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{{short description|Style guide which presents the typical layout of Misplaced Pages articles}}
{{Subcat guideline|style guideline|Layout|WP:GTL|WP:LAY|WP:LAYOUT}}
{{About|the layout of Misplaced Pages articles|the layout of Misplaced Pages talk pages|Misplaced Pages:Talk page layout}}
{{Pp-semi|small=yes}}
{{Style-guideline|MOS:LAYOUT|MOS:STRUCTURE|WP:MOSLAYOUT}}
{{Style}}
]


This guide presents the typical '''layout''' of Misplaced Pages articles, including the sections an article usually has, ordering of sections, and formatting styles for various elements of an article. For advice on the use of wiki ], see ]; for guidance on writing style, see ].
]


__TOC__
This '''Misplaced Pages Guide to Layout''' is an annotated, working guide to the basics of laying out an article. Complicated articles may be best modeled on the layout of an existing article of appropriate structure. This guide is not about how to use wiki ] (see ] for that); nor is it about writing style (see ] for that).
{{anchor|ORDER}}


==Order of article elements<span id="Order of sections"></span>==
==Lead section==
{{shortcut|MOS:ORDER|MOS:SECTIONORDER|WP:ORDER}}
{{See also|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style#Section headings}}


A ] should have, at least, (a) a lead section and (b) references. The following list includes additional standardized sections in an article. A complete article need not have all, or even most, of these elements.
As explained in detail at ], the lead section may contain optional elements presented in the following order: disambiguation links (dablinks), maintenance tags, infoboxes, images, navigational boxes (navigational templates), introductory text, and table of contents, moving to the heading of the first section.
# Before the article content
## ]<ref>Discussed in ] and ].</ref>
## {{tl|DISPLAYTITLE}}, {{tl|Lowercase title}}, {{tl|Italic title}}<ref>Per the template documentation at {{Section link|Template:Italic title/doc#Location on page}}</ref> (some of these may also be placed before the infobox<ref>Per the RFC at {{Section link|Misplaced Pages talk:Manual of Style/Layout/Archive 14#DISPLAYTITLE}}</ref> or after the infobox<ref>Per the template documentation at {{Section link|Template:DISPLAYTITLE#Instructions}}</ref>)
## ]
## {{tl|Featured list}}, {{tl|Featured article}} and {{tl|Good article}} (where appropriate for article status)
## Deletion&nbsp;/ protection tags (], ], ], ] notices)
## ], ], and ] tags
## Templates relating to ] and ]<ref>The matter was discussed in ], ], and ].</ref>{{efn|These templates (see ]) can also be placed at the end of an article.}}
## ]{{efn|It is important that hatnotes and maintenance/dispute tags appear on the first page of the article. On the mobile site, the first paragraph of the lead section is moved above the infobox for the sake of readability. Since the infobox is generally more than one page long, putting hatnotes, etc., after it will result in them being placed after the first page, making them less effective.}}
## ]
## ]
## ] (])
# Article content
## ] (also called the introduction)
## ]
## ] (see ] for specialized layout)
# ]<ref name="sequence">This sequence has been in place since at least ] (when "See also" was called "Related topics"). See, for example, ].</ref>{{efn|The original rationale for the ordering of the appendices is that, with the exception of "Works", sections which contain material outside Misplaced Pages (including "Further reading" and "External links") should come after sections that contain Misplaced Pages material (including "See also") to help keep the distinction clear. The sections containing notes and references often contain both kinds of material and, consequently, appear after the "See also" section (if any) and before the "Further reading" section (if any). Whatever the merits of the original rationale, there is now the additional factor that readers have come to expect the appendices to appear in this order.}}
## ] (for biographies only)
## ]
## ] (this can be two sections in some citation systems)
## ]
## ]{{efn|There are several reasons why this section should appear as the last appendix section. So many articles have the "External links" section at the end that many people expect this to be the case. Some "External links" and "References" (or "Footnotes", etc.) sections are quite long and, when the name of the section is not visible on the screen, it could cause problems if someone meant to delete an external link but deleted a reference citation instead. Keeping the "External links" last is also helpful to editors who patrol external links.}}
# {{anchor|End matter}}]
## ] and geography boxes
## Other ] (])<ref>]</ref>
## {{tl|Portal bar}}{{efn|This template is primarily used when ] would cause formatting problems.}} (or {{tl|Subject bar}})
## {{tl|Taxonbar}}
## ] templates
## ] (if not in the infobox) or {{tl|coord missing}}
## ]
## ]{{efn|While categories are entered on the editing page ahead of stub templates, they appear on the visual page in a separate box after the stub templates. One of the reasons this happens is that every stub template generates a stub category, and those stub categories appear after the "main" categories. Another is that certain bots and scripts are set up to expect the categories, stubs and ] to appear in that order, and will reposition them if they don't. Therefore, any manual attempt to change the order is futile unless the bots and scripts are also altered.}}
## {{t|Improve categories}} or {{tl|Uncategorized}} (These can alternatively be placed with other maintenance templates before the article content)
## ] (follow ])


==Body sections== ==Body sections==
{{Shortcut|MOS:BODY}}
{{further|]|]}}
{{further|Help:Section|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style#Article titles, headings, and sections}}

Articles longer than a ] are generally divided into sections, and sections over a certain length are generally divided into paragraphs: these divisions enhance the readability of the article. Recommended names and orders of section headings may ], although articles should still follow good organizational and writing principles regarding sections and paragraphs.
]


===Headings and sections=== ===Headings and sections===
{{further|]}} {{shortcut|MOS:OVERSECTION}}
{{further|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style#Section headings}}
]

Headings introduce sections and subsections, clarify articles by breaking up text, organize content, and populate the ]. Very short sections and subsections clutter an article with headings and inhibit the flow of the prose. Short paragraphs and single sentences generally do not warrant their own subheadings.


Headings follow a six-level hierarchy, starting at 1 and ending at 6. The level of the heading is defined by the number of equals signs on each side of the title. Heading 1 (<code>= Heading&nbsp;1 =</code>) is automatically generated as the title of the article, and is never appropriate within the body of an article. Sections start at the second level (<code>== Heading&nbsp;2 ==</code>), with subsections at the third level (<code>=== Heading&nbsp;3 ===</code>), and additional levels of subsections at the fourth level (<code>==== Heading&nbsp;4 ====</code>), fifth level, and sixth level. Sections should be consecutive, such that they do not skip levels from sections to sub-subsections; the exact methodology is part of the ] guideline.{{efn|1=For example, skipping heading levels, such as jumping from <code>== Heading&nbsp;2 ==</code> to <code>==== Heading&nbsp;4 ====</code> without <code>=== Heading&nbsp;3 ===</code> in the middle, violates ] as it reduces usability for users of screen readers who use heading levels to navigate pages.}} Between sections, there should be a {{em|single}} blank line: multiple blank lines in the edit window create too much white space in the article. There is no need to include a blank line between a heading and sub-heading. When changing or removing a heading, consider adding an ] with the original heading name to provide for ] and ]s (preferably using <code><nowiki>{{subst:anchor}}</nowiki></code> rather than using <code><nowiki>{{anchor}}</nowiki></code> directly—see ]).
Headings are located at the top of sections and subsections, which they delimit. Very short or very long sections and subsections in an article look cluttered and inhibit its flow. Headings help to make an article clearer, and they populate the table of contents that users can choose to view (the default) or not to view, under their "Preferences".


