View source for EUSwiki:Manual of Style/Disambiguation pages

{{style-guideline|MOS:DABPAGES|WP:MOSDAB|MOS:DAB|MOS:DISAMBIG|sortkey=Disambiguation}} 

'''Disambiguation pages''' ("'''dab pages'''") are designed to help a reader find Wikipedia articles on different topics that could be referenced by the same search term, as described in the [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|Disambiguation]] guideline. Disambiguation pages are not articles; they are aids in searching.

This style guideline is intended to make the search more efficient, by giving disambiguation pages a consistent look and by avoiding distracting information. In brief, the pages should contain only disambiguation content, whether or not the page title contains the parenthetical ''(disambiguation)''. (This guideline does not apply to articles that are [[WP:PRIMARYTOPIC|primary topic]]s, even if the articles are prefaced by a "See also" hatnote or the like at the top of the page.)

{{Style}}
{{Dabnav}}
{{TOClimit|3}}

== Page naming ==
{{shortcut|MOS:DABPAGENAME}}
In general, the title of a disambiguation page is the ambiguous term itself, provided there is no primary topic for that term. If there is already a primary topic, then "(disambiguation)" is added to the title of the disambiguation page, as in [[Jupiter (disambiguation)]]. For more on how to title a disambiguation page, see {{Section link|Wikipedia:Disambiguation|Naming the disambiguation page}}.

==At the top of the page==
The first line of a disambiguation page should be the '''introductory line''' ([[MOS:DABINT|see below]]) unless there is a link to Wiktionary using the templates shown below, in which case that should be the first line. If there is a link to the '''primary topic''' ([[MOS:DABPRIMARY|see below]]), that line should appear before the introductory line, but after the Wiktionary link. Each of these three should begin its own line (the Wiktionary template creates a box on the right side of the page).

=== Linking to Wiktionary ===
{{shortcut|MOS:WTLINK}}
When a dictionary definition should be included (see {{section link|Wikipedia:Disambiguation|What not to include}}), rather than writing a text entry, create a cross-link to [[Wiktionary]], one of the [[Wikipedia:Wikimedia sister projects|Wikimedia sister projects]]. To do this, use one of these Wiktionary link templates on the first line:

* {{tlx|Wiktionary}} – {{tlc|wiktionary|WORD|WORD2|...|WORD5}}&nbsp;– up to five optional parameters; useful for linking dictionary entries with multiple capitalizations (''star'', ''Star'', and ''STAR'') – without parameters, defaults to using the current page's name without capitalization.
* {{tlx|Wiktionary pipe}} – {{tlc|wiktionary pipe|WORD|{{var|optional display name}}}}

Be sure to check the links created by these templates, as Wiktionary's [[case sensitivity]] sometimes differs from Wikipedia's. (On the first letter, Wiktionary uses [[wikt:WT:CAPS|proper capitalization]] for its entries, unlike Wikipedia's use of an uppercase first letter for each page name.)

=== Linking to a primary topic ===
{{shortcut|MOS:DABPRIMARY}}
When a page has "(disambiguation)" in its title&nbsp;– i.e., it is the disambiguation page for a term for which a primary topic has been identified&nbsp;– users are most likely to arrive there by clicking on a top link from the primary topic article, generated by a template in the {{tlx|otheruses}} series. For example, the article [[School]] contains the [[Wikipedia:Hatnote|hatnote]]:
{{otheruses2|School}}

The primary topic is the one reached by using the disambiguation page title without the (disambiguation) qualifier. Capitalisation differences matter, so there will only be one primary topic for a title. 

Since it is unlikely that this primary topic is what readers are looking for if they have reached the disambiguation page, it should not be mixed in with the other links. It is recommended that the link back to the primary topic appear at the top, in a brief explanatory sentence. For instance:

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
A '''[[school]]''' is an institution for learning.

'''School''' may also refer to:
* [[School of thought]], a number of individuals with shared styles, approaches or aims
* [[School (fish)]], a group of fish swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner
* . . .
|}

When the ambiguous term has a primary topic but that article has a different title (so that the term is the title of a redirect), the primary topic line normally uses the redirect to link to that article:
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|A '''[[cosmonaut]]''' or astronaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft.
|}

Similarly for an acronym, initialism or alphabetism:
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''[[IBM]]''' is International Business Machines, an American multinational technology and consulting corporation, with headquarters in Armonk, New York.
|}

In some cases it may be clearer to link directly to the redirect target:
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''[[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]]''' (1756–1791) was a famous composer during the Classical period.
|}
instead of the more awkward
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|<s>'''[[Mozart]]''' was Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791), a famous composer during the Classical period.</s>
|}

