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Disambiguation in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia Foundation projects is the process of resolving ambiguity. The conflict occurs when a single term can be associated with more than one topic. In many cases, this word or phrase is the same natural title of more than one article. In other words, disambiguations are paths leading to different topic pages that share essentially the same term in their title.

On Wikipedia, making links is simple and automatic: when typing in an edit window, put brackets around Mercury ([[Mercury]]) so you have a link: Mercury. Yet, the page that links to is a disambiguation page, listing the several usages of the word. Instead, most all links in an article are actually referring to a particular Mercury, such as the element, the planet, the automobile brand, the record label, the NASA manned-spaceflight project, the plant, or the Roman god. (Note that each link here is a piped link of the form [[actual link title|visible text]].)

Contents 1 Deciding to disambiguate 1.1 What not to include 1.1.1 Dictionary definitions 1.1.2 Duplicate topics 1.1.3 Lists 1.1.4 List of ships 1.1.5 Sister projects 1.1.6 Summary or multi-stub pages 2 Disambiguation links 2.1 Top links 2.2 Bottom links 2.3 Template examples 3 Disambiguation pages 3.1 Preparation 3.2 Construction 3.3 Page naming conventions 3.3.1 Generic topic 3.3.2 Primary topic 3.3.3 Specific topic 4 Links 4.1 Double disambiguation 4.2 Interlanguage links 4.3 Links to disambiguated topics 4.4 Links to disambiguation pages 5 See also 5.1 System pages

Two different methods of disambiguating are discussed here:

• disambiguation links — at the top of an article, a note that links the reader to articles with similar titles or concepts that the reader may seek instead of the current article.
• disambiguation pages — non-article pages that contain no content and refer users only to other Wikipedia pages.

Deciding to disambiguate

What not to include

Dictionary definitions

A disambiguation page is not a list of dictionary definitions. A short description of the common general meaning of a word can be appropriate for helping the reader determine context. Otherwise, there are templates for linking the reader to Wiktionary, the wiki dictionary; see Wikipedia:How to link to Wikimedia projects#Wiktionary.

Duplicate topics

Disambiguation should not be confused with the merging of duplicate articles (articles with different titles, but regarding the very same topic, for example "Gas Turbine" and "Gas turbine", or "restroom" and "washroom"). These are handled with Wikipedia:Redirects.

Lists

Lists of articles of which the disambiguated term forms only a part of the article title don't belong here. Disambiguation pages are not search indices. Do not add links that merely contain part of the page title (where there is no significant risk of confusion).

List of ships

Main articles: Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships#Index Pages and Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships#Index page template

Lists consisting entirely of ships replace disambiguation pages. Where a vessel is listed among other entries by a hull number or other abbreviation, the entry should conform to the style for ships.

Sister projects

Disambiguation descriptions should not be created for subjects whose only articles are on pages of sister projects, even if the disambiguation page already exists (e.g., the poll on 9/11 victims). Subjects that have articles on both Wikipedia and sister projects are, of course, fine.

Summary or multi-stub pages

Several small topics of just a paragraph or so each can co-exist on a single page, separated by headings. Although this is similar to a disambiguation page, the disambiguation notice should not be put here, as the page doesn't link to other articles closely associated with a specific term.

As each section grows, there may come a time when a subject should have a page of its own. (See Wikipedia:Article size and Wikipedia:Summary style.)

Although many pages rely on this principle, it has become more common for each subject to have a separate page for its own stub.

Always use {{split}} or {{splitsection}}, and reach consensus before attempting the split. WP:Bold doesn't apply, as it is very difficult to revert a split, often requiring extensive assistance by administrators.

Disambiguation links

A user searching for a particular term might expect a different article than what appears. Therefore, helpful links to any alternative articles with similar names are needed. One of the templates shown below may be used. Their parameters are described in Template_talk:Otheruses4.

Top links

When a user searches for a particular term, he or she may have something else in mind than what actually appears. In this case, a friendly link to the alternative article is placed at the top. For example, the article Cold Fusion, the nuclear process, contains a link to ColdFusion, the programing language:

For the computer programming language, see ColdFusion.

Which is generated by entering: {{For|the computer programming language|ColdFusion}}

Note that double brackets are not required within the template in order to generate the link.

Where there are several articles to be disambiguated from each other, include a link to a separate disambiguation page. In many cases, the template {{Otheruses}} is appropriate to link to that page. However, a variety of special cases are also handled. For example,

• Zürich uses the disambiguation template {{Otheruses2}}, which generates:

For other uses, see Zurich (disambiguation).

• Finally, Johann Sebastian Bach uses {{Redirect}}, a different template incorporating redirect information:

"Bach" redirects here. For other uses, see Bach (disambiguation).

