Hatnotes are short notes placed at the top of a page or a section, in the way that a hat is placed on top of one's head. For an example, see the notes in italics immediately preceding the boxes above. The purpose of a hatnote is to help readers locate a different article if the one they are seeing is not the one they are looking for. Readers may have arrived at the article containing the hatnote because: * They were redirected. * They may be seeking an article that uses a more specific, disambiguated title. * They may be seeking an article with a similar name to, or that otherwise might be confused with, the article with the hatnote. Hatnotes provide links to the possibly sought article or to a disambiguation page.

Rules

The six basic rules of hatnotes are: # Link directly to other articles; do not pipe non-disambiguation links. With regard to linking to redirects, follow any applicable rules in the disambiguation guideline. For example, links to disambiguation pages should always end in "(disambiguation)". # Keep explanations to a minimum; explain vital information only, letting the lead section and body of the article clarify things for the reader. # Mention other topics and articles only if there is a reasonable possibility of a reader arriving at the article either by mistake or with another topic in mind. # However, if a notable topic X is commonly referred to as "Foo", but the article "Foo" is not about X, there be a hatnote linking to the article on X or linking to a disambiguation page that contains a link to the article on X. # Ideally, limit hatnotes to just one at the top of the page or section. Multiple hatnotes may be appropriate when they serve different purposes, such as disambiguating topics with similar names and explaining redirects. (In such cases, consider using .) # Refrain from having redlinks in your hatnotes. As opposed to having redlinks in the writing of the article, redlinks in hatnotes do not help and add to a large backlog. For more information about methods of disambiguating articles, see Wikipedia:Disambiguation.

Placement

Hatnotes are placed at the top of an article or section. When used at the top of an article, hatnotes are placed immediately following a short description template but strictly before any other content including protection icons or maintenance tags. For the specific order of placing hatnotes with respect to other article elements, see MOS:SECTIONORDER.

Text-based web browser A text-based web browser is a web browser that renders only the text of web pages, and ignores most graphic content. Under small bandwidth connections, usually, they render pages faster than graphical web browsers due to lowered bandwidth deman ...

s and

screen reader A screen reader is a form of assistive technology (AT) that renders text and image content as speech or braille output. Screen readers are essential to blindness, blind people, and are useful to visually impaired people, Illiteracy, illiterate, ...

s present the page sequentially. Placing hatnotes immediately after the title ensures that readers are promptly directed to related or alternative articles if they have arrived at the page unintentionally. This placement enhances navigation and improves the overall user experience.

Format

In most cases, hatnotes should be created using a standard hatnote template, as illustrated in below. This permits the form and structure of hatnotes to be changed uniformly across the encyclopedia as needed, and the templates to be excluded in print. Current style on the English Wikipedia is to italicize and to indent each note, without a bullet before the item. A horizontal dividing line should not be placed either under a note or after the final item in a list. Links to articles should follow the naming conventions for capitalization – typically sentence case, not all lower case. When determining the content of the hatnote, keep in mind that it forms part of the user interface rather than the article content. Two applicable

user interface design User interface (UI) design or user interface engineering is the design of user interfaces for machines and software, such as computers, home appliances, mobile devices, and other electronic devices, with the focus on maximizing usability and the ...

principles are clarity and conciseness. The hatnote should not overload the user with extraneous information, and the content should be imparted quickly and accurately. These design goals are conveyed succinctly in the principle ''less is more''.

Length and number

As hatnotes separate the reader from the content they are looking for, hatnotes should generally be as concise as possible. Long explanations are generally discouraged; the article's lead text, not the hatnote, should explain what the article is about. In almost all cases, the hatnote is intended only to direct readers to other articles in case they were actually looking for something they will not find in the article containing the hatnote. If a disambiguation page exists for a given term, then linking to it should be enough. For example, if the article is X then its hatnote will link to X (disambiguation); it should not have entries for other topics known as ''X'', like ''X'' (Grafton novel) or X (charge), because they are already listed in the disambiguation page. However, such an article may be linked from the disambiguation hatnote if it could be expected by a significant number of readers to be at the title in question: for instance,

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

is about the country, but many readers expect to find the article about the bird at that title; therefore, the hatnote there correctly reads : which renders There should be as few hatnotes as possible. One single hatnote, which can accommodate several links, is greatly preferable to two or more. Multiple hatnotes may however be appropriate when each serves a different purpose, such as disambiguating the title or distinguishing similar terms.The acceptability of multiple hatnotes was clarified in a 2016 discussion.