=== Introductory line ===
{{shortcut|MOS:DABINT}}
{{also|WP:Template messages/General#In introductory lines}}
The term being disambiguated should be in '''bold''' (not ''italics''). It should begin a sentence fragment ending with a colon, introducing a bulleted list:

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
'''Interval''' may refer to:
----
'''John Smith''' may refer to: 
:''or''
'''John Smith''' is the name of:
----
'''ABC''' may refer to:
:''or''
'''ABC''' may stand for:
|}

Where several variants of a term are being disambiguated together, significant variants may be included in the lead sentence. For example:
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
'''Bang''' or '''bangs''' may refer to:
:''or''
'''Bang(s)''' may refer to:
|}

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
'''Arc''' or '''ARC''' may refer to:
|}

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
|'''Angus McKay''', '''MacKay''' or '''Mackay''' may refer to:
|}

However, it is not necessary to mention minor variations of capitalization, punctuation or diacritics. For example, {{xt|'''AU''' may refer to:}} is preferable to "'''AU''', '''au''', '''Au''' or '''A-U''' may refer to"; and {{xt|'''Saiyuki''' may refer to:}} is preferable to "'''Saiyuki''', '''Saiyūki''' or '''Saiyûki''' may refer to".

== Individual entries ==
{{shortcut|MOS:DABENTRY|MOS:DABENTRIES}}
After the introductory line comes a list of individual entries&nbsp;– lines which direct the readers to Wikipedia articles on the various topics which might be referenced by the term being disambiguated. Keep in mind that the primary purpose of the disambiguation page is to help people find the specific article they want quickly and easily.

'''Example:'''

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''Interval''' may refer to:
* [[Interval (mathematics)]], a certain subset of an ordered set
* [[Interval (music)]], the relationship between two notes
* ...
|}

Apply the following rules when constructing entries:
* Preface each entry with a {{em|bullet}} (an asterisk in wiki markup). 
* Start each entry with a {{em|capital letter}} (unless it begins with a link to an article marked with {{tlx|lowercase}}, like [[eBay]]).
* Insert a {{em|comma}} after an entry when a description is included.
* Use {{em|sentence fragments}}, with no closing punctuation unless it is part of the description (e.g., a description that ends in "etc." would end with the period)
{{Anchor|onelinkonly}}
* Include '''exactly one''' navigable (blue) link to efficiently guide readers to the most relevant article for that use of the ambiguous term. '''Do not wikilink any other words in the line'''. For example: 

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
* [[Dark Star (song)|"Dark Star" (song)]], a song by the Grateful Dead
or
* [[Dark Star (song)|"Dark Star" (song)]], by the Grateful Dead
but {{em|not}} 
* <s>[[Dark Star (song)|"Dark Star" (song)]], a [[song]] by the [[psychedelic]] [[rock band]] [[The Grateful Dead]]</s>
|}
* Do not emphasize the link with bolding or italics, although titles (such as for books and movies) may need to be italicized to conform with the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles|style guidance on titles]]. If the article's title contains both a title and a clarifier, quote or italicize only the part requiring such treatment, as opposed to the entire link, e.g.: [[Dark Star (film)|''Dark Star'' (film)]] (see {{section link||Piping and redirects}}). This can be accomplished by [[Wikipedia:Piped link|piping]] the link. The templates {{tl|fti}} or {{tl|ftq}} can also be used to put only the title, and not the qualifier, in italics or quotes, respectively.
* {{anchor|terse}}Keep the description associated with a link to a minimum, just sufficient to allow the reader to find the correct link. In many cases, the title of the article alone will be sufficient and no additional description is necessary.<!-- The thinking behind keeping description to a minimum is: it is only for helping the reader find the right link; being on an obscure page, it will not be used for reference, and will not be well maintained. -->

In most cases the title of the target article will be an expansion or variation of the term being disambiguated (as in the example above). If this is the case:
*The link should come at the start of the entry.
*The article title should appear exactly as it is on the target page; the link should not be [[Wikipedia:Piped link|piped]] except to apply formatting (see {{section link||Where piping may be appropriate}}).

In some cases, however, the target article title is {{em|not}} an expansion or variation of the term being disambiguated.{{clarification needed|reason=an example would be helpful}} For these cases see {{section link||Red links|Items appearing within other articles}} below.