===Section order{{Anchor|Names and orders for section headings}}===
Headings are hierarchical: you should start with a second-level heading (two equals signs on each side: <code><nowiki>==Heading==</nowiki></code>). A subsection of a section should have a third-level subheading (<code><nowiki>===Subheading===</nowiki></code>), and a subsection of one of these subsections should have a fourth-level subheading (<code><nowiki>====Subsubheading====</nowiki></code>). Between sections, there should be only a single blank line; multiple blank lines in the edit window create too much white space in the article.
{{short|MOS:SNO}}
{{See also|Help:Section|WP:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Headings|WP:Manual of Style#Section headings|WP:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Section headings}}


Because of the diversity of subjects it covers, Misplaced Pages has no general standard or guideline regarding the order of section headings within the body of an article. The usual practice is to order body sections based on the precedent of similar articles. For exceptions, see ] below.
If the order in which sections should appear in a longer article is unclear, alphabetical or chronological order can be helpful. Alphabetical order is especially useful when sections are divided on the basis of criteria such as country or state.


===Section templates and summary style=== ===Section templates and summary style===
<!--Linked from ]-->
{{further|WP:SUMMARYHATNOTE|Misplaced Pages:Summary style#Templates}}


'''Main article.''' When a section is a ] of another article that provides a full exposition of the section, a link to that article should appear immediately under the section heading. You can use the {{tl|Main}} template to generate a ''Main article;'' link.<ref>Syntax: When a section is a ] of another article that provides a full exposition of the section, a link to the other article should appear immediately under the section heading. You can use the {{tlx|Main}} template to generate a "Main article" link, in Misplaced Pages's ] style.
<blockquote style="color: #000000; background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #8FBC8F; font-size:111%;">
&#123;&#123;main|Circumcision and law}}
</blockquote>


If one or more articles provide further information or additional details (rather than a full exposition, see above), links to such articles may be placed immediately after the section heading for that section, provided this does not duplicate a wikilink in the text. These additional links should be grouped along with the {{tnull|Main}} template (if there is one), or at the foot of the section that introduces the material for which these templates provide additional information. You can use one of the following templates to generate these links:
This produces:
* {{tlx|Further}}{{snd}} generates a "Further information" link
<blockquote style="background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #999999; font-size:111%;">{{main|Circumcision and law}}</blockquote></ref>
* {{tlx|See also}}{{snd}} generates a "See also" link


For example, to generate a "See also" link to the article on ], type {{tlx|See also|Misplaced Pages:How to edit a page}}, which will generate:
'''Other references under the section title.''' If one or more articles provide further information or additional details (rather than a full exposition—see above), references to such articles may be placed immediately after the section heading for that section, provided they are not wikilinked in the text. These additional references should be grouped along with the {{t1|Main}} template (if there is one), for easy selection by the reader, rather than being scattered throughout the text of a section. You can use one of the following templates to generate these links:
{{xt|{{See also|Misplaced Pages:How to edit a page}}}}

* {{tl|Details}} – this generates <i>For more details on this topic, see</i>
* {{tl|Further}} – this generates <i>Further information:</i>
* {{tl|See also}} – this generates <i>See also</i>


===Paragraphs=== ===Paragraphs===
{{shortcut|MOS:PARA|MOS:LINEBREAKS}}
{{redirect|MOS:LINEBREAKS|preventing line breaks|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style#Controlling line breaks}}
{{See also|WP:Writing better articles#Paragraphs|Help:Wikitext#Line breaks|WP:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Indentation}}


Sections usually consist of paragraphs of running ]. Bullet points should be minimized in the body of the article, if they are used at all; however, a bulleted list may be useful to break up what would otherwise be a large, grey mass of text, particularly if the topic requires significant effort on the part of readers. Bulleted lists are typical in the reference and reading sections at the bottom. Between paragraphs—as between sections—there should be only a single blank line; bullet points are not usually separated by a blank line. Sections usually consist of paragraphs of running prose, each dealing with a particular point or idea. Single-sentence paragraphs can inhibit the flow of the text; by the same token, long paragraphs become hard to read. Between paragraphs—as between sections—there should be only a {{em|single}} blank line. First lines are {{em|not}} indented.


] should not be used in the lead of an article. They may be used in the body to break up a mass of text, particularly if the topic requires significant effort to comprehend. Sometimes, it may be preferable to use bullet points instead of having a series of very short paragraphs. However, bulleted lists are typical in the reference, further reading, and external links sections towards the end of the article. Bullet points are usually not separated by blank lines, as that causes an accessibility issue (''see'' ] for ways to create multiple paragraphs within list items that do not cause this issue).
The number of single-sentence paragraphs should be minimized, since they can inhibit the flow of the text; by the same token, paragraphs that exceed a certain length become hard to read. Short paragraphs and single sentences generally do not warrant their own subheading; in such circumstances, it may be preferable to use bullet points. See also ].


==Standard appendices{{anchor|Standard appendices and descriptions}}==<!-- Please do not change. There are other articles that link to this title. --> ==Standard appendices and footers<span id="Standard appendices and descriptions"></span><span id="standard appendices"></span>==
{{shortcut|MOS:APPENDIX|MOS:FOOTERS}}
{{for|the list and order of common appendices and footers|#Order of article elements}}


===Headings===
{{shortcut|MOS:APPENDIX}}
When appendix sections are used, they should appear at the bottom of an article, with <code>==level 2 headings==</code>,{{efn|1=Syntax:

<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="color: #000000; background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #8FBC8F; font-size:111%;">
Certain optional standard sections, when used, should be placed at the bottom of an article. The plural form of the section name should be used.<ref>''See, e.g.,'' ].</ref> Common appendix sections are discussed below. These sections should all be level 2 headings so that they appear as sections rather than subsections in the table of contents.<ref>Syntax:
==See also==
<blockquote style="color: #000000; background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #8FBC8F; font-size:111%;">
* ]
&#61;&#61; See also==<br />
&#42; &#91;&#91;Misplaced Pages:How to edit a page]]<br /> * ]
</syntaxhighlight>
&#42; &#91;&#91;Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style]]<br />
</blockquote>


Which produces: Which produces:
<blockquote style="background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #999999; font-size:111%;"> <blockquote style="background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #999999; font-size:111%;">
<h2>See also</h2> {{fake heading|See also}}

* ] * ]
* ] * ]
</blockquote>}} followed by the various footers. When it is useful to sub-divide these sections (for example, to separate a list of magazine articles from a list of books), this should be done using level 3 headings (<code>===Books===</code>) instead of ] (<code>;Books</code>), as explained in the ].