Summarize or not?

Some hatnote disambiguation templates include a brief summary of the present article's topic; others do not have a summary. For instance, in the article

Honey Honey is a sweet and viscous substance made by several species of bees, the best-known of which are honey bees. Honey is made and stored to nourish bee colonies. Bees produce honey by gathering and then refining the sugary secretions of pl ...

, one might use the template to produce: Alternatively, one might use to produce: Either of these two styles is acceptable. The choice of style in a given article is based on editors' preferences and on what is likely to be clearer and easier for the reader. (In this particular instance, most English speakers will know what honey is, and the second, more concise hatnote is preferable.) Where an article already has a hatnote in one of these styles, editors should not change it to the other style without good reason.

Examples of proper use

Two articles with similar titles

Dunwich () is a town in the county of
Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...
in
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, the remnant of what was once a prosperous seaport and centre of the wool trade during the early
middle ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
, with a natural harbour formed by the mouths of the River Blyth. ...

When two articles share the same title, except that one title is disambiguated and the other is not, and it is not appropriate to change the undisambiguated article's title , the undisambiguated article should include a hatnote with a link to the other article. It is not necessary to create a separate disambiguation page. The template may be used for this. In this case, the parameterization was .

Terms that can cause confusion with another topic

Perl is a family of high-level, general-purpose, interpreted,
dynamic programming language A dynamic programming language is a type of programming language that allows various operations to be determined and executed at runtime. This is different from the compilation phase. Key decisions about variables, method calls, or data types are ...
s. ...

or a related template can be used when there can be confusion with a similar term. They are typically used when readers have misspelled their desired title, and the error would be apparent by simply displaying the alternative term without further explanation. These hatnotes should only be used when the ambiguity exists for a significant portion of the readership. However, they are not suitable when the difference is not readily apparent without additional details. In those cases, use , or instead, as the differences in the suggested article are explained upfront without requiring the reader to click through and differentiate the terms on their own.

Linking to a disambiguation page

A monolith is a
monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...
or natural feature, such as a
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited summit area, and is usually higher t ...
, consisting of a single massive
stone In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
or rock.
Erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as Surface runoff, water flow or wind) that removes soil, Rock (geology), rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust#Crust, Earth's crust and then sediment transport, tran ...
usually exposes these formations. ...

When a term has a primary meaning and two or more additional meanings, the hatnote on the primary topic page should link to a disambiguation page. may be used for this. In many cases, the hatnote also includes a brief description of the subject of the present article, for readers' convenience:

In
Greek mythology Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the Ancient Greece, ancient Greeks, and a genre of ancient Greek folklore, today absorbed alongside Roman mythology into the broader designation of classical mythology. These stories conc ...
, the Labyrinth was an elaborate
maze A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lead ...
-like structure constructed for King
Minos Main injector neutrino oscillation search (MINOS) was a particle physics experiment designed to study the phenomena of neutrino oscillations, first discovered by a Super-Kamiokande (Super-K) experiment in 1998. Neutrinos produced by the NuMI ...
of
Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...
and designed by the legendary artificer
Daedalus In Greek mythology, Daedalus (, ; Greek language, Greek: Δαίδαλος; Latin language, Latin: ''Daedalus''; Etruscan language, Etruscan: ''Taitale'') was a skillful architect and craftsman, seen as a symbol of wisdom, knowledge and power. H ...
to hold the
Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...
. ...

The template may be used for this. In this case the parameterization was .