Note also the following points when constructing lists of entries: 
* An entry with no links at all is useless for further navigation. (See {{section link||Red links}} for cases in which no article yet exists.)
* A disambiguation page should not be made up completely of red links or have only one blue link on the entire page, because the basic purpose of disambiguation is to refer users to other Wikipedia pages. 
* {{anchor|extlinks}}Never include [[Help:External links|external links]], either as entries or in descriptions. Disambiguation pages disambiguate Wikipedia articles, not the World-Wide Web. To note URLs that might be helpful in the future, include them on the talk page.
* [[WP:REF|References]] should not appear on disambiguation pages. Dab pages are not articles; instead, incorporate the references into the target articles.

=== <span id="Specific_instances" />Examples of individual entries that should not be created ===
{{shortcut|MOS:DABNOENTRY}}
{{see|Wikipedia:Disambiguation#What not to include}}
Do not include entries for topics that are not ambiguous (according to the linked article) with the title. Use [[Wikipedia:Lists|list articles]] for lists of related topics if needed.

On a page called {{var|Title}}, do not create entries merely because {{var|Title}} is part of the name (see {{section link|Wikipedia:Disambiguation|Partial title matches}}).

Common examples:

* {{var|Title}} City
* {{var|Title}} Hospital
* {{var|Title}} University

The above does not apply if the subject is commonly referred to simply by {{var|Title}}. For instance, [[Oxford (disambiguation)]] should link to [[University of Oxford]] and [[Catalina]] might include [[Santa Catalina Island, California]]. If there is disagreement about whether this exception applies, it is often best to assume that it does. When multiple articles contain {{var|Title}} but are not referred to by it, {{tlx|look from}} and {{tlx|in title}} templates may be added in the [[#"See also" section|"See also" section]].

You may want to create entries on the same page for:
* {{var|TITLE}} and {{var|Title}}
* {{var|Title}} town and {{var|Title}} township
** An example is [[Willow Valley]], which lists a town of that name as well as "Willow Valley Township" in another state.

=== Given names or surnames ===
{{shortcut|MOS:DABNAME|WP:DABSUR}}
{{Redirect|MOS:DABNAME|the guideline regarding how to name disambiguation pages|Wikipedia:Disambiguation#Naming the disambiguation page}}
{{main|Wikipedia:WikiProject Anthroponymy}}

Persons who have the ambiguous term as surname or given name should be listed in the body of the disambiguation page if they are frequently referred to simply by the single name (e.g., [[Elvis]], [[Shakespeare]]). Otherwise, small numbers of name holders can be added to the "[[MOS:DABSEEALSO|See also]]" section, below the main disambiguation list. For longer lists, create an [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Anthroponymy/Standards|anthroponymy list article]] and link to it from the disambiguation page.  If it isn't clear that the article includes a list, consider mentioning that in the description. 

For example: 
*[[Marilyn (given name)]], a female given name (including a list of persons with the name)
*[[Hunter (name)]], a given name and a family name (including a list of persons with the name)

Articles {{em|only}} listing persons with a certain given name or surname, known as anthroponymy articles, are {{em|not}} disambiguation pages, and this Manual of Style does not apply to them.  Anthroponymy articles follow [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Anthroponymy/Standards|their own style standards]].  For those articles, do {{em|not}} use {{tlx|disambig}} or {{tlx|hndis}}, but {{tlx|given name}} or {{tlx|surname}} instead.

=== Misspellings ===
Common misspellings should be listed only if there is a genuine risk of confusion or misspelling. These cross-links should be placed in a separate section entitled "Common misspellings" or "See also". For example, in a page called [[Kington (disambiguation)]], a link to [[Kingston (disambiguation)]] would appropriately be included in the "See also" section.

==={{anchor|Piping}}Piping and redirects===
<!-- This Anchor tag serves to provide a permanent target for incoming section links. Please do not move it out of the section heading, even though it disrupts edit summary generation (you can manually fix the edit summary before saving your changes). Please do not modify it, even if you modify the section title. It is always best to anchor an old section header that has been changed so that links to it won't be broken. See [[Template:Anchor]] for details. (This text: [[Template:Anchor comment]]) -->
{{shortcut|WP:PIPING|WP:DABPIPE}}
{{Redirect|WP:PIPING|the Wikipedia how-to|Wikipedia:Piped link}}
Piping and redirects are two different mechanisms which allow the displayed text of a link to differ from the title of the page that the link points to. Piping and redirects should not generally be used on disambiguation pages, ''except as described below''.
* ''[[Wikipedia:Piped link|Piping]]'' means concealing the title of a linked article by replacing it with other text.  For example, instead of showing the full title [[Moment (physics)]], it may be presented as <code><nowiki>[[Moment (physics)|moment]]</nowiki></code>, resulting in the link [[Moment (physics)|moment]].
* A ''[[WP:REDIRECT|redirect]]'' is a page used to "jump" readers from one page title to an article with a different title. For example, a redirect at the title [[9/11]] sends users who navigate there to the article [[September 11 attacks]].