===Works or publications<span id="works"></span><span id="Works or Publications or Bibliography"></span>===
</blockquote></ref>
{{shortcut|MOS:LAYOUTWORKS|MOS:BIB}}
{{further|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Lists of works}}


'''Contents:''' A bulleted list, usually ordered chronologically, of the works created by the subject of the article.
When used, appendix sections containing the following information appear after the body of the article in the following order:<ref name="sequence">This sequence has been in place since at least 2003 (when "See also" was called "Related topics"). ''See, e.g.,'' http://en.wikipedia.org/search/?title=Misplaced Pages:Layout&oldid=2166480 ''See also'' ]. The rationale is that, with the exception of ''Works,'' sections which contain material outside Misplaced Pages (including ''Further reading'' and ''External links'') should come after sections that contain Misplaced Pages material (including ''See also'') to help keep the distinction clear. The sections containing notes and references often contain both kinds of material and, consequently, appear after the ''See also'' section (if any) and before the ''Further reading'' section (if any). </ref>


'''Heading names:''' Many different headings are used, depending on the subject matter. "Works" is preferred when the list includes items that are not written publications (e.g. music, films, paintings, choreography, or architectural designs), or if multiple types of works are included. "Publications", "Discography" or "Filmography" are occasionally used where appropriate; however, "Bibliography" is discouraged because it is not clear whether it is limited to the works of the subject of the article.<ref>]</ref>{{efn|1= of "Bibliography" and "Selected bibliography"}} "Works" or "Publications" should be plural, even if it lists only a single item.{{efn|name=pluralHeading|For further information, see ].}}
# a list of books or other works created by the subject of the article (]),
# a list of internal "]" to related Misplaced Pages articles (]),<br>
# notes and references (]),<br>
# a list of recommended relevant books, articles, or other publications that have not been used as sources (]), and<br>
# a list of recommended relevant websites that have not been used as sources (]).


==="See also" section<span id="See also section"></span>===
With some exceptions, any ] appear in the external links section. ] go at the end of the article, following the last appendix section, but preceding the category and interwiki templates.
{{shortcut|MOS:SEEALSO|MOS:ALSO}}
{{for|the placement of "see also" notes at the top of an article|WP:RELATED}}
{{see also|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Lists#Related topics (navigational lists)}}
A "See also" section is a useful way to organize ] to related or comparable articles and ]. However, the section itself is not required; many high-quality and comprehensive articles do not have one.


The section should be a bulleted list, sorted either logically (for example, by subject matter), chronologically, or alphabetically. Consider using {{tlx|Columns-list}} or {{tlx|Div col}} if the list is lengthy.
===Works===


'''Contents:''' Links in this section should be relevant and limited to a reasonable number. Whether a link belongs in the "See also" section is ultimately a matter of editorial judgment and ]. One purpose of "See also" links is to enable readers to explore tangentially related topics; however, articles linked should be related to the topic of the article or be in the same defining category. For example, the article on ] might include a link to ] because it is related to the subject but not otherwise linked in the article. The article on ] might include ] as another example of Mexican cuisine.
'''Contents:''' The "Works" or "Publications" section provides a list of books or other works created by the subject of the article. "Works" is preferred when the works listed include one or more items that are not written publications (e.g., music, films, paintings, choreography, or architectural designs). "Bibliography" is occasionally used if the list of works contains only ]s.


{{shortcut|MOS:NOTSEEALSO|MOS:NOTSEEAGAIN}}
'''Location:''' Usually precedes the other optional appendices.<ref name="sequence"/>


{{anchor|NOTSEEALSO}}The "See also" section should {{em|not}} include ], links to ] (unless used in a disambiguation page for ]), or ] (including links to pages within ]). As a general rule, the "See also" section should {{em|not}} repeat links that appear in the article's body.<ref>The community has rejected past proposals to do away with this guidance. See, for example, ].</ref>
'''Format:''' A list, usually ordered chronologically, as explained in more detail at ].


Editors should provide a brief annotation when a link's relevance is not immediately apparent, when the meaning of the term may not be generally known, or when the term is ambiguous. For example:
==="See also" section===
:* ]{{snd}}made a similar achievement on April 4, 2005
{{shortcut|WP:ALSO|WP:SEEALSO}}
:* ]{{snd}}restriction in blood supply


If the linked article has a ] then you can use {{tl|annotated link}} to automatically generate an annotation. For example, {{tlx|annotated link|Winston Churchill}} will produce:
'''Contents:''' The "See also" (less commonly "Related topics") section provides internal links to related Misplaced Pages articles. "See also" is the most appropriate place to link a ] with the {{tl|portal}} template.
:* {{annotated link|Winston Churchill}}


'''Other internal links:''' {{tlx|Portal}} links are usually placed in this section. As an alternative, {{tlx|Portal bar}} may be placed with the end matter navigation templates. See relevant template documentation for correct placement.
A reasonable number of relevant links that would be in the body of a hypothetical "perfect article" are suitable to add to the "See also" appendix of a less developed one. Links already included in the body of the text are generally not repeated in "See also", and navigation boxes at bottom of articles may substitute for many links (see bottom of ] for example. However, whether a link belongs in the "See also" section is ultimately a matter of editorial judgment and common sense. Still, if the subject fits to be integrated into somewhere in the article rather than into a list at the end of it, it is preferred. Indeed, a "perfect" article then might not require a "See also" section at all, though some links may not naturally fit into the body of text and others may not be included due to size constraints. Links that would be included if the article were not kept relatively short for other reasons may thus be appropriate, though should be used in moderation, as always. These may be useful for readers looking to read as much about a topic as possible, including subjects only peripherally related to the one in question. The "See also" section should '''not''' link to ].