Ambiguous term that redirects to an unambiguously named article

, or a related template, can be used when an ambiguous title is redirected to an unambiguous title or a primary topic article:

Johann Sebastian Bach ----
(Redirected from )
Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ...

Hatnotes above maintenance tags

Always place a hatnote above maintenance tags, but below short description templates. See above for specific details regarding the placement of hatnotes.

''The Giver'' is a 1993 American young-adult
dystopian novel Utopian and dystopian fiction are subgenres of speculative fiction that explore extreme forms of social and political structures. Utopian fiction portrays a setting that agrees with the author's ethos, having various attributes of another reality ...
by
Lois Lowry Lois Ann Lowry (; née Hammersberg; born March 20, 1937) is an American writer. She is the author of many books for children and young adults, including '' The Giver Quartet'', '' Number the Stars'', the Anastasia series, and '' Rabble Starkey''. ...
. It is set in a society which at first appears as
utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', which describes a fictional island soci ...
, but is later revealed to be a
dystopian A dystopia (lit. "bad place") is an imagined world or society in which people lead wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives. It is an imagined place (possibly state) in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmenta ...
one as the story progresses. The novel follows a boy named Jonas. ...

Hatnotes with italics in the links

''Caprona agama'', the spotted angle, is a
butterfly Butterflies are winged insects from the lepidopteran superfamily Papilionoidea, characterized by large, often brightly coloured wings that often fold together when at rest, and a conspicuous, fluttering flight. The oldest butterfly fossi ...
belonging to the family
Hesperiidae Skippers are a group of butterflies placed in the family Hesperiidae within the order Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies). They were previously placed in a separate superfamily, Hesperioidea, but have since been placed in the superfamily Papilion ...
. ...

Words or phrases that are italicized within a normal sentence should be unitalicized within a hatnote. Since all words in a hatnote are italicized, the specific text will not stand out if the italics are not disabled. Italics are cancelled by the parameterization: Many hatnote templates found below section headers, such as , , , and others have label parameters to customize the italicization of the output text: In this instance, the rendered term will stand out unitalicized.

Examples of improper use

Below are some examples of improper usages of hatnotes.

Trivial information, dictionary definitions, and slang

When notes feature a trivial detail or use of a term, or links to overly specific and tendentious material, they are unwarranted. A previous version of the article

Investment Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

showed:

Investment is a term with several closely related meanings in
finance Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and Academic discipline, discipline of money, currency, assets and Liability (financial accounting), liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business administration, Business Admin ...
and
economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...
. It refers to the accumulation of some kind of
asset In financial accounting, an asset is any resource owned or controlled by a business or an economic entity. It is anything (tangible or intangible) that can be used to produce positive economic value. Assets represent value of ownership that can b ...
in hopes of getting a future
return Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or t ...
from it. ...

In this case, there is no direct disambiguation, and the note listed is bound to be uninteresting to most readers. The proper disambiguation simply links to a separate Invest (disambiguation) page.

Legitimate information about the topic

A previous version of the

Aisha Aisha bint Abi Bakr () was a seventh century Arab commander, politician, Muhaddith, muhadditha and the third and youngest wife of the Prophets and messengers in Islam, Islamic prophet Muhammad. Aisha had an important role in early Islamic h ...

article showed:

Aisha or Ayesha (
Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...
= 'she who lives') was a wife of the
Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
ic
prophet In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divinity, divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings ...

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...
. ...

This is an improper use of disambiguating hatnotes. Instead, the information belongs in the body of the article, or in the article about the book, or in a separate article about names, or all three places. Hatnotes are meant to reduce confusion and direct readers to another article they might have been looking for, not for information about the subject of the article itself.

Linking to articles that are related to the topic

Disambiguation hatnotes are intended to link to separate topics that could be referred to by the same title, of the article or any of its redirects. They are not intended to link to topics that are simply related to each other, or to a specific aspect of a general topic:

Extraterrestrial life is life that may exist and originate outside the planet Earth. Its existence is currently hypothetical: there is as yet no evidence of extraterrestrial life that has been widely accepted by scientists. ...