'''Subject to certain exceptions as listed below, piping or redirects should not be used in disambiguation pages'''.  This is to make it clear to the reader which article is being suggested. For example, on the disambiguation page [[Moment]], in the entry [[Moment (physics)]], "&nbsp;(physics)" should be visible to the reader. In many cases, what would be hidden by a pipe is exactly what the user would need in order to find their intended article. However, raw section and anchor points should not be displayed; see {{section link||Section and anchor point linking}} for those cases.

Though piping and redirects should generally not be used in disambiguation pages, there are certain cases in which they may be useful to the reader:

=====Where redirecting may be appropriate=====
{{shortcut|WP:DABREDIR}}
*A redirect should be used to link to a specific section of an article if the title of that section is more or less synonymous with the disambiguated topic. This indicates a higher possibility that the topic may eventually have its own article.  For example:
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''Delta''' may refer to:
* (correct) [[Delta Quadrant]], in the ''Star Trek'' universe<br />Markup: <code><nowiki>[[Delta Quadrant]], in the ''Star Trek'' universe</nowiki></code>
* (incorrect) [[Galactic quadrant (Star Trek)#Delta Quadrant|Delta Quadrant]], in the ''Star Trek'' universe<br />Markup: <code><nowiki>[[Galactic quadrant (Star Trek)#Delta Quadrant|Delta Quadrant]], in the ''Star Trek'' universe</nowiki></code>
* (incorrect) Delta Quadrant, in the [[Galactic quadrant (Star Trek)#Delta Quadrant|Galactic quadrant of the ''Star Trek'']] universe<br />Markup: <code><nowiki>Delta Quadrant, in the [[Galactic quadrant (Star Trek)#Delta Quadrant|Galactic quadrant of the ''Star Trek'']] universe</nowiki></code>
|}

: The above technique is used when the link is the subject of the line. For description sections, redirects or piped links may be used; follow the normal [[Wikipedia:Redirect]] and [[Wikipedia:Piped link]] guidelines.
* Linking to a redirect can  also be helpful when both:
:#the redirect target article contains the disambiguated term; {{em|and}} 
:#the redirect could serve as an alternative name for the target article, meaning an alternative term that is already in the article's lead section.
:For example:
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''James Cary''' may refer to:
* (correct) [[James Carrey]] or Jim Carrey (born 1962), Canadian actor<br />Markup: <code><nowiki>[[James Carrey]] or Jim Carrey (born 1962), Canadian actor</nowiki></code>
* (incorrect) James Carrey or [[Jim Carrey]] (born 1962), Canadian actor<br />Markup: <code><nowiki>James Carrey or [[Jim Carrey]] (born 1962), Canadian actor</nowiki></code>
|}

: The above example of a redirect is only appropriate because '''James Carrey''' is indicated as a name in the lead section of the [[Jim Carrey]] article.  If it were not, then the second example could have been used instead.
:* However, when the disambiguated term is an [[Acronym and initialism|acronym or initialism (alphabetism)]], links should {{em|not}} use redirects to conceal the expanded version of that initialism. For example, on the disambiguation page [[BNL]], linking to the full article title [[Banca Nazionale del Lavoro]] is preferable to linking to a redirect at [[BNL (bank)]].
* Redirecting may be appropriate where the ''primary topic'' is a redirect; see {{section link||Linking to a primary topic}}.
* Redirecting may be appropriate when linking to [[WP:INTDABLINK|another disambiguation page]].

