Template:Main/doc

When a Wikipedia article is large, it is often rewritten in summary style. This template is used after the heading of the summary, to link to the sub-article that has been (or will be) summarised. This template can also be used in the Category namespace, but the preferred template for categories is {{Cat main}}.

This template can also be used in articles leads when an article is not the "main" article for its subject, but this is controversial. When there are multiple articles, distinct enough to warrant separate articles, but not enough to be very separate subjects. One to be the main article describing the topic, and the others avoiding unnecessary duplication of the main article. A good example would be geography articles where two terms have somewhat different meanings or "contexts", but refer to roughly the same geographic area, e.g. Balkans and Southeast Europe. The Balkans article is the main article, the Southeast Europe article doesn't try to be a duplicate of the Balkans article by having much info on History, natural resources, etc., it leaves that to the Balkans article. This can be thought of as a halfway point between having fully separate articles, and having a redirect.

Its usage should be restricted to the purposes described above. This template is not to be used as a substitute for inline links or as a "see also". The latter includes e.g. when a section has a title that happens to have a main article, but the section actually refers to a specific aspect of the article at hand. In Phthalate, for example, the template under the section Endocrine disruptor should not be Main: Endocrine disruptor, because the section specifically deals with phtalate as an endocrine disruptor and not endocrine disruptors in general.

Usage

Basic usage

{{main|page}}

All parameters

{{main
| page1 | page2 | page3 | ...
| l1 = label1 | l2 = label2 | l3 = label3 | ...
| selfref = yes
}}

Parameters

• 1, 2, 3, ... - the pages to link to. If no page names are specified, the current page name is used instead (without the namespace prefix). Categories and files are automatically escaped with the colon trick, and links to sections are automatically formatted as page § section, rather than the MediaWiki default of page#section.
• l1, l2, l3, ...; optional labels for each of the pages to link to (this is for articles where a piped link would be used). Note that the extra parameters use a lower case 'L', for example, l1, not 11.
• selfref - if set to "yes", "y", "true" or "1", adds the CSS class "selfref". This is used to denote self-references to Wikipedia. See Template:Selfref for more information.

Examples

• {{main|Article}} →
  Main article: Article
• {{main|Article#Section}} →
  Main article: Article § Section
• {{main|Article#Section|l1=Custom section label}} →
  Main article: Custom section label
• {{main|Article1|Article2|Article3}} →
  Main articles: Article1, Article2 and Article3
• {{main|Article1|l1=Custom label 1|Article2|l2=Custom label 2}} →
  Main articles: Custom label 1 and Custom label 2
• {{main|(15760) 1992 QB1|l1={{mp|(15760) 1992 QB|1}}}} →
  Main article: (15760) 1992 QB₁

Hatnote templates

For the full guideline on hatnotes, see Wikipedia:Hatnote.

Hatnotes must be at the very top of the page or section.

Generic hatnote

• {{Hatnote|CUSTOM TEXT}} →
  CUSTOM TEXT

{{Hatnote|For other senses of this term, see [[etc…]]}} →

For other senses of this term, see etc…

If a link in a hatnote points to a disambiguation page, the link should include "(disambiguation)", even if that is a redirect. This indicates that the disambiguation link is intentional, and not an error (see WP:INTDABLINK):

Not {{hatnote|other uses|Springfield}}; but

{{hatnote|other uses|Springfield (disambiguation)}}, or

{{hatnote|other uses|Springfield (disambiguation)|Springfield}}

More pages on the same topic ("Further information ...")

"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:

• {{Main|Main Article}} →
  Main article: Main Article
• {{Main|Main Article|Article2}} →
  Main articles: Main Article and Article2
• {{Main list|Article1}} → Template:Mainlist

"For more details on …, see …"

{{Details}} can supplement {{Main}} in summary sections, or can indicate more details in nonsummary sections:

• {{Details|PAGE1}} →
  For more details on this topic, see PAGE1.

• {{Details|PAGE1|TOPIC}} →
  For more details on TOPIC, see PAGE1.

{{Details3}} allows changing the displayed name for links. Unlike {{Details}}, it requires bracketed link notation:

• {{Details3|[[NTSC#Color_encoding|NTSC Color encoding]]}} →
  For more details on this topic, see NTSC Color encoding.
• {{Details3|[[article 1|Article 1]], [[article 2|Article 2]], and [[article 3|Article 3]]|TOPIC}} →
  For more details on TOPIC, see Article 1, Article 2, and Article 3.