Above all, don't pipe the link. Show the entire linked article title as is, to avoid confusion, which is the reason for the top link in the first place.

Bottom links

Bottom links are deprecated. Such links are harder to find and easily missed. For alternatives that are related to the article, and not likely to be ambiguous, the "See also" Section is more appropriate.

Template examples

A number of templates have been created to ensure the uniform appearance of disambiguation links, some of which were previously outlined:

• {{Otheruses}} This template automatically generates the article title (in this instance, "Disambiguation") so you don't have to retype it, or in case the page is moved to one with a new name.

For other uses, see Disambiguation (disambiguation).

• {{Otheruses2}} This template requires a link be entered ("DifferentArticleName")

For other uses, see DifferentArticleName (disambiguation).

• {{Otheruses4}} to disambiguate one other topic

This article is about This Topic. For Another Topic, see DifferentArticleName.

• {{Otheruses-number}} for year pages (in this example, the title of this page appears rather than a 4-digit numeral)

This article is about the year Disambiguation. For other uses, see Disambiguation (number).

• {{Otherplaces}}, analogous to {{Otheruses}}

For other places with the same name, see Disambiguation (disambiguation).

• {{Otherplaces2}}, analogous to {{Otheruses2}}

• {{Otherpeople}}

For other persons named Disambiguation, see Disambiguation (disambiguation).

• {{Redirect}} In this example, the term "Lalala" has been entered as the parameter:

"Lalala" redirects here. For other uses, see Lalala (disambiguation).

A longer, but incomplete list of disambiguation templates is found at Wikipedia:Template_messages/General#Disambiguation_and_redirection, with further style information at Wikipedia:Hatnotes#Templates. Many more templates are listed in Category:Disambiguation and redirection templates.

Links to disambiguation pages include the text "(disambiguation)" in the title (such as America (disambiguation)).

Disambiguation pages

Main article: Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages)

Each of these pages in Wikipedia comprises a list (or multiple lists, for multiple senses of the term in question) of similarly-titled links.

• Link to the primary topic (if there is one):

A school is an institution for learning.

• Start each list with a short introductory sentence fragment with the title in bold, and ending with a colon. For example:

Blockbuster may refer to:

• Try to start each entry in the list with a link to the target page.
• Each bulleted entry should, in almost every case, have exactly one navigable (blue) link.
• Do not pipe the name of the links to the articles being listed.
• Only include related subject articles as long as the term in question is actually described on the target article. (For example, the Canton disambiguation page legitimately has an entry for Flag terminology.)

Include the template {{disambig}} (or other disambiguation template, such as {{tl:2CC}} or {{tl:Geodis}}) at the bottom as an indicator of the page's status. Following the template, include any of the standard categories as appropriate.

For a prime example of an actual disambiguation page, see Lift.

Preparation

Before constructing a new disambiguation page, determine a Specific topic name for any and all existing pages, and a generic name for the disambiguation page. Move any page with a conflicting title (i.e. the same exact title) to its more specific name. Use the What links here list for the moved page to update all of the pages that link to that page (more likely than not, a link in Wikipedia will point to your new disambiguation page unnecessarily, and this should be resolved on a case-by-case basis).

Construction

Assuming a Generic topic page, use the What links here list of the moved page to access the redirect page created by the move, and replace that redirect page with the new disambiguation page.

Use the new disambiguation page to find and replace any old disambiguation links in existing pages with a link to the new disambiguation page.

Note that the standard link templates will actually point to a Term XYZ (disambiguation) version of the new name. Use the red-link on an existing page to create a redirect page,

#REDIRECT [[Term XYZ]]{{R to disambiguation page}}

Page naming conventions

A disambiguation page is named after the generic topic (eg "Term XYZ"), or where the primary topic is an article, has a title like "Term XYZ (disambiguation)". The "(disambiguation)" should only be used when necessary — for primary topic cases only.

Usually, there should be just one page for all cases (upper- or lower-case) and variant punctuation.

For example, "Term xyz", "Term Xyz", "Term X-Y-Z", and "Term X.Y.Z." should all redirect with the template {{R to disambiguation page}} to one page.

Generic topic

In most cases, the generic term or phrase should be the title of the actual disambiguation page. This permits an editor to visually determine whether a disambiguating page is generic in Category:Disambiguation.

Links that deliberately point to generic topic disambiguation pages should use an unambiguous "(disambiguation)" link instead, to assist in distinguishing accidental links. In turn, the "(disambiguation)" page will redirect to the generic topic page. This "(disambiguation)" redirect page should always be created for the Wikipedia:Links to (disambiguation) pages listing.

For example, the specific topic Tables (board game) links to Table (disambiguation), a redirect to Table with the template {{R to disambiguation page}}. Table is a generic topic disambiguation page.