'''Heading name:''' The standardized name for this section is "See also".
'''Location:''' The "See also" section, if used, follows the "Works" section, if used.<ref name="sequence"/>


===Notes and references<span id="Notes"></span><span id="References"></span><span id="Notes or references"></span>===
'''Format:''' The links should appear in a bulleted list. It is helpful to alphabetize the links if there are more than a few of them.
{{shortcut|MOS:FNNR|MOS:NOTES|MOS:REFERENCES}}
{{hatnote|For how to generate and format these sections, see ], ], and ] (particularly {{slink|Misplaced Pages:Citing sources|How to create the list of citations|nopage=yes}}).}}
{{Redirect|MOS:NOTES|hatnotes|Misplaced Pages:Hatnotes|Musical notes|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Music#Images and notation}}
{{See also|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Citations}}
]


'''Contents:''' This section, or series of sections, may contain any or all of the following:
A brief explanatory sentence may sometimes be necessary:
* When the relevance of the added links is not immediately apparent. For example:
:* ], made a similar achievement on April 4, 2005
* When the meaning of term may not be generally known by common people. For example, as from an article about heart disease:
:*], restriction in blood supply
:*], high blood pressure


# ] that give information which is too detailed or awkward to be in the body of the article
===Notes or References{{anchors|Notes|References}}===
# ] (either short citations or full citations) that connect specific material in the article with specific sources
# Full citations to sources, if ] are used in the footnotes
# ] (full bibliographic citations to sources that were consulted in writing the article but that are not explicitly connected to any specific material in the article)


], but it should be consistent within an article.
]


If there are both citation footnotes and explanatory footnotes, then they may be combined in a single section, or separated using the ] function. General references and other full citations may similarly be either combined or separated (e.g. "References" and "General references"). There may therefore be one, two, three or four sections in all.
'''Contents:''' This section, or group of sections, presents: (1) a list of the references that verify the information in the article, and (2) explanatory notes that provide prudent exposition that would be awkward in the prose.


It is most common for only citation footnotes to be used, and therefore it is most common for only one section ("References") to be needed. Usually, if the sections are separated, then explanatory footnotes are listed first, short citations or other footnoted citations are next, and any full citations or general references are listed last.
'''Location:''' The notes and references appear after the ''See also'' section (if any) and before the ''Further reading'' and ''External links'' sections (if any).<ref name="sequence"/>


'''Heading names:''' Editors may use any reasonable section and subsection names that they choose.{{efn|One reason this guideline does not standardize section headings for citations and explanatory notes is that Misplaced Pages draws editors from many disciplines (history, English, science, etc.), each with its own note and reference section-naming convention (or conventions). For more, see ], ], and ].}} The most frequent choice is "References". Other options, in diminishing order of popularity, are "Notes", "Footnotes" or "Works cited", although these are more often used to distinguish between multiple end-matter sections or subsections.
'''Format:''' It may take the name or names of "Notes", "Footnotes", "References", "Sources", "Citations", "Bibliography", and "Works cited"—although "Sources" has been deprecated (but not prohibited) because it may be confused with ] in computer related articles, "Citations" may be confused with official awards or a summons to court, and "Bibliography" may be confused with being a list of printed works by the author in the case of a biography. The method depends on the citation style used, which is deferred to ]. The section title "References" is the most popular, followed by "Notes", and then "Footnotes". It is inappropriate to change an article from one defined style to another unless there is a reason that goes beyond mere choice of style.<ref>], ], and ]</ref>


Several alternate titles ("Sources", "Citations", "Bibliography") may also be used, although each is questionable in some contexts: "Sources" may be confused with ] in computer-related articles, product purchase locations, river origins, ], etc.; "Citations" may be confused with official awards, or a summons to court; "Bibliography" may be confused with the complete list of printed works by the subject of a biography ("Works" or "Publications").
===Further reading===<!-- Please note that "Bibliography" is an alternate title for the works section and is also used as a title in some articles' notes and references sections. Accordingly, it is not suggested as a title here. -->


If multiple sections are wanted, then some possibilities include:
{{shortcut|WP:FURTHER|WP:FURTHERREADING}}
* For a list of explanatory footnotes or shortened citation footnotes: "Notes", "Endnotes" or "Footnotes"
* For a list of full citations or general references: "References" or "Works cited"


With the exception of "Bibliography", the heading should be plural even if it lists only a single item.{{efn|name=pluralHeading}}
'''Contents:''' A list of recommended books, articles, or other publications that have not been used as sources and may provide useful background or further information.


===Further reading===
This section does not include publications that were used as ] in writing this article; these should be ]. Websites and online publications are normally listed in the "External links" section instead of in this section, although editors occasionally prefer to merge very short lists of publications and external links into this section. To avoid unnecessary duplication of information, publications listed in any other section of the article should not be included in "Further reading".
<!-- Please note that "Bibliography" is an alternate title for the works section and is also used as a title in some articles' notes and references sections. Accordingly, it is not suggested as a title here. -->
{{shortcut|MOS:FURTHER}}
{{See also|Misplaced Pages:Further reading}}


'''Contents:''' An optional bulleted list, usually alphabetized, of a reasonable number of publications that would help interested readers learn more about the article subject. Editors may include brief annotations. Publications listed in ] are formatted in the same ] used by the rest of the article. The Further reading section should not duplicate the content of the External links section, and should normally not duplicate the content of the References section, unless the References section is too long for a reader to use as part of a general reading list. This section is not intended as a repository for ] or full citations that were used to create the article content. Any links to external websites included under "Further reading" are subject to the guidelines described at ].
'''Location:''' This section is placed after the ''References'' section and before the ''External links'' section (if any).<ref name="sequence"/>

'''Format:''' This is a bulleted ], usually alphabetized, as explained in more detail at ]. Publications listed in this section are cited in the same ] used by the rest of the article.


===External links=== ===External links===
{{shortcut|MOS:LAYOUTEL|MOS:ELLAYOUT}}
{{main|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Linking#External links section|Misplaced Pages:External links}}


'''Contents:''' A bulleted list of recommended ], each accompanied by a short description. These hyperlinks should not appear in the article's body text, nor should links used as references normally be duplicated in this section. "External links" should be plural, even if it lists only a single item.{{efn| name=pluralHeading}} Depending on the nature of the link contents, this section may be accompanied or replaced by a ] section.
]


====Links to sister projects====
{{main|Misplaced Pages:External links}}
{{main article|Misplaced Pages:Wikimedia sister projects}}


Links to ] and {{tlx|Spoken Misplaced Pages}} should generally appear in "External links", not under "See also". If the article has no "External links" section, then place the sister link(s) in a new "External links" section using inline templates. If there is more than one sister link, a combination of box-type and "inline" templates can be used, as long as the section contains ''at least one'' "inline" template.
'''Contents:''' A list of recommended relevant websites that have not been used as sources. Unlike wikilinks, which are often used within the article's text, external links are normally limited to the "External links" section. Links to external websites used as sources should be listed in the "References" or "Notes" section. External links may be listed in the section "Further reading", instead of having a separate section specifically for external links.