Alternatively, the {{!}} magic word can be used to change the displayed name for links:

• {{Details|NTSC#Color_encoding{{!}}NTSC Color encoding}} →
  For more details on this topic, see NTSC Color encoding.

"See also …"

• {{See also|TOPIC PAGE|OTHER TOPIC PAGE}} →
  See also: TOPIC PAGE and 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}} →
  See also: OTHER TOPIC, OTHER TOPIC2, and OTHER TOPIC3 and other text

"Further information: …"

• {{Further|PAGE}} →
  Further information: PAGE
• {{Further|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3}} →
  Further information: PAGE1, PAGE2, and PAGE3
• {{Further2|[[PAGE1]], [[PAGE2]], and [[PAGE#3|PAGE3]]}} →
  Further information: PAGE1, PAGE2, and PAGE3

Other uses of the same title ("For …, see …")

"This page is about … For other uses …"

{{About}} is the main template for noting other uses.

Note. When used in main namespace, the word "page" in the following hatnotes is replaced by "article".

• {{About|USE1}} →
  This page is about USE1. For other uses, see Main/doc (disambiguation).
• {{About|USE1||PAGE2}} (When the disambiguation page has a different name – Note the empty second parameter) →
  This page is about USE1. For other uses, see PAGE2.
• {{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2}} (When there is only one other use) →
  This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2.
• {{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|and|PAGE3}} (Two pages for USE2) →
  This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2 and PAGE3.
• {{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2#SUBSECTION{{!}}PAGE2TITLE}} (Using the {{!}} magic word to give the link a different title) →
  This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2TITLE.
• {{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4|USE5|PAGE5}} (When there are up to four other uses – You should generally create a disambiguation page at this point) →
  This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3. For USE4, see PAGE4. For USE5, see PAGE5.
• {{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|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) →
  This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3. For other uses, see Main/doc (disambiguation).
• {{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|other uses|PAGE4}} (When there are several standard other uses and also a disambiguation page with non-default name) →
  This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3. For other uses, see PAGE4.
• {{About|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|other uses|PAGE4|and}} →
  This page is about USE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3. For other uses, see PAGE4 and Main/doc (disambiguation).
• {{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) →
  For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3. For other uses, see Main/doc (disambiguation).
• {{About|||PAGE1|and|PAGE2}} →
  For other uses, see PAGE1 and PAGE2.

Note: {{for||PAGE1|PAGE2}} produces the same result.

• {{About|USE1|section=yes}} →
  This section is about USE1. For other uses, see Main/doc (disambiguation).

Note: this hatnote says "section", instead of "article" or "page".

"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}} → Template:About-distinguish
• {{About-distinguish2|USE1|TEXT}} → Template:About-distinguish2

"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, see Main/doc (disambiguation).
• {{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1}} →
  For OTHER TOPIC, see PAGE1.
• {{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1|PAGE2}} →
  For OTHER TOPIC, see PAGE1. For PAGE2, see Main/doc (disambiguation).
• {{For|OTHER TOPIC|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3}} →
  For OTHER TOPIC, see PAGE1. For PAGE2, see PAGE3.
• {{For||PAGE1|PAGE2}} →
  For , see PAGE1. For PAGE2, see Main/doc (disambiguation).

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"

• {{For2|OTHER TOPIC|CUSTOM TEXT}} →
  For OTHER TOPIC, see CUSTOM TEXT.

"For other uses, see …"

When such a wordy hatnote as {{About}} is not needed, {{Other uses}} is often useful.

• {{Other uses}} →
  For other uses, see Main/doc (disambiguation).
• {{Other uses|PAGE1}} →
  For other uses, see PAGE1.
• {{Other uses|PAGE1|PAGE2}} →
  For other uses, see PAGE1 and 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.

• {{Other uses2|PAGE1}} → Template:Other uses2

Note: adds "(disambiguation)" to whatever is input as the PAGE1.

Note: {{Other uses|PAGE1 (disambiguation)}} produces the same result.

• {{Two other uses|USE1|USE2|PAGE2}} → Template:Two other uses

Note: same as {{about}}, except it forces a second use to be noted if unspecified by parameters.

