Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Organizing disambiguation pages by subject area

Readers should be able to confidently skip irrelevant sections based on their headers alone

On large disambiguation pages, organizing by subject area helps readers find the page they want quickly. Readers should be able to find their target with minimal reading, by:

1. Identifying the relevant section (and then subsection if needed) from headers alone, then
2. Identifying the topic they want from the entries in that (sub)section only

without having to descend into irrelevant sections, and without having to read anything twice. This page discusses principles that enable that goal, and suggested headings to use.

Guidance for individual entries is at Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Disambiguation pages.

Principles

1. Minimize surprise

• Choose clear subject areas. The title of each section must make it obvious what kinds of entries it contains (and doesn't contain).
  • Only combine closely related subject areas. Biology and medicine is fine; Cosmology and medicine is not. Other uses is the exception. Having overlapping entries does not make two areas closely related.
  • Separate fictional items from real ones.
  • Avoid schemes not based on subject area.

• Be complete. All entries that fall within a section's subject area must be there (see how to handle overlaps below).
• Be consistent. Use the same section names as similar dab pages, if practical.

• Minimize and handle overlap. Choose subject areas that result in minimal overlap for the entries on a given page. If sections overlap, readers may look in the wrong place, and may assume their target is missing. If overlap can't reasonably be avoided, then for each set of sections with overlap:
  • For one or two overlapping items: duplicate these entries in each appropriate (sub)section.
  • For several items (or a subsection): put these entries in only one place, and put a hatnote (e.g.: {{for|<topic>|#<Section>}}) at the top of any other appropriate (sub)sections, at the lowest applicable header level.
• Order sections alphabetically unless there is a clear reason not to. (This is the easiest order to recognize – importance, for example, is usually too subjective.)

2. Moderate section size

To minimize the reading users need to do on average, avoid both long, undivided sections, and lots of small sections:

• Sections with more than ten to twelve entries should usually be divided into subsections, if practical. Use judgment based on the particular page.
• Sections with one or two entries should often (for only one entry, almost always) be combined, typically in an "Other uses" section.
• Minimize "other uses" entries – but not at the cost of creating lots of tiny sections, or violating the principles of minimal surprise.

3. "Other uses" below

Entries that are not fully categorized belong in an "Other uses [in topic]" section at the end of the page or section (but before any "See also" section). The space above the first section on the page (or above the first subsection in a section) should not have any entries ("orphans"), except for:

• At most one primary topic, if there is one, at the top of the page; and
• A few significantly more common meanings, if they exist;

And these entries should be repeated in the appropriate sections. "Loose" entries at the top of a page or section aren't accounted for in the table of contents, so readers relying on the ToC can easily miss them.

If all the "other" entries in a section can be described by a plural noun, the words "uses in" should be avoided, e.g., Other people, not Other uses in people; Other media, not Other uses in media.

Also:

• Use ==Wiki headings==, not bold text or semicolon markup, for headings (see WP:PSEUDOHEAD).
• Put the table of contents before the first heading with {{TOC right}}.
• Use the "See also" section for entries whose titles are related to, but not strictly ambiguous with, the page title, such as similarly-named disambiguation pages.

Schemes to avoid

Organizing schemes not based on subject area can be confusing. Avoid grouping entries by etymology, pronunciation, or whether the terms are acronyms or not – these schemes assume knowledge that the reader may not have.

Certain variations on the ambiguous term may be used to sort entries within sections, such as:

• Formatting, such as capitalization
• Plural vs. singular forms of a term
• The presence of "A(n)" or "The" (or their equivalent in another language) at the start of a proper title

but these should not usually be the basis for sorting between sections. For more on sorting within sections, see MOS:DABORDER.

Example scheme

This scheme, or any part of it, may be used to organize disambiguation pages. Braces ("{}") suggest alternative terms, which may be used singly or combined. Common pitfalls that may make dab pages harder to navigate are marked in red.

NOTE! These headings are an example only; most disambiguation pages will only use a few of these headings. They should be liberally modified, supplemented, split up, combined, and promoted or demoted to different header levels in keeping with the principles above, to best suit each particular page. Disambiguation pages are enormously varied, and another scheme may better suit a given page.

Remember to remove visible braces ("{ }") and pipes ("|") before saving a dab page.