{{commonscat|Misplaced Pages logos}}
'''Location:''' If there is an External links section, it should be last.<ref name="sequence"/> There are a number of reasons for this, including: So many articles have the ''External links'' section at the end that many people expect that. Some ''External links'' and references sections are very long, and when the name of the section is not visible on the screen, it could cause problems if someone meant to delete an external link, and deleted a reference instead. Keeping the ''External links'' last is also helpful to editors who patrol external links.
* Box-type templates (such as {{tlx|Commons category}}, shown at right) have to be put at the beginning of the "External links" section of the article so that boxes will appear next to, rather than below, the list items. (Do {{em|not}} make a section whose sole content is box-type templates.)
* "Inline" templates are used when box-type templates are not good, either because they result in a long sequence of right-aligned boxes hanging off the bottom of the article, or because there are no external links except sister project ones. "Inline" templates, such as {{tlx|Commons category-inline}}, create links to sister projects that appear as list items, like this:
** {{commons category-inline|Wikimedia Foundation}}
If an external link is added and/or exists in the "External links" section, the "inline" templates linking to sister projects can be replaced with their respective box-type templates.


===Navigation templates===
'''Format:''' External links should be arranged in a bulleted list, with a short description of the link and no blank lines between items. By convention, if the article is about a company or organization, then its official website is the first link in the list.
{{shortcut|MOS:LAYOUTNAV|MOS:NAVLAYOUT}}
{{main article|Misplaced Pages:Categories, lists, and navigation templates#Navigation templates}}


An article may end with ] and footer navboxes, such as ] and geography boxes (for example, {{tlx|Geographic location}}). Most navboxes do not appear in printed versions of Misplaced Pages articles.{{efn|The ] for not printing navigation boxes is that these templates mostly consist of ]s that are of no use to print readers. There are two problems with this rationale: first, other wikilink content does print, for example ] and ]; second, some navigation boxes contain useful information regarding the relationship of the article to the subjects of related articles.<!--This claim should be reviewed periodically; e.g., most hatnotes have been moved to Lua module code which auto-applies the "unprintworthy" class unless told not to, and succession and other navigation boxes may have class="unprintworthy" or equivalent applied to them.-->}}
====Links to other Wikimedia projects====


:{{xref|For navigation templates in the lead, see {{slink|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Lead section |Sidebars}}.}}
Links to ] other than ] and ], including ], ], ], ], ] and ], should appear as part of the ''External links'' section (create the section if needed). The appropriateness of these and other external links is discussed at ]. Links to media on Commons that do not mention "Commons" are fine (<nowiki>]</nowiki> will link to Commons if the image is on Commons). Links to ] (in the format <nowiki>]</nowiki>) may be used outside of ''External links'' when a definition is needed for clarity and when there is no Misplaced Pages article which would serve the purpose just as well. See also ] and the policy that ].


==Specialized layout==
External links can be in the form " at ]", {{tl|wikibooks}}, or {{tl|wikibooks-inline}}. See ] to check whether an inline template exists.
] and ] have their own layout designs.


Certain topics have Manual of Style pages that provide layout advice, including:
===Navigational footers, categories, interlanguage links etc.===
* ]
{{shortcut|WP:FOOTERS}}
* ]
Various navigational aids go at the end of the article, following the last appendix section. The conventional order is:
* ], for articles on treatments, procedures, medical products, fields of medicine, and other concepts
* ]
* ]


Some WikiProjects have ] that include layout recommendations. You can find those pages at ].
* ] and ] (footer navboxes)
* ]
* ]s. It is usually desirable to leave two blank lines between the first stub template and whatever precedes it.
* ]


==Formatting== ==Formatting==

===Images=== ===Images===
{{shortcut|MOS:LAYIM}}
{{main|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style#Images}}
{{main article|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Images}}


Each image should ideally be located in the section to which it is most relevant, and most should carry an explanatory ]. An image that would otherwise overwhelm the text space available within a ] should generally be formatted as described in relevant formatting guidelines (e.g. ], ], {{Section link|Help:Pictures#Panoramas}}). Try to harmonize the sizes of images on a given page in order to maintain visual coherence.
You should always be watchful not to overwhelm an article with images by adding more just because you can. Unless clearly better or more appropriate images are available, the existing images in the article should be left in place.


If "stacked" images in one section spill over into the next section at 1024×768 screen resolution, there may be too many images in that section. If an article overall has so many images that they lengthen the page beyond the length of the text itself, you can use a ]; or you can create a page or category combining all of them at ] and use a relevant template ({{tl|Commons}}, {{tl|Commons category}}, {{tl|Commons-inline}} or {{tl|Commons category-inline}}) to link to it instead, so that further images are readily available when the article is expanded. See {{section link|Misplaced Pages:Image use policy|Image galleries}} for further information on galleries.
Images should ideally be spread evenly within the article, and relevant to the sections they are located in. All images should also have an explicative ]. An image should not overwhelm the screen; 300px may be considered a limit, as this is approximately half Misplaced Pages's text space's width on a ]. It is a good idea to try to maintain visual coherence by aligning the width of images and templates on a given page.


Use {{para|upright|{{var|scaling factor}}}} to adjust the size of images; for example, {{para|upright|1.3}} displays an image 30% larger than the default, and {{para|upright|0.60}} displays it 40% smaller. Lead images should usually be no larger than {{para|upright|1.35}}.
When placing images, be careful not to stack too many of them within the lead, or within a single section to ] in some browsers. Generally, if there are so many images in a section that they strip down into the next section at 1024x768 screen resolution, that probably means either that the section is too short, or that there are too many images.


Avoid article text referring to images as being to the left, right, above or below, because image placement varies with platform (especially mobile platforms) and screen size, and is meaningless to people using screen readers; instead, use captions to identify images.
If an article has many images, so many, in fact, that they lengthen the page beyond the length of the text itself (this also applies if a template like {{tl|taxobox}} or {{tl|Judaism}} is already stretching the page), you can use a ], but another solution might be to create a page or category combining all of them at ] and use a relevant template ({{tl|commons}}, {{tl|commonscat}}, {{tl|commons-inline}} or {{tl|commonscat-inline}}) and link to it instead, so that further images are readily found and available when the article is expanded. Please see ] for further information on the use of galleries.


===Horizontal rule<span id="Horizontal dividing line"></span>===
===Links===
{{shortcut|MOS:HR|MOS:----}}
{{main|Misplaced Pages:Only make links that are relevant to the context|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style#Internal links}}
] are sometimes used in some special circumstances, such as inside {{tl|sidebar}} template derivatives, but not in regular article prose.


===Collapsible content===
As part of Wikifying articles, two square brackets should be placed around important words or phrases relevant to the context of the first occurrence within a h2 section; if the phrase or word does not match the name of the article, you may place the exact name of the article following by a pipe "<code>|</code>" (shift forward slash, <code>\</code>) followed by the phrase you wish to see in the context of the article you are editing. This creates a hyperlink linking to other Misplaced Pages articles:
As explained at ], limit the use of {{tl|Collapse top}}/{{tl|Collapse bottom}} and similar templates in articles. That said, they can be ].
<blockquote style="color:#999999; background:#FFFFFF; padding:1em; border:1px solid #8FBC8F">
Lennie and George came to a ranch near <span style="color:#000000;">''']'''</span> southeast of <span style="color:#000000;">''']'''</span> to "work up a stake".
</blockquote>

Below is how it would look like after it has been saved:
<blockquote style="background:white; padding:1em; border:1px solid #999999;">
Lennie and George came to a ranch near ] southeast of ] to "work up a stake".
</blockquote>

===Horizontal rule{{anchor|Horizontal dividing line}}===

The use of horizontal rules (<code>----</code>) in articles is ]. They were once used to separate multiple meanings of a single article name. However this is now done with ].