• {{Two other uses|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3}} → Template:Two other uses
• {{Two other uses||USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3}} → Template:Two other uses
• {{Three other uses|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3}} Template:Three other uses
• {{Three other uses||USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3}} → Template:Three other uses
• {{Three other uses|USE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4}} → Template:Three other uses

"For other uses of …, see …"

• {{Other uses of}} → Template:Other uses of
• {{Other uses of|TOPIC}} → Template:Other uses of
• {{Other uses of|TOPIC|PAGE1}} → Template:Other uses of

"… redirects here. For other uses, see …"

• {{Redirect|REDIRECT}} →
  "REDIRECT" redirects here. For other uses, see REDIRECT (disambiguation).
• {{Redirect|REDIRECT||PAGE1}} →
  "REDIRECT" redirects here. For other uses, see PAGE1.
• {{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1}} →
  "REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1.
• {{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2}} →
  "REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1. For USE2, see PAGE2.
• {{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3}} →
  "REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1. For USE2, see PAGE2. For USE3, see PAGE3.
• {{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|and|PAGE2}} →
  "REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1 and PAGE2.
• {{Redirect|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2|and|PAGE3}} →
  "REDIRECT" redirects here. For USE1, see PAGE1. For USE2, see PAGE2 and PAGE3.
• {{Redirect6|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1}} → Template:Redirect6
• {{Redirect6|REDIRECT|USE1|PAGE1||PAGE2}} → Template:Redirect6

Variations

• For two sources:
  • {{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2}} →
    "REDIRECT1" redirects here. For REDIRECT2, see REDIRECT1 (disambiguation).
  • {{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE}} →
    "REDIRECT1" redirects here. For REDIRECT2, see USE.
  • {{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2||PAGE1}} →
    "REDIRECT1" redirects here. For REDIRECT2, see REDIRECT1 (disambiguation). For PAGE1, see PAGE1 (disambiguation).
  • {{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE|PAGE1}} →
    "REDIRECT1" redirects here. For REDIRECT2, see USE. For PAGE1, see PAGE1 (disambiguation).
  • {{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2}} →
    "REDIRECT1" redirects here. For REDIRECT2, see USE1. For PAGE1, see USE2. For PAGE2, see PAGE2 (disambiguation).
  • {{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3}} →
    "REDIRECT1" redirects here. For REDIRECT2, see USE1. For PAGE1, see USE2. For PAGE2, see USE3. For PAGE3, see PAGE3 (disambiguation).
  • {{Redirect2|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2|USE3|PAGE3|USE4|PAGE4}} →
    "REDIRECT1" redirects here. For REDIRECT2, see USE1. For PAGE1, see USE2. For PAGE2, see USE3. For PAGE3, see USE4. For PAGE4, see PAGE4 (disambiguation).
  • {{Redirect4|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2}} → Template:Redirect4
  • {{Redirect4|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|USE|TEXT}} → Template:Redirect4
• For three sources:
  • {{Redirect7|"REDIRECT1", "REDIRECT2", and "REDIRECT3"|USE1|PAGE1|USE2|PAGE2}} → Template:Redirect7
  • {{Redirect10|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|REDIRECT3}} → Template:Redirect10
  • {{Redirect10|REDIRECT1|REDIRECT2|REDIRECT3|USE|TEXT}} → Template:Redirect10
• To specify the text following "redirects here.":
  • {{Redirect3|REDIRECT|TEXT}} or {{Redirect text|REDIRECT|TEXT}} → Template:Redirect3
  • {{Redirect-synonym|TERM|OTHER TOPIC}} → Template:Redirect-synonym

... Not to be confused with ...

• {{Redirect-distinguish|REDIRECT|PAGE1}} → Template:Redirect-distinguish
• {{Redirect-distinguish|REDIRECT|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3|PAGE4}} → Template:Redirect-distinguish
• {{Redirect-distinguish2|REDIRECT|TEXT}} → Template:Redirect-distinguish2

Similar proper names ("For other people named ...")

Other people

• {{Other people}} → Template:Other people
• {{Other people|NAME}} → Template:Other people
• {{Other people|NAME|PAGE}} → Template:Other people
• {{Other people|NAME|PAGE|named=titled}} → Template:Other people
• {{Other people2|PAGE}} → Template:Other people2
• {{Other people3}} → Template:Other people3

Note: same as {{About}} except uses "other people" instead of "other uses" if only 1 parameter is used

• {{Other people3|PERSON1}} → Template:Other people3
• {{Other people3|PERSON1|PERSON2}} → Template:Other people3
• {{Other people3|PERSON1|PERSON2|PAGE2}} → Template:Other people3
• {{Other people3|PERSON1||PAGE2}} → Template:Other people3
• {{Other people5|NAME1|NAME2|NAME3|NAME4}} → Template:Other people5

Note: defaults to "named" as in {{Other people}}, exists for options like "nicknamed", "known as", etc.