=====Where piping may be appropriate=====
{{shortcut|WP:DABPIPING}}
* Use piping to add italics or quotation marks to part of an article name; for instance, [[Harvey (film)|''Harvey'' (film)]], [[USS Adder (SS-3)|USS ''Adder'' (SS-3)]], [[Route 66 (song)|"Route 66" (song)]], [[Saturnalia (dinosaur)|''Saturnalia'' (dinosaur)]], [[Hush (Buffy episode)|"Hush" (''Buffy'' episode)]], [[Neo (The Matrix)|Neo (''The Matrix'')]]. The templates {{tl|fti}} and {{tl|ftq}} may be used to create properly formatted links. These should be [[WP:Substitution|substituted]], since templates are discouraged on disambiguation pages (see {{section link||Images and templates}} below).
** [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Disambiguation/Title templates]] for song, album and film title links
** [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships/Tools]] for ship and ship classes links
* Similarly, use piping if the entry's article title differs from how it should actually be rendered, due to [[Template:Correct title|technical limitations in Wikipedia]]; for instance, ''[[The Singles 86–98|The Singles 86>98]]'' or [[Softimage XSI|Softimage&#124;XSI]].
* When the link is part of the description, rather than the actual entry name, piping can be used more freely. However, the text of the link should still be very similar to the title of the target article, to avoid confusing the reader. For example:
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
'''Switch''' may refer to:
* "Switch", a song by Siouxsie & the Banshees from ''[[The Scream (album)|The Scream]]''<br />Markup: <code><nowiki>"Switch", a song by Siouxsie & the Banshees from ''[[The Scream (album)|The Scream]]''</nowiki></code>
|}
* Piping may be used ''when the link is in the description'' (see {{section link||Items appearing within other articles}}) for linking to a section or [[Help:Section#Section linking|anchor point]] rather than an entire article. For example, on [[E (disambiguation)]], the piped [[ESRB#Ratings|ESRB]] (<code><nowiki>[[ESRB#Ratings|ESRB]]</nowiki></code>) is preferable to simply linking to the entire article [[ESRB]]. Piping is commonly used to link to the track listing section of an album article. The text of the link should not be the title of a different article, and should not surprise the reader. For example:
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
'''Ten''' may refer to:
* (correct) Ten or Tenshinhan, a [[List of Dragon Ball characters#Tenshinhan|character in Dragon Ball media]]<br />Markup: <code><nowiki>Ten or Tenshinhan, a [[List of Dragon Ball characters#Tenshinhan|character in Dragon Ball media]]</nowiki></code>
* (incorrect) Ten or Tenshinhan, a character in [[List of Dragon Ball characters#Tenshinhan|Dragon Ball]] media<br />Markup: <code><nowiki>Ten or Tenshinhan, a character in [[List of Dragon Ball characters#Tenshinhan|Dragon Ball]] media</nowiki></code>
|}

=====Section and anchor point linking=====
{{Shortcut|WP:DABSECTION|WP:DABANCHOR}}

[[Help:Link#Section linking (anchors)|Section and anchor points]] in links should not be visible to the reader (e.g., <code><nowiki>[[Galactic quadrant (Star Trek)#Delta Quadrant]]</nowiki></code>). If an anchor-point link is needed:
* For linking the subject, link to a redirect to the anchor point (or leave the subject unlinked and move the link to the description).
* For links in the description, link to a redirect or use an anchor-point link with piping to display text similar to the article title.
When creating a redirect to a section, add the template {{tlx|R to section}} on the redirect page, and place the {{tlx|anchor}} template at the targeted section.

=== Specific entry types ===
====External links====
{{shortcut|MOS:DABEXT}}
External links do not belong on disambiguation pages; they should not be used.

==== Foreign languages ====
{{clear}}
{{shortcut|MOS:DABOTHERLANG}}
For '''foreign-language terms''', be sure an article exists or could be written for the word or phrase in question. Usually this means that the term has been at least partially adopted into English or is used by specialists.

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''Tambo''' may refer to:
* [[Tambo (weapon)]], a very short staff used in martial arts
|}

Avoid adding foreign words or phrases that are merely translations of an English term. For example, do {{em|not}} include:
*'''Tambo''', a Japanese word (田んぼ) for [[rice paddy]]

Instead, consider [[#Linking to Wiktionary|linking to Wiktionary]].

==== People ====
{{Shortcut|MOS:DABPEOPLE}}
For '''people''', include their birth and death years (when known), and only enough descriptive information that the reader can distinguish between different people with the same name. Keep in mind the conventions for birth and death dates—see {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers|Dates of birth and death}}. Do not include ''a'', ''an'' or ''the'' before the description of the person's occupation or role.

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''[[John Adams]]''' (1735–1826) was the second President of the United States (1797–1801).

'''John Adams''' may also refer to:
*[[John Adams (composer)]] (born 1947), American composer, came to prominence with ''Shaker Loops'' in 1978
*[[John Adams (physicist)]] (1920–1984), Director General of CERN and particle accelerator designer
*[[John Worthington Adams]] (1764–1837), British general in India
|}

==== Places ====
{{Shortcut|MOS:DABPLACES}}
For '''places''', it may only be necessary to write the name of the article.

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''[[Jacksonville]]''' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida.

'''Jacksonville''' may also refer to:
* [[Jacksonville, Alabama]]
* [[Jacksonville, Arkansas]]
|}

It may be appropriate to add the country after the link. Leave the country unlinked.