They are occasionally used to provide separation inside some templates (e.g. {{tl|politbox}} derivatives), within some discussions, or when needed in some format specialties.


==See also== ==See also==

* ]
* ]
* ] * ]
* ] shows how to use headings on talk pages * ]&nbsp;– shows how to use headings on talk pages


==Footnotes== ==Notes==
{{Notelist}}


==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


{{Writing guides|state=expanded}}

{{Writing guides}}
{{Style wide}} {{Style wide}}
{{Misplaced Pages policies and guidelines}}


] ]
] ]
]

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Latest revision as of 04:43, 5 January 2025

Style guide which presents the typical layout of Misplaced Pages articles This page is about the layout of Misplaced Pages articles. For the layout of Misplaced Pages talk pages, see Misplaced Pages:Talk page layout.

This guideline is a part of the English Misplaced Pages's Manual of Style.
It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.		Shortcuts
Manual of Style (MoS)

Content
Formatting
Images
Layout
Lists
By topic area
Legal
Arts
Music
History
Regional
Religion
Science
Sports
Related guidelines
An article with a table of contents block and an image near the start, then several sections
Sample article layout (click on image for larger view)

This guide presents the typical layout of Misplaced Pages articles, including the sections an article usually has, ordering of sections, and formatting styles for various elements of an article. For advice on the use of wiki markup, see Help:Editing; for guidance on writing style, see Manual of Style.

Order of article elements

Shortcuts See also: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style § Section headings

A simple article should have, at least, (a) a lead section and (b) references. The following list includes additional standardized sections in an article. A complete article need not have all, or even most, of these elements.

  1. Before the article content
    1. Short description
    2. {{DISPLAYTITLE}}, {{Lowercase title}}, {{Italic title}} (some of these may also be placed before the infobox or after the infobox)
    3. Hatnotes
    4. {{Featured list}}, {{Featured article}} and {{Good article}} (where appropriate for article status)
    5. Deletion / protection tags (CSD, PROD, AFD, PP notices)
    6. Maintenance, cleanup, and dispute tags
    7. Templates relating to English variety and date format
    8. Infoboxes
    9. Language maintenance templates
    10. Images
    11. Navigation header templates (sidebar templates)
  2. Article content
    1. Lead section (also called the introduction)
    2. Table of contents
    3. Body (see below for specialized layout)
  3. Appendices
    1. Works or publications (for biographies only)
    2. See also
    3. Notes and references (this can be two sections in some citation systems)
    4. Further reading
    5. External links
  4. End matter
    1. Succession boxes and geography boxes
    2. Other navigation footer templates (navboxes)
    3. {{Portal bar}} (or {{Subject bar}})
    4. {{Taxonbar}}
    5. Authority control templates
    6. Geographical coordinates (if not in the infobox) or {{coord missing}}
    7. Defaultsort
    8. Categories
    9. {{Improve categories}} or {{Uncategorized}} (These can alternatively be placed with other maintenance templates before the article content)
    10. Stub templates (follow WP:STUBSPACING)

Body sections

Shortcut Further information: Help:Section and Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style § Article titles, headings, and sections

Articles longer than a stub are generally divided into sections, and sections over a certain length are generally divided into paragraphs: these divisions enhance the readability of the article. Recommended names and orders of section headings may vary by subject matter, although articles should still follow good organizational and writing principles regarding sections and paragraphs.

Headings and sections

Shortcut Further information: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style § Section headings
The same article, with the central left highlighted: it contains just text in sections.
Body sections appear after the lead and table of contents (click on image for larger view).

Headings introduce sections and subsections, clarify articles by breaking up text, organize content, and populate the table of contents. Very short sections and subsections clutter an article with headings and inhibit the flow of the prose. Short paragraphs and single sentences generally do not warrant their own subheadings.

Headings follow a six-level hierarchy, starting at 1 and ending at 6. The level of the heading is defined by the number of equals signs on each side of the title. Heading 1 (= Heading 1 =) is automatically generated as the title of the article, and is never appropriate within the body of an article. Sections start at the second level (== Heading 2 ==), with subsections at the third level (=== Heading 3 ===), and additional levels of subsections at the fourth level (==== Heading 4 ====), fifth level, and sixth level. Sections should be consecutive, such that they do not skip levels from sections to sub-subsections; the exact methodology is part of the Accessibility guideline. Between sections, there should be a single blank line: multiple blank lines in the edit window create too much white space in the article. There is no need to include a blank line between a heading and sub-heading. When changing or removing a heading, consider adding an anchor template with the original heading name to provide for incoming external links and wikilinks (preferably using {{subst:anchor}} rather than using {{anchor}} directly—see MOS:RENAMESECTION).

Section order

Shortcut See also: Help:Section, WP:Manual of Style/Accessibility § Headings, WP:Manual of Style § Section headings, and WP:Manual of Style/Capital letters § Section headings

Because of the diversity of subjects it covers, Misplaced Pages has no general standard or guideline regarding the order of section headings within the body of an article. The usual practice is to order body sections based on the precedent of similar articles. For exceptions, see Specialized layout below.

Section templates and summary style

Further information: WP:SUMMARYHATNOTE and Misplaced Pages:Summary style § Templates

When a section is a summary of another article that provides a full exposition of the section, a link to the other article should appear immediately under the section heading. You can use the {{Main}} template to generate a "Main article" link, in Misplaced Pages's "hatnote" style.

If one or more articles provide further information or additional details (rather than a full exposition, see above), links to such articles may be placed immediately after the section heading for that section, provided this does not duplicate a wikilink in the text. These additional links should be grouped along with the {{Main}} template (if there is one), or at the foot of the section that introduces the material for which these templates provide additional information. You can use one of the following templates to generate these links:

  • {{Further}} – generates a "Further information" link
  • {{See also}} – generates a "See also" link

For example, to generate a "See also" link to the article on Misplaced Pages:How to edit a page, type {{See also|Misplaced Pages:How to edit a page}}, which will generate:

See also: Misplaced Pages:How to edit a page

Paragraphs

Shortcuts "MOS:LINEBREAKS" redirects here. For preventing line breaks, see Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style § Controlling line breaks. See also: WP:Writing better articles § Paragraphs, Help:Wikitext § Line breaks, and WP:Manual of Style/Accessibility § Indentation

Sections usually consist of paragraphs of running prose, each dealing with a particular point or idea. Single-sentence paragraphs can inhibit the flow of the text; by the same token, long paragraphs become hard to read. Between paragraphs—as between sections—there should be only a single blank line. First lines are not indented.