Instead of using a disambiguation hatnote in such cases, it is better to Wikipedia:Summary style, summarize the topic Extraterrestrial life in popular culture under a subsection of Extraterrestrial life in conjunction with the template. Similarly, do use the or templates on top of a page, as they are meant only for sections; templates and might be more appropriate alternatives. This guideline does discourage the use of disambiguation hatnotes in a situation where separate topics are related, but could nonetheless be referred to by the same title and would thus qualify for disambiguation, such as a book and its film adaptation. (e.g. the article ''Where the Crawdads Sing'' is about the novel and has a hatnote leading to Where the Crawdads Sing (film), ''Where the Crawdads Sing'' (film).)

Disambiguating article names that are not ambiguous

It is usually preferable not to have a hatnote when the name of the article is not ambiguous.

Water (''wuxing'') ----
In Chinese philosophy, water (), is the low point of matter. It is considered matter's dying or hiding stage. ...

Here, the hatnote can be removed. A reader who is following links within Wikipedia is unlikely to end up at Water (wuxing), Water (''wuxing'') if they were looking for other meanings of water, since water does not redirect there. A hatnote may still be appropriate when even a more specific name is still ambiguous. For example, Tree (set theory) might still be confused with Tree (descriptive set theory). The presence or absence of hatnotes in articles with disambiguated titles has been a contentious issue. There are cases where some editors strongly believe that such hatnotes should be included, such as the various articles about treaties called Treaty of Paris. A hatnote in an unambiguously named article , as explained in above.

Extraneous links

Each additional link in the hatnote besides the ambiguous or confusable topic(s) makes it more difficult to find the desired target. For example, in a Special:Permalink/240985222, previous version of the article WTOB (AM) under a former callsign:

WTIX (980 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports talk, sports radio format. ...

In this case, the link to New Orleans, Louisiana, in the hatnote, leads to an article that is not ambiguous with the title. Keeping only the second link to the possible other destination (WIST (AM)) makes it easier to find the proper link:

WTIX (980 AM broadcasting, AM) is a radio station broadcasting a sports talk, sports radio format. ...

External links

A previous version of the Hurricane Katrina article contained:

Hurricane Katrina, which made Landfall (meteorology), landfall near New Orleans, Louisiana, on August 29, 2005, was one of the most destructive and expensive tropical cyclones to hit the United States. ...

The use of external help links in Wikipedia cannot reasonably be maintained. In special cases, a link to an "External links" section may be appropriate, but POV favoritism can be obstructive. In this case, the hatnote was removed entirely.

Non-existent articles

Hatnotes should not contain Wikipedia:Red link, red links (links to non-existent articles), since hatnotes are intended to help users navigate to another article they may have intended to find.

Hatnote templates

Generic hatnote

allows general text to be shown in hatnote format. It is appropriate when none of the other specific templates listed below includes the combination of parameters needed, or to combine several of them in a single hatnote. * → ** → * (a generic template for self-references to Wikipedia material)

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

Per Wikipedia:Hatnote#Disambiguating article names that are not ambiguous, it is usually preferable to have a hatnote when the name of the article is not ambiguous.

"''This article is about ... For other uses, see...''"

is the main template for noting other uses. * → * (When the disambiguation page has a different name – Note the empty second parameter) → * (When there is only one other use) → * (Two pages for USE2) → * (Using the magic word to give the link a different title) → * (When there are several standard other uses and also a disambiguation page with default name – Note that the last page name is not specified) → * (When there are several standard other uses and also a disambiguation page with non-default name) → * (When you don't need to state the focus of this article/page – Note the empty first parameter) → * → * Note: produces the same result. * → ** Note: this hatnote says "section", instead of "article" or "page". * →

"''This page is about ... It is not to be confused with ...''"

is a template for noting other uses when there could be confusion with another topic. * → * →

"''For ..., see ...''"

can be used instead of so as not to display: ''This page is about USE1.'' but still specify a specific other use. This effect can also be achieved by using an empty first parameter in as in: For example: is the same as (note the empty first parameter). However, it is somewhat clearer when using the template, since the word "about" does not appear in the statement. * → * → * → * → ;Variations :As with , there is a whole family of "for" templates. allows custom text, such as quotation marks or a link from part of the "CUSTOM TEXT", but does not supply automatic wikilinking :* → (note how CUSTOM TEXT isn't bluelinked) :It also supports up to three topics: :* → :* →

"''For other uses, see ...''"

