Editing Encyclopedia:Manual of Style (section)

==Article titles, sections, and headings <span class="anchor" id="Article titles, headings, and sections"></span>==
{{Shortcut|MOS:AT}}

===Article titles===
{{Main|Wikipedia:Article titles}}

A title should be a recognizable name or description of the topic, [[Wikipedia:Common sense|balancing]] the criteria of being natural, sufficiently precise, concise, and consistent with those of related articles.

For formatting guidance see the {{section link|Wikipedia:Article titles|Article title format}} section, noting the following:
*Capitalize the initial letter (except in rare cases, such as {{xt|eBay}}), but otherwise follow [[sentence case]]{{efn|name=Sentence case|1=Wikipedia uses [[sentence case]] for sentences, [[Wikipedia:Article titles|article titles]], [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout|section titles]], [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Tables|table headers]], [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images|image captions]], [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists|list entries]] (in most cases), and entries in [[Wikipedia:Infobox|infoboxes]] and similar templates, among other things. Any MoS guidance about the start of a sentence applies to items using sentence case.<!-- Please keep this footnote synced with the version at the MOS:CAPS page. -->}} ({{xt|Funding of UNESCO projects}}), not title case ({{!xt|Funding of UNESCO Projects}}), except where title case would be used in ordinary prose. See [[Wikipedia:Naming conventions (capitalization)]].
*To italicize, add {{tlx|italic title}} near the top of the article. For mixed situations, use, e.g., <code><nowiki>{{DISPLAYTITLE:</nowiki>{{zwsp}}<nowiki>Interpretations of ''2001: A Space Odyssey''}}</nowiki></code>, instead. Use of italics should conform to {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting|Italic type}}.
*Do not use [[Article (grammar)|articles]] (''a'', ''an'', or ''the'') as the first word ({{xt|Economy of the Second Empire}}, not {{!xt|The economy of the Second Empire}}), unless it is an inseparable part of a name ({{xt|The Hague}}) or of the title of a work (''{{xt|A Clockwork Orange}}'', ''{{xt|The Simpsons}}'').
*Normally use [[noun]]s or [[noun phrase]]s: {{xt|Early life}}, not {{!xt|In early life}}.{{Efn|1=Phrases such as {{xt|In early life}} are acceptable (though not required) as section headings. They are also used frequently as part of longer article titles such as [[Piracy in the Caribbean|{{xt|Piracy in the Caribbean}}]], especially when a shorter construction ({{xtn|Caribbean piracy}}) may have ambiguity issues.}}
*The final character should not be punctuation unless it is an inseparable part of a name ({{xt|[[Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!]]}}, {{xt|''[[Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?]]''}}) or an abbreviation ({{xt|[[Inverness City F.C.]]}}), or when a closing round bracket or quotation mark is required ({{xt|[[John Palmer (1814 schooner)|''John Palmer'' (1814 schooner)]]}}).
*Whenever quotation marks or apostrophe-like variants appear, add a [[Wikipedia:Redirect|redirect]] for the same title using apostrophes.{{efn|name=curlyq|1=As per [[MOS:CURLY]], curly quotation marks and apostrophes are deprecated on the English Wikipedia because straight quotation marks and apostrophes are easier to type reliably on most platforms.}}

Subject both to the above and to [[Wikipedia:Article titles]], the rest of the MoS, particularly {{section link||Punctuation}}, applies also to the title.

{{crossref|pw=y|See also [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles of works]], for cases where an article about a published work has a title that coincides with the work's title.}}

===Section organization===
{{Shortcut|MOS:SO}}
{{Main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout}}

An article's content should begin with an introductory {{em|lead<!-- Do not add the word "lede" here. See footnotes at WP:LEAD for details. --> section}}{{snd}}a concise summary of the article{{snd}}which is never divided into sections {{crossref|pw=y|(see [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section]])}}. The remainder of the article is typically divided into [[Help:Section|sections]].

[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes|Infoboxes]], images, and related content in the lead section must be right-aligned.

Certain standardized [[Help:Template|templates]] and [[Help:Wikitext|wikicode]] that are not sections go at the very top of the article, before the content of the lead section, and in the following order:
*A [[Wikipedia:Short description|short description]], with the {{tlx|Short description}} template
*A [[Wikipedia:Hatnote|disambiguation hatnote]], most of the time with the {{tlx|Hatnote}} template {{crossref|pw=y|(see also {{section link|Wikipedia:Hatnote#Hatnote templates}})}}
*No-output templates that indicate the article's established date format and English-language variety, if any (e.g., {{tlx|Use dmy dates}}, {{tlx|Use Canadian English}})
*Banner-type maintenance templates, [[Wikipedia:Template index/Disputes|Dispute]] and [[Wikipedia:Template index/Cleanup|Cleanup templates]] for article-wide issues that have been flagged (otherwise used at the top of a specific section, after any sectional hatnote such as {{tlx|main}})
*An [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes|infobox]], which is optional (except in special cases like {{tlx|Taxobox}} and {{tlx|Chembox}}, or a variant thereof, at applicable articles); usually also includes the first image
*An introductory image, when an infobox is not used, or an additional image is desired for the lead section (for unusually long leads, a second image can be placed midway through the lead text)

In the [[Vector 2022]] skin, the [[Wikipedia:Table of contents|table of contents]] is separate from the article content. In some older skins, a navigable table of contents appears automatically just after the lead if an article has at least four section headings.