Bullet points should not be used in the lead of an article. They may be used in the body to break up a mass of text, particularly if the topic requires significant effort to comprehend. Sometimes, it may be preferable to use bullet points instead of having a series of very short paragraphs. However, bulleted lists are typical in the reference, further reading, and external links sections towards the end of the article. Bullet points are usually not separated by blank lines, as that causes an accessibility issue (see MOS:LISTGAP for ways to create multiple paragraphs within list items that do not cause this issue).

Standard appendices and footers

Shortcuts For the list and order of common appendices and footers, see § Order of article elements.

Headings

When appendix sections are used, they should appear at the bottom of an article, with ==level 2 headings==, followed by the various footers. When it is useful to sub-divide these sections (for example, to separate a list of magazine articles from a list of books), this should be done using level 3 headings (===Books===) instead of definition list headings (;Books), as explained in the accessibility guidelines.

Works or publications

Shortcuts Further information: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Lists of works

Contents: A bulleted list, usually ordered chronologically, of the works created by the subject of the article.

Heading names: Many different headings are used, depending on the subject matter. "Works" is preferred when the list includes items that are not written publications (e.g. music, films, paintings, choreography, or architectural designs), or if multiple types of works are included. "Publications", "Discography" or "Filmography" are occasionally used where appropriate; however, "Bibliography" is discouraged because it is not clear whether it is limited to the works of the subject of the article. "Works" or "Publications" should be plural, even if it lists only a single item.

"See also" section

Shortcuts For the placement of "see also" notes at the top of an article, see WP:RELATED. See also: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Lists § Related topics (navigational lists)

A "See also" section is a useful way to organize internal links to related or comparable articles and build the web. However, the section itself is not required; many high-quality and comprehensive articles do not have one.

The section should be a bulleted list, sorted either logically (for example, by subject matter), chronologically, or alphabetically. Consider using {{Columns-list}} or {{Div col}} if the list is lengthy.

Contents: Links in this section should be relevant and limited to a reasonable number. Whether a link belongs in the "See also" section is ultimately a matter of editorial judgment and common sense. One purpose of "See also" links is to enable readers to explore tangentially related topics; however, articles linked should be related to the topic of the article or be in the same defining category. For example, the article on Jesus might include a link to List of people claimed to be Jesus because it is related to the subject but not otherwise linked in the article. The article on Tacos might include Fajita as another example of Mexican cuisine.

Shortcuts

The "See also" section should not include red links, links to disambiguation pages (unless used in a disambiguation page for further disambiguation), or external links (including links to pages within Wikimedia sister projects). As a general rule, the "See also" section should not repeat links that appear in the article's body.

Editors should provide a brief annotation when a link's relevance is not immediately apparent, when the meaning of the term may not be generally known, or when the term is ambiguous. For example:

  • Joe Shmoe – made a similar achievement on April 4, 2005
  • Ischemia – restriction in blood supply

If the linked article has a short description then you can use {{annotated link}} to automatically generate an annotation. For example, {{annotated link|Winston Churchill}} will produce:

Other internal links: {{Portal}} links are usually placed in this section. As an alternative, {{Portal bar}} may be placed with the end matter navigation templates. See relevant template documentation for correct placement.

Heading name: The standardized name for this section is "See also".

Notes and references

Shortcuts For how to generate and format these sections, see Help:Footnotes, Help:Shortened footnotes, and Misplaced Pages:Citing sources (particularly § How to create the list of citations). "MOS:NOTES" redirects here. For hatnotes, see Misplaced Pages:Hatnotes. For Musical notes, see Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Music § Images and notation. See also: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Text formatting § Citations
The same article, with a horizontal section near the bottom highlighted, containing a two-column and a one-column section.
Notes and References appear after See also (click on image for larger view).

Contents: This section, or series of sections, may contain any or all of the following:

  1. Explanatory footnotes that give information which is too detailed or awkward to be in the body of the article
  2. Citation footnotes (either short citations or full citations) that connect specific material in the article with specific sources
  3. Full citations to sources, if short citations are used in the footnotes
  4. General references (full bibliographic citations to sources that were consulted in writing the article but that are not explicitly connected to any specific material in the article)

Editors may use any citation method they choose, but it should be consistent within an article.

If there are both citation footnotes and explanatory footnotes, then they may be combined in a single section, or separated using the grouped footnotes function. General references and other full citations may similarly be either combined or separated (e.g. "References" and "General references"). There may therefore be one, two, three or four sections in all.

It is most common for only citation footnotes to be used, and therefore it is most common for only one section ("References") to be needed. Usually, if the sections are separated, then explanatory footnotes are listed first, short citations or other footnoted citations are next, and any full citations or general references are listed last.

Heading names: Editors may use any reasonable section and subsection names that they choose. The most frequent choice is "References". Other options, in diminishing order of popularity, are "Notes", "Footnotes" or "Works cited", although these are more often used to distinguish between multiple end-matter sections or subsections.

Several alternate titles ("Sources", "Citations", "Bibliography") may also be used, although each is questionable in some contexts: "Sources" may be confused with source code in computer-related articles, product purchase locations, river origins, journalism sourcing, etc.; "Citations" may be confused with official awards, or a summons to court; "Bibliography" may be confused with the complete list of printed works by the subject of a biography ("Works" or "Publications").

If multiple sections are wanted, then some possibilities include:

  • For a list of explanatory footnotes or shortened citation footnotes: "Notes", "Endnotes" or "Footnotes"
  • For a list of full citations or general references: "References" or "Works cited"

With the exception of "Bibliography", the heading should be plural even if it lists only a single item.

Further reading

Shortcut See also: Misplaced Pages:Further reading

Contents: An optional bulleted list, usually alphabetized, of a reasonable number of publications that would help interested readers learn more about the article subject. Editors may include brief annotations. Publications listed in further reading are formatted in the same citation style used by the rest of the article. The Further reading section should not duplicate the content of the External links section, and should normally not duplicate the content of the References section, unless the References section is too long for a reader to use as part of a general reading list. This section is not intended as a repository for general references or full citations that were used to create the article content. Any links to external websites included under "Further reading" are subject to the guidelines described at Misplaced Pages:External links.

External links

Shortcuts Main pages: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Linking § External links section, and Misplaced Pages:External links

Contents: A bulleted list of recommended relevant websites, each accompanied by a short description. These hyperlinks should not appear in the article's body text, nor should links used as references normally be duplicated in this section. "External links" should be plural, even if it lists only a single item. Depending on the nature of the link contents, this section may be accompanied or replaced by a "Further reading" section.