[Title] may refer to:

{Arts|Entertainment|Media}

[Avoid words like "(popular) culture" and "society"; they are too vague.]

[Sports-related entries are typically listed in "People", "Organizations", and/or "Sport", not here.]

[Technologies used for media and entertainment are typically listed in "Science and technology", not here.]

[If people or organizations in the arts are listed elsewhere, note this in a hatnote, e.g.: For people in arts and entertainment, see § People.]

[It may be helpful to separate items with proper names (e.g. The Noise (band)) from generic terms (e.g. noise music).]

Fictional {characters|elements}

[Useful for characters or elements that appear in multiple types of media; otherwise, sort by medium as follows.]

{Literature|Writing}

[Avoid the word "Print", which excludes digital written media.]

Music

Other media

[Such as painting or sculpture]

{Businesses|Organizations}

[An "organization" is generally accepted to mean any group of people formally organized for a purpose. If "Organizations" is used, and businesses, schools, sports teams, etc. are listed elsewhere, hatnote(s) are needed here, using e.g. {{for}} or {{for-multi}}.]

{Government|Military|Political} organizations

[Break down geographically if needed]

{Schools|Universities}

[Break down geographically or by academic level if needed]

Sports {teams|organizations}

[If listed in a separate "Sport" section, note this in a hatnote]

Other {businesses|organizations}

[Break down by industry if needed]

{Economics|Finance}

[For topics in economic science, a subsection of "Science" may be more appropriate.]

{Government|Law}

[May overlap with "Economics and finance" or "Organizations"]

Language(s)

[Do not list dictionary definitions; these should be handled with the {{wiktionary}} template at the top of the page.]

Military

[Caution: This section may have significant overlap with "Organizations" and "Technology" sections; consider using them instead.]

People

[People with the page title as part of their common name should typically be listed on an anthroponymy page, such as Bob (given name), not a disambiguation page, unless there are only a small number of such people.]

[Fictional characters belong in an "Arts and media" section, not here.]

[List groups of people (such as ethnic groups), names as such, and titles shared by several people separately from individuals.]

In {arts|entertainment|media}

[Break down by type of media if needed, but beware of overlap with an "Arts and media" section]

Places

[Break down geographically, or into buildings/facilities, populated areas (like cities and states), and natural formations, if needed]

[If facilities – like train stations, airports, or sports venues – are listed elsewhere, note this in a hatnote]

{Religion|Mythology|Philosophy}

[If people in these fields are listed in a separate "People" section, note this in a hatnote.]

{Science|Technology|Mathematics}

[Avoid separating these topics, as they often have significant overlap.]

[If people in these fields are listed in a separate "People" section, note this in a hatnote.]

Mathematics

[Some consider mathematics to be a science, some don't. If there are math topics here, it is advisable to include "mathematics" in the parent section title.]

Natural sciences

{Computing|Electronics|Telecommunication}

[Games and digital content belong under "Arts and media", not here, unless they deal with these topics specifically.]

{Military technology|Weapons}

[May overlap with "Electronics" or "Transportation" subsections.]

{Transportation|Vehicles}

[If transportation technologies are listed in a separate "Transportation" section, note this in a hatnote.]

Sports

[Caution: This section may have significant overlap with "People" and "Organizations" sections; consider using them instead.]

[Break down by sport, geographically, or into amateur, professional, and school sports, if needed]

Transportation

[Caution: This section may have significant overlap with other sections as noted below. If used, handle overlap as described above.]

{Airports|Stations|Transportation facilities}

[Overlaps with "Places".]

{Transit systems|Transport operators}

[Overlaps with "Businesses and organizations".]

Vehicles

[May overlap with "Science and technology".]

[Often used for individual vessels (e.g. HMS Dreadnought (1906)), with types of vehicles (e.g. dreadnought) listed under "Science and technology" instead; if so, note this in a hatnote.]

Other uses

[Ambiguously-named items that do not belong in any other section. Entries that fit in another section, but not in any of its subsections, should be placed in an "Other uses in [topic]" subsection there.]

See also

[Entries that are similar or related to, but not ambiguous with, the page title, that might reasonably help readers find what they are looking for; see MOS:DABSEEALSO. Use judgment; do not include every page title that contains the ambiguous term.]

See also

• Wikipedia:Long dab dos and don'ts, information page summarizing key points of this guideline