If the topic of a section is covered in more detail in a dedicated article {{crossref|pw=y|(see [[Wikipedia:Summary style]])}}, insert {{tlx|main|{{var|Article name}}}} or {{tlx|further|{{var|Article name}}}} immediately under the section heading.

As explained in detail in {{slink|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout|Standard appendices and footers}}, several kinds of material (mostly optional) may appear after the main body of the article, in the following order:
*Books or other works created by the subject of the article, under a section heading "Works", "Publications", "Discography", "Filmography", etc. as appropriate (avoid "Bibliography", confusable with reference citations)
*Internal links to related English Wikipedia articles, with section heading "See also"
*Notes and references, with a section heading "Notes" or "References" (usually the latter), or a separate section for each in this order {{crossref|pw=y|(see [[Wikipedia:Citing sources]])}}; avoid "Bibliography", confusable with the subject's works
*Relevant books, articles, or other publications that have not been used as sources; use the section heading "Further reading"; be highly selective, as [[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not#Wikipedia is not a directory|Wikipedia is not a bibliographic directory]]
*Relevant [[Wikipedia:External links|and appropriate]] websites that have not been used as sources and do not appear in the earlier appendices, using the heading "External links", which may be made a subsection of "Further reading" (or such links can be integrated directly into the "Further reading" list instead); [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout#Links to sister projects|link templates for sister-project content]] also usually go at the top of this section when it is present (otherwise in the last section on the page)
*The following final items never take section headings:
**Internal links organized into [[Wikipedia:Categories,_lists,_and_navigation_templates#Navigation_templates|navigational boxes]]
**[[Wikipedia:Authority control|Authority control]] metadata, if needed, using {{tlx|Authority control}} (distinguishes uses of the same name for two subjects, or multiple names for one subject)
**[[Wikipedia:Categorization|Categories]], which should be the very last material in the article's source code if there are no stub templates
**[[Wikipedia:Stub sorting|Stub templates]], if needed, which should follow the categories

[[Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists|Stand-alone list articles]] have some additional layout considerations.

===Section headings<span class="anchor" id="Section management"></span>===
{{Shortcut|MOS:HEAD|MOS:HEADINGS|MOS:SECTIONS|MOS:SECTIONHEAD}}
{{See also|Help:Section|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Headings|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout#Order of article elements|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Section headings}}

Section headings should generally follow the guidance for [[#Article titles|article titles]] (above), and should be presented in [[sentence case]] ({{xt|Funding of UNESCO projects in developing countries}}), not title case ({{!xt|Funding of UNESCO Projects in Developing Countries}}).{{efn|name=Sentence case}}

{{shortcut|MOS:BLANKLINE}}
{{Anchor|Blank line}}
The heading must be on its own line, with one blank line just before it; a blank line just ''after'' is optional and ignored (but do not use ''two'' blank lines, before or after, because that will add unwanted visible space).

{{Anchor|Section headings (technical best practice)}}For technical reasons, section headings should:
*{{Anchor|Section headings (necessary point 1)}}Be unique within a page, so that [[Template:Section link|section link]]s lead to the correct place.
{{shortcut|MOS:NOSECTIONLINKS|MOS:HEADINGLINKS}}
*{{Anchor|Section headings (necessary point 2)}}Not contain [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking#Principles|link]]s, especially where only part of a heading is linked.
*{{Anchor|Section headings (necessary point 3)}}Not contain images or [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Icons#Encyclopedic purpose|icons]].
*{{Anchor|Section headings (necessary point 4)}}Not contain <[[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Mathematics#Typesetting of mathematical formulae|math]]> markup.
*{{Anchor|Section headings (necessary point 5)}}Not contain citations or footnotes.
*{{Anchor|Section headings (necessary point 6)}}Not misuse [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists#Description (definition, association) lists|description list]] markup ("<code>;</code>") to create [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Pseudo-headings|pseudo-headings]].
*{{Anchor|Section headings (necessary point 7)}}Not contain template transclusions.{{efn|1=For example in [[MOS:SECTIONANCHOR|section anchors]], {{xt|{{tls|Anchor}}}} should be used to substitute the template instead of {{!xt|{{tl|Anchor}}}} which would transclude it.}}

{{Anchor|Section headings (main technical reason)}}These technical restrictions are necessary to avoid technical complications and are not subject to override by local consensus.