When such a wordy hatnote as is not needed, is often useful. * → * → * → ;Variations :There are, historically, a whole family of "other uses" templates for specific cases. is the standard hatnote for "other uses" and many of them can be specified using the template. However, the individual templates may be easier to use in certain contexts. :Here are the variations and (when appropriate) the equivalents using the , or templates. ;"''For other uses of ..., see ...''" :* → :* →

Redirect

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

* → * → * → * → * → ;Variations: * For two sources: ** → ** → ** → ** → ** → * For three or more sources: ** → ** → ** → ** → ** → * To specify the text following "redirects here.": ** → ** →

"''For technical reasons, ... redirects here. ... ''

* → * → * → * →

''... redirects here. Not to be confused with ...''

* → * → * →

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

Other people

* → * → * → * → * → * → * → * → * → * → * → * → *:Note: defaults to "named" as in , exists for options like "nicknamed", "known as", etc.

Other places/ships/hurricanes

* , analogous to → * , analogous to → * → * →

Distinguish

"''Not to be confused with ...''"

* → * → * → * →

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

* → * → * →

Family names

Family names Template:Family_name_explanation#Footnotes_vs._hatnotes, can also be clarified using inline footnotes via .

For use in sections

"''Main article: ...''"

is used to make Wikipedia:Summary style, summary style explicit, when used in a summary section for which there is also a separate article on the subject: * → * → * → * →

"''Further information: ...''"

can supplement in summary sections, or can indicate more details in nonsummary sections: * → * → * → * → * may be used to link to articles containing further information on a topic, where English Wikipedia does not yet have an article, but another language Wikipedia does.

"''See also ...''"

can be used at the head of a section. * → :Note: use when OTHER TOPIC PAGE is to current article and contains a self-explanatory parenthetical. * →

Article or section transclusions

* (used when Help:Transclusion, transcluding 1 or more entire articles into a target article) → * (used when Help:Transclusion#Selective transclusion, selectively transcluding a section from one article into a section of the target article) → * (used when selectively transcluding a section into part of a section on the target page) →

For category pages

Category-specific templates: * → This is a template for linking categories ''horizontally''. Horizontal linkage is often the right solution when ''vertical linkage'' (i.e., as sub-category and parent category) is not appropriate. In most cases, this template should be used on categories to create ''reciprocal linkage'' between the two categories. * → * → * → * → * → * → * →

Correct titles

"''The correct title of this article is ... The substitution or omission of the (or, without a reason: "It appears incorrectly here") ... is due to technical restrictions.''"

Lists

What to do before editing or creating a template

, as that will prevent: # Propagating changes as the template is modified # ''Special:Whatlinkshere/:, What links here'' (WLH) listing. These templates are used in thousands of articles; therefore, changing the syntax could break thousands of articles. If you wish to create or edit a disambiguation or redirection template, first ask yourself the following questions: # Is there already a template that will do this job? Since many disambiguation and redirection templates have already been created, first check: :Hatnote templates. # Do I really need a new template for this? Will it likely be used on any other articles or should I just use instead? Before creating a new template, see the Wikipedia:Template namespace, template namespace guideline. # If I change the parameters around on an existing template, do I know what the result will be? Will it break existing uses of the template, and if so, can I fix all of the errors? Before making any changes, see Wikipedia:Template sandbox and test cases.

References

{{Wikipedia policies and guidelines Wikipedia disambiguation Wikipedia Manual of Style (related guidelines)