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''Kimberley''' may refer to:
* [[Kimberley, British Columbia]], Canada 
* [[Kimberley, Nottinghamshire]], United Kingdom 
|}

==== Red links ====
{{shortcut|MOS:DABRL}}
A link to a non-existent article (a "[[Wikipedia:Red link|red link]]") should only be included on a disambiguation page when an article (not just disambiguation pages) also includes that red link. Do not create red links to articles that are unlikely ever to be written, or are likely to be removed as insufficiently notable topics. To find out if any article uses the red link, click on it, and then click "[[Help:What links here|What links here]]" on the toolbox on the left side of the page.

If the only pages that use the red link are disambiguation pages, do one of the following:
* Unlink the entry word but still keep a blue link in the description. Red links should not be the {{em|only}} link in a given entry; link also to an existing article, so that a reader (as opposed to a contributing editor) will have somewhere to navigate to for additional information. The linked article should contain some meaningful information about the term.
* Start a new article for the red link, using the description on the disambiguation page.
* Make a redirect to a page where the item is described (see {{section link||Piping and redirects}} above).

In the following (made-up) example, the architectural motif is judged to be appropriate for a future article, but the noodle is not; therefore, only the entry for the architectural motif includes a red link (and this assumes that the fictitious "flibbygibby" entries are described in their respective linked articles):

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''Flibbygibby''' may refer to:
* [[Flibbygibby (architecture)]], a flamingo motif used on [[cornice]]s
* Flibbygibby, a type of [[noodle]]
|}

==== Synonyms ====
{{shortcut|MOS:DABSYN}}
If the link is to a '''synonym''', simply use it as it is named:

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''Serving spoon''' may also refer to:
* [[Tablespoon]]
|}

==== Items appearing within other articles ====
{{shortcut|MOS:DABMENTION}}
If a topic does not have an article of its own, but is mentioned within another article, then a link to that article should be included. In this case, the link does not start the line, but it should still be the only blue wikilink. For example:

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''Maggie Anderson''' may also refer to:
*Maggie Anderson, actress in [[Corpus Callosum (2007 film)|''Corpus Callosum'']]
*Maggie Anderson, a character in ''[[Brigadoon]]''
|}

It is often useful to link to the relevant {{em|section}} of the target page using [[Help:Anchors|anchors]] and conceal that by making it a piped link. For examples, see "Where piping may be appropriate" under {{section link||Exceptions}}, above.

If the title is not mentioned on the other article, that article should not be linked to in the disambiguation page, since linking to it would not help readers find information about the sought topic.

====Acronyms, initialisms, and abbreviations====
{{shortcut|MOS:DABACRO|MOS:DABINITIALS|MOS:DABABRV}}

Many pages serve primarily to disambiguate short letter combinations that can represent various acronyms and initialisms. When considering articles to include in the list, it is important that each individual entry is referred to its respective abbreviation within its article. For example:

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|'''BSA''' may refer to:
*(correct) [[Boy Scouts of America]]
*(incorrect) ''[[The British Soap Awards]]''
|}

The second entry is incorrect because the article that it refers to, the ''British Soap Awards'', does not mention that it is abbreviated "BSA", and therefore is unlikely to be searched for by that letter combination. The Boy Scouts of America page, however, notes that the organization ''is'' abbreviated "BSA", and would thus be a likely candidate for someone searching that initialism. See also [[WP:DABABBREV]].

==Organization==

===Ordering===
{{anchor|Order of entries|reason=Old heading name, probably linked to from somewhere.}}
{{shortcut|MOS:DABORDER}}
The following guidelines describe the appropriate ordering of disambiguation pages:
# The [[#Linking to a primary topic|primary topic]], if there is one, should be placed at the top. In cases where a small number of main topics are significantly more likely to be the reader's target, several of the most common meanings may be placed at the top, with other meanings below. See [[Mojave (disambiguation)|Mojave]] or [[Mercury (disambiguation)|Mercury]] for examples of this.
#  Long disambiguation pages should be grouped into subject sections, and even subsections as necessary, as [[#Organizing long lists by subject sections|described below]]. These sections (and any subsections) should typically be in alphabetical order, e.g.: Arts and entertainment; Business; Government and politics; Places; Science and technology.
#  {{em|Within}} each group or section, entries should be ordered to best assist the reader in finding their intended article. Entries are typically ordered first by similarity to the ambiguous title, then alphabetically or chronologically as appropriate. A recommended order is:
## Articles with a clarifier in parentheses: e.g., [[Moss (band)]]
## Articles with a clarifier following a comma: e.g., [[Moss, Monterey County, California]]
## Articles with the item as part of the name: e.g., [[Moss Bros]] (Only include articles whose subject might {{em|reasonably}} be called by the ambiguous title.)
## Synonyms: e.g., [[Tincture]] on [[Spirit (disambiguation)]]{{shortcut|MOS:DABSEEALSO}}
<ol start="4"><li>Some entries may belong in a "See also" section at the bottom of the page:
# Terms which can be confused with {{var|Title}}, for example [[New Market]] and [[Newmarket]]
# Likely misspellings of {{var|Title}}, for example [[Belmont]], [[Belmonte]] and [[Bellmont]]
# Different forms of {{var|Title}}, for example [[Splitting]], [[Split]], and [[Splitter]]
# Links to indexes of article titles beginning with {{var|Title}} (using {{tlx|look from|{{var|Title}}}}) or article titles containing {{var|Title}} (using {{tlx|in title|{{var|Title}}}})
# Broader-subject articles that treat the topic in a section: e.g., [[Brewing]] as part of a '''Hops''' dab page 
# Articles with the item as part of the name, but that are unlikely to be called by the ambiguous title: e.g., [[Spanish moss]] as part of a '''Moss''' dab page.</li></ol>
:The "See also" should always be separated from the other entries with a [[Help:Section|section header]]. Links to other disambiguation pages should use the "(disambiguation)" link per [[WP:INTDABLINK]]. When appropriate, place easily confused terms in a hatnote.