{{anchor|1=SECTIONSTYLE|2=Section headings (styling best practice)}}As a matter of consistent style, section headings should:
{{Shortcut|MOS:SECTIONSTYLE|MOS:NOBACKREF}}
*{{Anchor|Section headings (style point 1)}}Not redundantly refer back to the subject of the article, e.g., {{xt|Early life}}, not {{!xt|Smith's early life}} or {{!xt|His early life}}.
*{{Anchor|Section headings (style point 2)}}Not refer to a higher-level heading, unless doing so is shorter or clearer.
*{{Anchor|Section headings (style point 3)}}Not be numbered or lettered as an outline.
*{{Anchor|Section headings (style point 4)}}Not be phrased as a question, e.g., {{xt|Languages}}, not {{!xt|What languages are spoken in Mexico?}}.
*{{Anchor|Section headings (style point 5)}}Not use color or unusual fonts that may cause [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Headings|accessibility problems]].
*{{Anchor|Section headings (style point 6)}}Not be wrapped in [[Help:Wikitext|markup]], which may break their display and cause other accessibility issues.

{{Anchor|Section headings (main styling reason)}}These are broadly accepted community preferences.
{{Anchor|SECTIONCOMMENT|Section comment}}
{{short|MOS:SECTIONCOMMENT}}
A [[#Invisible comments|hidden comment]] on the same line must be {{em|inside}} the <code>==&nbsp;==</code> markup:{{efn|1=A comment outside the <code><nowiki>==&nbsp;==</nowiki></code> but on the same line may cause the section-editing link to fail to appear at all; in other browsers, it may appear, but using it will cause the section heading to not automatically be added to the edit summary.}}
{{block indent|1={{plainlist|
* {{y}} <code><nowiki>== Implications<!--This comment works fine.--> ==</nowiki></code>
* {{y}} <code><nowiki>== <!--This comment works fine.-->Implications == </nowiki></code>
* {{N}} <code><nowiki>== Implications == <!--This comment causes problems.--> </nowiki></code>
* {{N}} <code><nowiki><!--This comment breaks the heading completely.--> == Implications == </nowiki></code>
}}
}}
It is preferred to put such comments {{em|below}} the heading.

{{Anchor|SECTIONANCHOR|Section anchor}}
{{short|MOS:SECTIONANCHOR}}
<section begin="heading links" />Before changing a heading, consider whether you might be breaking existing links to it.<section end="heading links" /> If there are many [[Help:Link#To a section|links to the old title]],{{efn|name="many links"|1=To find out how many inlinks there are to the old section title and what articles have them, you can execute <span class=plainlinks>[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=all%3A+linksto%3A%22ARTICLE%22+insource%3A%2F%5B%5B%7C%5DARTICLE%5C%23OLDSECTION%2F+&title=Special:Search&profile=all&fulltext=1 this advanced search]</span>, changing {{smallcaps|article}} to the name of the article, and {{smallcaps|oldsection}} to the old section title. That advanced search does not search [[Wikipedia:Redirect|redirects]], so also check the article's [[Special:WhatLinksHere]] page for redirects to the old section title. If there are only a small number of links to the old section title, it may be better to just update them manually.}} create an [[Help:Anchor|anchor]] with that title to ensure that these still work. Similarly, when linking to a section, leave an invisible comment at the heading of the target section, naming the linking articles, so that if the heading is later altered these can be easily fixed, or alternatively another anchor can be created if there are many.{{efn|name="many links"}} For (a combined) example:
{{block indent|1=
{{xt|1=<code><nowiki>==Implications{{subst:Anchor|Consequences}}==</nowiki><br /><nowiki><!-- Section linked from [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]]. --></nowiki></code>}}
}}
which will be saved in the article as:
{{block indent|1=
{{xt|1=<code>==Implications{{code|1={{Anchor|Consequences}}}}==<br /><nowiki><!-- Section linked from [[Richard Dawkins]], [[Daniel Dennett]]. --></nowiki></code>}}
}}

The advantage of using {{tltss|Anchor}}, or simply inserting the {{tag|span|o|link=yes}} tags directly, is that when edits are made to the section in the future, the anchor will not be included in page history entries as part of the section name. When <code><nowiki>{{Anchor}}</nowiki></code> is used directly, that undesirable behavior ''does'' occur. Note: if electing to insert the span directly, {{em|do not}} abbreviate it by using a self-closing tag, as in <code><nowiki>==Implications<span id="Consequences"</nowiki>{{highlight round|/|bc=#ffa07a}}<nowiki>>==</nowiki></code>, since in HTML5 that XML-style syntax is valid only for certain tags, such as {{nowrap |<code>&lt;br /></code>}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/T134423 |title=T134423 Deprecate nonstandard behavior of self-closed HTML tags in wikitext. |website=phabricator.wikimedia.org |access-date=2019-09-25}}</ref> See {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking|Avoiding broken section links}} for further discussion.

====Heading-like material====
The above guidance about sentence case, redundancy, images, and questions also applies to [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Tables#Captions and headers|headers of tables]] (and of table columns and rows). However, table headings can incorporate citations and may begin with, or be, numbers. Unlike page headings, table headers do not automatically generate link anchors. Aside from sentence case in glossaries, the heading advice also applies to the ''term'' entries in [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists#DLIST|description lists]]. If using [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Glossaries#Linking|template-structured glossaries]], terms will automatically have link anchors, but will not otherwise. Citations for description-list content go in the ''term'' or ''definition'' element, as needed.