Editing Encyclopedia:Stub (section)

===How to mark an article as a stub===
{{Shortcut|WP:STUBSPACING|WP:SVSP|WP:TAGSTUB}}

After writing a short article, or finding an unmarked stub, you should insert a ''stub template''. Choose from among the templates listed at [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types]], or if you are unsure what template to use, just use a generic {{tlx|stub}}, which others can sort later. Stubs should never be manually added to stub categories—always use a template.

Per the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout#Order of article elements|Manual of Style]], the stub template is placed at the ''end'' of the article, ''after'' the [[Help:Link#External links|''External links'' section]], any [[Help:Navigation|navigation templates]], and the [[Help:Category|category tags]], so that the stub category will appear after all article content. Until December 2024, it was the standard to leave two blank lines between the first stub template on a page and whatever preceded it (see [[Wikipedia talk:Stub#Replace double-blank-line method with CSS]]). {{show by date|2026|1|1|<!-- Advertise the change while it is still "new" --><strong>This is now unnecessary, and the extra line should be removed when encountered.</strong>|This is now unnecessary, and the extra line should be removed when encountered.}} As with all templates, stub templates are added by simply placing the name of the template in the text between double pairs of curly brackets (e.g., {{tlx|Wikipedia-stub}}). Stub templates are [[Wikipedia:Transclusion|transcluded]], ''not'' [[Wikipedia:Substitution|substituted]].

Stub templates have two parts: a short message noting the stub's topic and encouraging editors to expand it, and a category link, which places the article in a ''stub category'' alongside other stubs on the same topic. For example, inclusion of the {{tlx|Art-historian-stub}} template adds the article to the [[:Category:Art historian stubs]] category; an explicit <code><nowiki>[[Category:Art historian stubs]]</nowiki></code> link is not needed and should be removed if present.

The naming for stub templates is usually ''topic-stub''; a list of these templates may be found [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types|here]]. You need not learn all the templates—even simply adding {{tl|stub}} helps (see [[Wikipedia:When to use the generic stub tag|this essay]] for more information). The more accurately an article is tagged, however, the less work it is for other sorters later, and the more useful it is for editors looking for articles to expand.

If a more specific stub template than is currently on an article exists and completely covers the subject of the article, remove the more general template and replace it with the more specific type (for example, an article on Morocco may be stubbed with {{tl|Africa-stub}}. If it is ''solely'' about Morocco, remove the template and replace it with {{tl|Morocco-stub}} – don't simply add {{tl|Morocco-stub}} and leave {{tl|Africa-stub}} in place). One specific template can often replace multiple more general types (for example, {{tl|UK-sport-bio-stub}} can replace both {{tl|UK-bio-stub}} and {{tl|sport-bio-stub}}).

If an article overlaps several stub categories, more than one template may be used, but it is strongly recommended that only those relating to the subject's main notability be used. A limit of three or, if really necessary, four stub templates is advised.

Stub-related activities are centralised at [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting]] ([[Wikipedia:Shortcut|shortcut]] [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting|Wikipedia:WSS]]). This project should be your main reference for stub information, and is where new stub types should be proposed for discussion prior to creation.