====Example ordering====
:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|  <!-- This is just a sample to demonstrate "Order of entries" pls don't add the actual DAB here -->
'''[[Moss]]''' is a small, soft, non-vascular plant that lacks both flowers and seeds.

'''Moss''' may also refer to:
* [[Moss (band)]], a UK extreme doom metal band
* [[Moss (given name)]]
* [[Moss, Monterey County, California]]
* [[Moss F.K.]], a Norwegian football club

<big><big>See also</big></big>
----
* [[Spanish moss]], a flowering bromeliad plant that grows hanging from tree branches
* [[Bog]]
|}

===Grouping by subject area===
{{shortcut|MOS:DABGROUPING}}
{{anchor|Organizing long lists by subject sections|reason=Old section name, probably linked to from somewhere.}}
Sometimes the sheer number of topics can make it difficult for a reader to find a particular topic on a disambiguation page. In these cases, it can be helpful to separate entries by subject [[WP:SECTION|sections]]. Section headings should be as simple as possible; '''Sports''' is preferred to '''Sports people''' or '''Sports figures''', since the nature of the category (people, in this case) should be obvious.

Subject areas should be chosen carefully {{em|to simplify navigation}}. Use subject areas that are well-defined, and that group the entries into similarly sized sections. Very small sections may impede navigation, and should usually be avoided. Entries which don't fit neatly into any section should be placed in an "Other uses" section or subsection, at the bottom of the page or section (but above any [[MOS:DABSEEALSO|"See also" section]]). The "Other uses" section should be relatively short; if it becomes excessively long, it may indicate that the page should be reorganized.

Keep in mind that a particular division scheme may not work equally well on all disambiguation pages. An example:

:{| style="border: 1px solid black" width=80%
|-
|
'''Thingamajig''' may refer to:

In '''science''':
* [[Thingamajig|Thingamajig (biology)]], an invasive plant used as ground cover
* [[Thingamajig|Thingamajig (chemistry)]], an isotope of chlorine
* [[Thingamajig|Thingamajig (physics)]], a kind of pulsar

In '''world music''':
* [[Thingamajig|Thingamajig (Peru)]], a wind instrument similar to an aulos
* [[Thingamajig|Thingamajig (Qatar)]], a seven-stringed musical instrument
* [[Thingamajig|Thingamajig (UK)]], a wind instrument, similar to, but longer than the Peruvian one
|}

On longer lists, section headings should be used instead of, or in addition to, bold headings. Using more than one level may be necessary, as on [[Aurora (disambiguation)]]. Always use <nowiki>==Level two==</nowiki> as the highest-level header. Section headings should not include links. See {{section link|Wikipedia:Writing better articles|Headings}} for more.

On longer lists, {{tlx|TOC right}} may be used to move the table of contents to the right hand side of the page. This reduces the amount of white space and may improve the readability of the page. (For more information, see {{section link|Help:Section|Floating the TOC}}.) If used, {{tlx|TOC right}} should be placed after the lead section of the wiki markup and immediately before the first section heading. Users of screen readers do not expect any text between the TOC and the first heading, and having no text above the TOC is confusing. (For more information, see {{section link|Wikipedia:Accessibility|Article structure}}.)

== Images and templates==
Including images and transcluding templates are discouraged unless they aid in selecting between articles on the particular search term in question. Examples of this are the images at [[Congo (disambiguation)]] and [[Mississippi Delta (disambiguation)]].