Links to sister projects

Main page: Misplaced Pages:Wikimedia sister projects

Links to Wikimedia sister projects and {{Spoken Misplaced Pages}} should generally appear in "External links", not under "See also". If the article has no "External links" section, then place the sister link(s) in a new "External links" section using inline templates. If there is more than one sister link, a combination of box-type and "inline" templates can be used, as long as the section contains at least one "inline" template.

  • Box-type templates (such as {{Commons category}}, shown at right) have to be put at the beginning of the "External links" section of the article so that boxes will appear next to, rather than below, the list items. (Do not make a section whose sole content is box-type templates.)
  • "Inline" templates are used when box-type templates are not good, either because they result in a long sequence of right-aligned boxes hanging off the bottom of the article, or because there are no external links except sister project ones. "Inline" templates, such as {{Commons category-inline}}, create links to sister projects that appear as list items, like this:

If an external link is added and/or exists in the "External links" section, the "inline" templates linking to sister projects can be replaced with their respective box-type templates.

Navigation templates

Shortcuts Main page: Misplaced Pages:Categories, lists, and navigation templates § Navigation templates

An article may end with Navigation templates and footer navboxes, such as succession boxes and geography boxes (for example, {{Geographic location}}). Most navboxes do not appear in printed versions of Misplaced Pages articles.

For navigation templates in the lead, see Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Lead section § Sidebars.

Specialized layout

Stand-alone lists and talk pages have their own layout designs.

Certain topics have Manual of Style pages that provide layout advice, including:

Some WikiProjects have advice pages that include layout recommendations. You can find those pages at Category:WikiProject style advice.

Formatting

Images

Shortcut Main page: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Images

Each image should ideally be located in the section to which it is most relevant, and most should carry an explanatory caption. An image that would otherwise overwhelm the text space available within a 1024×768 window should generally be formatted as described in relevant formatting guidelines (e.g. WP:IMAGESIZE, MOS:IMGSIZE, Help:Pictures § Panoramas). Try to harmonize the sizes of images on a given page in order to maintain visual coherence.

If "stacked" images in one section spill over into the next section at 1024×768 screen resolution, there may be too many images in that section. If an article overall has so many images that they lengthen the page beyond the length of the text itself, you can use a gallery; or you can create a page or category combining all of them at Wikimedia Commons and use a relevant template ({{Commons}}, {{Commons category}}, {{Commons-inline}} or {{Commons category-inline}}) to link to it instead, so that further images are readily available when the article is expanded. See Misplaced Pages:Image use policy § Image galleries for further information on galleries.

Use |upright=scaling factor to adjust the size of images; for example, |upright=1.3 displays an image 30% larger than the default, and |upright=0.60 displays it 40% smaller. Lead images should usually be no larger than |upright=1.35.

Avoid article text referring to images as being to the left, right, above or below, because image placement varies with platform (especially mobile platforms) and screen size, and is meaningless to people using screen readers; instead, use captions to identify images.

Horizontal rule

Shortcuts

Horizontal rules are sometimes used in some special circumstances, such as inside {{sidebar}} template derivatives, but not in regular article prose.

Collapsible content

As explained at MOS:COLLAPSE, limit the use of {{Collapse top}}/{{Collapse bottom}} and similar templates in articles. That said, they can be useful in talk pages.

See also

Notes

  1. These templates (see Category:Use English templates) can also be placed at the end of an article.
  2. It is important that hatnotes and maintenance/dispute tags appear on the first page of the article. On the mobile site, the first paragraph of the lead section is moved above the infobox for the sake of readability. Since the infobox is generally more than one page long, putting hatnotes, etc., after it will result in them being placed after the first page, making them less effective.
  3. The original rationale for the ordering of the appendices is that, with the exception of "Works", sections which contain material outside Misplaced Pages (including "Further reading" and "External links") should come after sections that contain Misplaced Pages material (including "See also") to help keep the distinction clear. The sections containing notes and references often contain both kinds of material and, consequently, appear after the "See also" section (if any) and before the "Further reading" section (if any). Whatever the merits of the original rationale, there is now the additional factor that readers have come to expect the appendices to appear in this order.
  4. There are several reasons why this section should appear as the last appendix section. So many articles have the "External links" section at the end that many people expect this to be the case. Some "External links" and "References" (or "Footnotes", etc.) sections are quite long and, when the name of the section is not visible on the screen, it could cause problems if someone meant to delete an external link but deleted a reference citation instead. Keeping the "External links" last is also helpful to editors who patrol external links.
  5. This template is primarily used when Template:Portal would cause formatting problems.
  6. While categories are entered on the editing page ahead of stub templates, they appear on the visual page in a separate box after the stub templates. One of the reasons this happens is that every stub template generates a stub category, and those stub categories appear after the "main" categories. Another is that certain bots and scripts are set up to expect the categories, stubs and interlanguage links to appear in that order, and will reposition them if they don't. Therefore, any manual attempt to change the order is futile unless the bots and scripts are also altered.
  7. For example, skipping heading levels, such as jumping from == Heading 2 == to ==== Heading 4 ==== without === Heading 3 === in the middle, violates Misplaced Pages:Accessibility as it reduces usability for users of screen readers who use heading levels to navigate pages.
  8. Syntax: 
    ==See also==
* ]
* ]

    Which produces:

    See also
  9. Find all examples of "Bibliography" and "Selected bibliography"
  10. ^ For further information, see Misplaced Pages:External links § External links section.
  11. One reason this guideline does not standardize section headings for citations and explanatory notes is that Misplaced Pages draws editors from many disciplines (history, English, science, etc.), each with its own note and reference section-naming convention (or conventions). For more, see Misplaced Pages:Perennial proposals § Changes to standard appendices, § Establish a house citation style, and Template:Cnote2/example.
  12. The rationale for not printing navigation boxes is that these templates mostly consist of wikilinks that are of no use to print readers. There are two problems with this rationale: first, other wikilink content does print, for example "See also" sections and succession boxes; second, some navigation boxes contain useful information regarding the relationship of the article to the subjects of related articles.

References

  1. Discussed in 2018 and 2019.
  2. Per the template documentation at Template:Italic title/doc § Location on page
  3. Per the RFC at Misplaced Pages talk:Manual of Style/Layout/Archive 14 § DISPLAYTITLE
  4. Per the template documentation at Template:DISPLAYTITLE § Instructions
  5. The matter was discussed in 2012, 2014, and 2015.
  6. This sequence has been in place since at least December 2003 (when "See also" was called "Related topics"). See, for example, Misplaced Pages:Perennial proposals § Changes to standard appendices.
  7. Rationale for placing navboxes at the end of the article.
  8. Rationale for discouraging the use of "Bibliography."
  9. The community has rejected past proposals to do away with this guidance. See, for example, this RfC.
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