Template:Distinguish
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Description[edit | edit source]
It renders a hatnote to remind readers about the existence of one or more articles or elements whose title(s) is/are similar to this page. It is used in cases where the distinction between the title(s) is/are obvious that it does not need further explanation.
For cases where an explanation is required, use {{For}} and {{About}}. For use on category pages, the corresponding template is {{Category distinguish}}.
Usage[edit | edit source]
It is the standard usage:
{{Distinguish|Foo}} →
This hatnote can be used to distinguish from multiple articles:
{{Distinguish|Foo|Bar}} →
{{Distinguish|Foo|Bar|Gaz}} →
You may customize the text too. Use |text=. For example:
{{Distinguish|text = custom [[text]], or [[foo]], a common example term}} →
When to use[edit | edit source]
This hatnote is generally used when readers have misspelled their desired title, and the error would be apparent by simply displaying the alternative term without further explanation. For example, consider a reader looking for the punctuation mark who instead ends up at coma:
Readers are presumed to recognize that they actually wanted comma by merely looking at the spelling, and this case generally requires no further explanation.
However, {{distinguish}} is not suitable when the difference is not readily apparent without additional details. Consider a reader looking for a game they believe is named Reversi:
In the above hatnote, it is not generally apparent how the suggested Reversis is different from Reversi, which is also a game.
In this case you should use {{about}} instead of {{distinguish}}. The difference is to provide explanatation upfront without requiring the reader to click through and differentiate the terms on their own.
{{Distinguish}} should only be used when the ambiguity exists for a portion of the readership that is sufficient to warrant a hatnote. Care should be taken to avoid trivial uses.
TemplateData[edit | edit source]
TemplateData for Distinguish
A hatnote used when there is an ambiguity in an article's title.
| Parameter | Description | Type | Status | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name of article | 1 | Name of article that you want to link to | Page name | suggested |
| Optional additional article to link (2) | 2 | Optional additional article to link | Page name | optional |
| Optional additional article to link (3) | 3 | Optional additional article to link | Page name | optional |
| Optional additional article to link (4) | 4 | Optional additional article to link | Page name | optional |
| Custom text | text | Custom message in wikitext; e.g. "[[foo]] and [[bar]]" produces "Not to be confused with [[foo]] and [[bar]]." | String | optional |
| Self reference | selfref | If set, marks note as being a self reference, to not be shown when content is reused | Boolean | optional |