Icons, including flag icons, should not be used on disambiguation pages. Only if flag topics are being disambiguated and images are needed to do so, then flag icons or flag images might be added. See also: [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Icons]].

== The disambig notice and categorization==
{{shortcut|WP:DCAT}}
{{see also|Wikipedia:Disambiguation#Categories}}
After all of the disambiguation content (including the See also section, if present), but before any categories (see below) or [[Help:Interlanguage links|interlanguage links]], a template should be placed identifying the page as a disambiguation page. This generates a message to the reader explaining the purpose of the page, and also places the page in the appropriate [[Wikipedia:Categorization|category or categories]].

The usual template to use is {{tlx|disambig}}, which produces a general disambiguation notice, and places the page in [[:Category:Disambiguation pages]]. Parameters can be added to place the page {{em|additionally}} into other more specific disambiguation categories. For example, if a page includes multiple places and multiple people with the same surname (and possibly other items), use {{tlx|disambig|geo|surname}}. A full list of available parameters and their corresponding categories can be found in the {{tlx|disambig}} template documentation.

If a disambiguation page consists {{em|exclusively}} of items in one of the more specific classes, then a specific template should be used instead of {{tlx|disambig}}. For example, use {{tlx|geodis}} for locations, {{tlx|hndis}} for human names and so on. A full list can be found in the {{tlx|disambig}} template documentation. 

If a disambiguation page needs cleaning up to bring it into conformance with this style manual, use {{tlx|disambig-cleanup}}. This replaces {{em|both}} {{tlx|disambig}} and {{tlx|cleanup-date}}.

Do not use <code><nowiki>{{subst:disambig}}</nowiki></code> or <code><nowiki>{{subst:disambig-cleanup}}</nowiki></code>, as the contents of this notice may change in the future (see [[Wikipedia:Transclusion costs and benefits]]). Also, the Wikipedia software relies on links to the templates to determine which pages are disambiguation pages <!-- (see [[MediaWiki:Disambiguationspage]]) page no longer exists; a version of it has been archived at [[Wikipedia:Historical archive/MediaWiki:Disambiguationspage]] but is not maintained. -->, and subst'ing breaks this feature.

Most disambiguation pages do not need to be placed into any categories other than those generated by the template. If such cases do arise (for example, specific categories of personal names that do not have corresponding template parameters), then the additional categories should be placed after the template.

If new topical categories of disambiguation pages seem to be needed, please bring this up for discussion at [[Wikipedia talk:Disambiguation]].

== Exceptions ==
=== Set index articles ===
{{Shortcut|MOS:DABNOTINDEX}}
[[Wikipedia:Set index articles|Set index articles]] are [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists|list articles]] about a set of items {{em|of a specific type}} that have similar or identical names. '''Set index articles are not disambiguation pages''' and do not have to follow the style outlined on this page. Note that the set index article exception was designed to be narrow: for pages that contain links to articles about different topics, please follow this style guide for disambiguation pages. An example of a set index article is a list of ships with the same name, such as [[HMS Albatross|HMS ''Albatross'']]. For more information about such ship lists, see {{section link|Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships/Guidelines|Index pages}}.

=== Disambiguation pages with only two entries ===
{{main|WP:TWODABS}}
{{shortcut|WP:2DAB|WP:TWODAB}}
Some disambiguation pages with "(disambiguation)" in the title list only two meanings, one of them being the [[WP:PRIMARYTOPIC|primary topic]]. In such cases, the disambiguation page is not strictly necessary, but is harmless. The recommended practice in these situations is to place a [[Wikipedia:Hatnote|hatnote]] on the primary topic article to link directly to the secondary topic. The {{tlx|for}} and {{tlx|redirect}} templates are useful. Another option is to tag the two-entry disambiguation page with {{tlx|Only-two-dabs}}.

If neither of the two meanings is primary, then a normal disambiguation page is used at the base name.

== When to break Wikipedia rules ==
{{see also|Wikipedia:Ignore all rules}}
Application of these guidelines will generally produce useful disambiguation pages which are consistent with each other and therefore easily usable by most readers. Usefulness to the reader is their principal goal. However, for every style recommendation above, there may be pages in which a good reason exists to use another way; so ignore these guidelines if doing so will be more helpful to readers than following them.

== See also ==
* [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation dos and don'ts|Disambiguation dos and don'ts]]
* [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links|Disambiguation pages with links]]
* [[:Category:Disambiguation pages in need of cleanup]] 
* [[Wikipedia:Database reports#Disambiguations|Database reports]]
{{Writing guides}}
{{Style wide}}
[[Category:Wikipedia disambiguation|Manual of Style (disambiguation pages)]]
[[Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (Wikipedia content)]]