article should include a hatnote with a link to the other article. It is not necessary to create a separate disambiguation page.

[edit] Linking to a disambiguation page

For other uses, see Monolith (disambiguation).

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...

When a word has a primary meaning and two or more additional meanings, the hatnote should show a link to a disambiguation page.

[edit] Proper noun linking to a disambiguation page

This article is about the mazelike labyrinth from Greek mythology. For other uses of the term, see Labyrinth (disambiguation).

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...

When a word is a proper noun but has two or more additional meanings, the hatnote may include a brief description and a link to a disambiguation page.

[edit] Examples of improper use

[edit] 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.

During a siege, to invest a town or fortress means to surround it with a contravallation and a circumvallation.

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...

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.

[edit] Legitimate information about the topic

A previous version of the Aisha article showed:

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.

Aisha or Ayesha (Arabic عائشه `ā'isha = "she who lives") was a wife of the Islamic prophet Muhammad...

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.

[edit] Linking to articles that are highly related to the topic

This article is about the scientific study of extraterrestrial life; for treatment in popular culture, see Extraterrestrial life in popular culture.

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 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.

[edit] Disambiguating article names that are not ambiguous

Tree (set theory)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit.

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 user would not have ended up at tree (set theory) if they were interested in other types of trees, as tree does not redirect there.

[edit] External links

A previous version of the Hurricane Katrina article contained:

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]

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 with several links may be appropriate, but POV favoritism can be obstructive. In this case, the hatnote was removed entirely.

[edit] Templates

Templates which standardise and shorten the disambiguation hatnotes

This box: view • talk • edit

[edit] 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).

[edit] Generic

{{Dablink|TEXT}}:
TEXT

For example, {{dablink|For other senses of this term, see [[etc...]]}}. This template is adaptable, but fails to standardize hatnotes.

[edit] Otheruses

Note: All of these templates except {{Two other uses}} are special cases of {{Otheruses4}}

{{otheruses}} (disambiguous):
For other uses, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{otheruses1|USE}} (disambiguous):
This article is about USE. For other uses, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{This|USE|PAGE}}:
This article is about USE. For other uses, see PAGE.
{{otheruses2|PAGE}} (disambiguous):
For other uses, see PAGE (disambiguation).
{{otheruses3|PAGE}}:
For other uses, see PAGE.
{{otheruses4|USE1}} (disambiguous):
This article is about USE1. For other uses, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{otheruses4|USE1|USE2}}:
This article is about USE1. For USE2, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{otheruses4|USE1|USE2|PAGE2}}:
This article is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2.
{{Two other uses|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3}} (fully-specified):
This article is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3.

{{Two other uses||USE2|PAGE2||}} (all parameters except second and third are optional; however, omitting both the first and fourth values creates ambiguity, so please avoid):

For USE2, see PAGE2. For other uses, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).

[edit] Other people

{{otherpersons}} (disambiguous):
For other persons named Hatnotes, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{otherpersons|USE}} (disambiguous):
For other persons named USE, see USE (disambiguation).
{{otherpersons|USE|PAGE}}:
For other persons named USE, see USE (disambiguation).
{{otherpeople2|PAGE}}:
For other persons of the same name, see PAGE.
{{otherpeople3|USE1|USE2}}:
This article is about USE1. For USE2, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{otherpeople4|USE1|USE2|PAGE}}:
This article is about USE1.
For USE2, see PAGE.

[edit] Otherhurricaneuses

For articles on storms.

{{otherhurricaneuses}} (disambiguous):
For other storms of the same name, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{otherhurricaneuses|DISAMBIG}}:
For other storms of the same name, see DISAMBIG.
{{otherhurricaneuses|DISAMBIG|THIS}}:
This article 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 Hatnotes (disambiguation).

[edit] For (other topic)

{{For}} (disambiguous):
For {{{1}}}, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{For|OTHER TOPIC}} (disambiguous):
For OTHER TOPIC, see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE}}:
For OTHER TOPIC, see PAGE.
{{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1|PAGE2}}:
For OTHER TOPIC, see PAGE1 and PAGE2.
{{For2|OTHER TOPIC|LINK TO [[PAGE1]] AND [[PAGE2]]}}:
For OTHER TOPIC, see [[LINK TO PAGE1 AND PAGE2]].

[edit] Otherusesof (topic)

{{otherusesof}} (disambiguous):
For other uses of "Hatnotes", see Hatnotes (disambiguation).
{{otherusesof|TOPIC}}:
For other uses of "TOPIC", see TOPIC (disambiguation).
{{otherusesof|TOPIC|PAGE}}:
For other uses of "TOPIC", see PAGE.

[edit] Redirect

{{Redirect|REDIRECT}} (disambiguous):
“REDIRECT” redirects here. For other uses, see REDIRECT (disambiguation).
{{Redirect|REDIRECT|DISAMBIG|PAGE}}:
“REDIRECT” redirects here. For DISAMBIG, see PAGE.
{{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2}} (disambiguous):
"REDIRECT1" and "REDIRECT2" redirect here. For other uses, see REDIRECT1 (disambiguation).
{{Redirect3|REDIRECT|TEXT|ITALICS}}:
"REDIRECT" redirects here. TEXT.
{{Redirect4|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2}} (disambiguous):
"REDIRECT1" and "REDIRECT2" redirect here. For other uses, see REDIRECT1 (disambiguation) and REDIRECT2 (disambiguation).
{{Redirect5|REDIRECT|USE|PAGE}}:
"REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE, see PAGE.
{{Redirect6|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2}}:
"REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1. For USE2, see PAGE2.

{{Redirect6|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1||}} (See note for {{Two other uses}} above)

"REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1. For other uses, see REDIRECT (disambiguation).

[edit] "Not to be confused with"...

{{Distinguish|PAGE}}:
Not to be confused with PAGE.
{{Distinguish2|TEXT}}:
Not to be confused with TEXT.

[edit] 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.

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?

(This box appears in several articles in Template talk and Wikipedia namespaces.)

Category: Wikipedia style guidelines