Other places

• {{Other places}}, analogous to {{Other uses}} → Template:Other places
• {{Other places|PAGE}}, analogous to {{Other uses2}} → Template:Other places
• {{Other places3|PAGE}}, analogous to {{Other uses}} → Template:Other places3

Other ships

For articles on ships:

• {{Other ships|SHIP1}} → Template:Other ships

Distinguish

"Not to be confused with …"

• {{Distinguish|PAGE1}} →
  Not to be confused with PAGE1.
• {{Distinguish|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3|PAGE4}} →
  Not to be confused with PAGE1, PAGE2, PAGE3, or PAGE4.
• {{Distinguish2|TEXT}} → Template:Distinguish2
• {{Distinct|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3|PAGE4}} or {{Distinct|[[PAGE1]]|[[PAGE2]]|[[PAGE3]]|[[PAGE4]]}} → Template:Distinct
• {{Distinct|TEXT [[PAGE1]]}} → Template:Distinct

"… redirects here. It is not to be confused with …"

• {{Redirect-distinguish|REDIRECT|PAGE1}} → Template:Redirect-distinguish
• {{Redirect-distinguish|REDIRECT|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3|PAGE4}} → Template:Redirect-distinguish
• {{Redirect-distinguish2|REDIRECT|TEXT}} → Template:Redirect-distinguish2
  • Also may be used as {{Redirect-distinguish2|REDIRECT}} → Template:Redirect-distinguish2

"For technical reasons, … redirects here. For … , see … ."

• {{Technical reasons|REDIRECT}} →
  For technical reasons, "REDIRECT" redirects here.
• {{Technical reasons|REDIRECT|PAGE}} →
  For technical reasons, "REDIRECT" redirects here. For REDIRECT, see PAGE.
• {{Technical reasons|REDIRECT|DESCRIPTION|PAGE}} →
  For technical reasons, "REDIRECT" redirects here. For DESCRIPTION, see PAGE.
• {{Technical reasons|REDIRECT|DESCRIPTION1|PAGE1|DESCRIPTION2|PAGE2}} →
  For technical reasons, "REDIRECT" redirects here. For DESCRIPTION1, see PAGE1. For DESCRIPTION2, see PAGE2.
• {{Technical reasons|REDIRECT|DESCRIPTION1|PAGE1|DESCRIPTION2|PAGE2|DESCRIPTION3|PAGE3}} →
  For technical reasons, "REDIRECT" redirects here. For DESCRIPTION1, see PAGE1. For DESCRIPTION2, see PAGE2. For DESCRIPTION3, see PAGE3.

Family names

Further information: Category:Hatnote templates for names

Miscellaneous (hurricanes, Pope Stephen, Wiki selfref)

These hatnotes are topic-specific. They are documented at their template page.

• {{Other hurricanes}}
• {{Pope Stephen ToP Dab}}
• {{Selfref}}

Categories

Category-specific templates:

• {{Category see also|THIS|THAT|THE OTHER}} → Template:Category see also

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}} → Template:Cat main
• {{Category explanation|colourless green ideas}} → Template:Category explanation
• {{Category pair|TOPIC1|TOPIC2}} → Template:Category pair
• {{CatPreceding|OTHER TOPIC}} → Template:CatPreceding
• {{CatSucceeding|OTHER TOPIC}} → Template:CatSucceeding
• {{Contrast|OTHERCAT|OTHERCAT2}} → Template:Contrast
• {{Contrast|OTHERCAT|OTHERCAT2|plural=yes}} → Template:Contrast

Lists

Further information: [[::Category:Hatnote templates for lists]]

User pages

• {{This user talk|TOPIC|PAGE1}} →
  

Notes

These templates are used in 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:

1. Is there already a template that will do this job? Since many disambiguation and redirection templates have already been created, first check: Category:Disambiguation and redirection templates.
2. 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.
3. 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 Template sandbox and test cases.

See also

• Wikipedia:Disambiguation
• Wikipedia:Hatnote
• Category:Hatnote templates
• {{Shortcut}}