Primary topic

When there is a well known primary meaning for a term or phrase (indicated by a majority of links in existing articles and consensus of the editors of those articles that it will be significantly more commonly searched for and read than other meanings), then that topic may be used for the title of the main article, with a disambiguation link at the top. Where there is no such clearly dominant usage there is no primary topic page.

Ensure that the "(disambiguation)" page links back to an unambiguous page name. The unambiguous page name should redirect to the primary topic page. This assists future editors (and automated processes).

For example, the primary topic Rome has a link at the top to Rome (disambiguation), where there is a link back via Rome, Italy (rather than directly to Rome).

Specific topic

For disambiguating specific topic pages, several options are available:

1. When there is another word (such as Cheque instead of Check) or more complete name that is equally clear (such as Titan rocket), that should be used.
2. A disambiguating word or phrase can be added in parentheses. The word or phrase in parentheses should be:
   • the generic class that includes the topic (for example, Mercury (element), Seal (mammal)); or
   • the subject or context to which the topic applies (for example, Union (set theory), Inflation (economics)).
3. Rarely, an adjective describing the topic can be used, but it's usually better to rephrase the title to avoid parentheses.

If there is a choice between disambiguating with a generic class or with a context, choose whichever is simpler. Use the same disambiguating phrase for other topics within the same context.

For example, "(mythology)" rather than "(mythological figure)".

If there is a choice between using a short phrase and word with context, there is no hard rule about which is preferred. Both may be created, with one redirecting to the other.

For example, Mathematical analysis and Analysis (mathematics).

When the context is a book or other creative work, such as with articles about fictional characters, avoid lots of little stubs about fictional characters: check your fiction.

To conform to the naming conventions, the phrase in parentheses should be treated just as any other word in a title: normally lowercase, unless it is a proper noun that always appears capitalized even in running text (such as a book title).

For more on which word or phrase to insert in the parentheses, see Wikipedia:Naming conventions and Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions.

Links

Double disambiguation

A double disambiguation is a link to a disambiguation page from another disambiguation page. This kind of disambiguation is typically more specific than one with a simplified name. These kind of disambiguations are relatively rare on Wikipedia.

For example, Defense is a disambiguation page that leads to Defense industry, a secondary disambiguation page.

Interlanguage links

Pure disambiguation pages should contain interlanguage links only where a similar problem of disambiguation exists in the target language; that is, they should not point to a single meaning from the list of meanings, but to another disambiguation page.

Links to disambiguated topics

A code of honor for creating disambiguation pages is to fix all resulting mis-directed links.

Before creating a disambiguation page, click on What links here to find all of the pages that link to the page that is about to change. Make sure that those pages are fixed and that they won't be adversely affected when performing the {{split}} or {{splitsection}}.

When repairing a link, use pipe syntax so that the link does not contain the new qualifier.

For example, when renaming Topic Name to Topic Name (qualifier), [[Topic Name (qualifier)|Topic Name]] will render as Topic Name just like the original.

A shorter alternative is to use empty pipe syntax, also known as the pipe trick. This allows editors to leave out the piped alternative when editing.

For example, typing "[[Topic Name (qualifier)|]]" will automatically produce "[[Topic Name (qualifier)|Topic Name]]". Read Help:Pipe trick for more information.

Of course, the whole point of making a disambiguation page is that accidental links made to it will make sense. These Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links are periodically checked and repaired.

There is a tool to facilitate this in the Python Wikipedia Robot. The bot offers to update links to choices listed on the disambiguation page. Don't forget to post a notice on the Wikipedia talk:Bots page.

Links to disambiguation pages

There is rarely a need for links directly to disambiguation pages—except from any primary topic. In most cases, links should point to the article that deals with the specific meaning intended.

To link to a disambiguation page (instead of a specific meaning), link to the redirect to the disambiguation page that includes the text "(disambiguation)" in the title (such as, America (disambiguation)). This helps distinguish accidental links to the disambiguation page from intentional ones.

The Wikipedia software has a feature that lists "orphan" pages; that is, no other page links to them. But for disambiguating pages, that's perfectly correct: we usually want pages to link to the more specific pages.

In order to make the orphans list more useful by not cluttering it with intentional orphans, disambiguation pages are linked from:

• Wikipedia:Links to disambiguating pages,
• Wikipedia:Links to (disambiguation) pages,
• Wikipedia:Multiple-place names, and
• Wikipedia:Non-unique personal name.

When you create a disambiguation page, add a link to it in one of those pages as appropriate.

Category:Disambiguation provides a complete list of disambiguation pages.

See also

• Wikipedia:Contributing FAQ
• Wikipedia:Policies and guidelines
• Wikipedia:WikiProject Disambiguation
• MediaWiki:Disambiguationspage

System pages

• Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links, an active Wiki fixup project