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Article Layout
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Layout matters. Good articles start with introductions, continue with a clear structure,
and end with standard appendices such as references and related articles.
Structure of an article
Good articles start with a brief lead section introducing the topic. We discuss lead
sections in greater detail below. The lead section should come above the first header; it
is almost never useful to add something like ==Introduction==. Sometimes, the first
section after the lead is a broad summary of the topic, and is called "Overview",
although more specific section titles and structures are generally preferred.
Paragraphs
Paragraphs should be short enough to be readable, but long enough to develop an
idea. Overly long paragraphs should be split up, as long as the cousin paragraphs keep
the idea in focus.
One-sentence paragraphs are unusually emphatic, and should be used sparingly.
Articles should rarely, if ever, consist solely of such paragraphs.
Some paragraphs are really tables or lists in disguise. They should be rewritten as
prose or converted to their unmasked form.
Headings help clarify articles and create a structure shown in the table of contents.
Headings are hierarchical. The article's title uses a level 1 heading, so you should start
with a level 2 heading (==Heading==) and follow it with lower levels:
===Subheading===, ====Subsubheading====,
and so forth. Whether extensive
subtopics should be kept on one page or moved to individual pages is a matter of
personal judgment.
Images
Optional appendix sections containing the following information may appear after the
body of the article in the following order:
· A list of books or other works created by the subject of the article (works)
· A list of internal "wikilinks" to related Wikipedia articles
· Notes and references (notes, footnotes, or references)
· A list of recommended relevant books, articles, or other publications that have
not
been used as sources (further reading)
· A list of recommended relevant websites that have not been used as sources
(external links).
With some exceptions, any links to sister projects appear in further reading or external
links sections. Succession boxes and navigational footers go at the end of the article,
following the last appendix section, but preceding the category and interwiki templates.
Excessively long articles should usually be avoided. Articles should ideally contain less
than 50 KB worth of prose. When articles grow past this amount of readable text, they
can be broken up into smaller articles to improve readability and ease of editing, or may
require trimming to remain concise. The headed sub-section should be retained, with a
concise version of what has been removed under an italicized header, such as Main
article: History of Ruritania. Otherwise, context is lost and the general treatment suffers.
Each article on a subtopic should be written as a stand-alone article—that is, it should
have a lead section, headings, et cetera.
When an article is long and has many sub articles, try to balance the main page. Do not
put undue weight into one part of an article at the cost of other parts. In shorter articles,
if one subtopic has much more text than another subtopic, that may be an indication the
subtopic should have its own page, with only a summary presented on the main page.
Articles covering subtopics
Wikipedia articles tend to grow in a way that leads to the natural creation of new
articles. The text of any article consists of a sequence of related but distinct subtopics.
When there is enough text in a given subtopic to merit its own article, that text can be
summarized in the present article and a link provided to the more detailed article.
Cricket is an example of an article covering subtopics: it is divided into subsections that
give an overview of the sport, with each subsection leading to one or more subtopic
articles.
A simple article should have at least a lead section and references. As editors add
complexity where required, the elements (such as sections and templates) that are used
typically appear in the following order, although they would not all appear in the same
article at the same time:
1. Before the lead section
Hatnotes
Deletion/Protection tags (CSD, PROD, AFD, PP notices)
Maintenance / dispute tags
Infoboxes
Foreign character warning boxes
Images
Navigational boxes (header navboxes)
2. Body
Lead section (also called the introduction)
Table of contents (TOC)
Content
3. Appendices
Works or publications (for biographies only)
See also
Notes and references (this can be two sections in some citation systems)
Further reading
External links
4. Bottom matter
Succession boxes and geography boxes
Other navigation templates (footer navboxes)
Geographical coordinates (if not in Infobox) or {{coord missing}}
Authority control template
{{featured list}}, {{featured article}} and {{good article}} (where appropriate for
article status)
Defaultsort
Categories
Stub template
Hatnotes are short notes placed at the top of an article or section of an article. Hatnotes
help readers locate a different article they might be seeking. Readers may have arrived
at the article containing the hatnote because they were redirected, because the sought
article uses a more specific, disambiguated title, or because the sought article and the
article with the hatnote have similar names. Hatnotes provide links to the possibly
sought article or to a disambiguation page.
Lead section
The lead is the first part of the article that most people will read. For many, it may be the
only section that they read. A good lead section cultivates the reader's interest in
reading more of the article, but not by teasing the reader or hinting at content that
follows. The lead should be written in a clear, accessible style with a neutral point of
view.
The lead should stand on its own as a concise overview of the article's topic. It should
identify the topic, establish context, explain why the topic is notable, and summarize the
most important points, including any prominent controversies. The notability of the
article's subject is usually established in the first few sentences. Like in the body of the
article itself, the emphasis given to material in the lead should roughly reflect its
importance to the topic, according to reliable, published sources. Apart from basic facts,
significant information should not appear in the lead if it is not covered in the remainder
of the article.
As a general rule of thumb, a lead section should contain no more than four well-
composed paragraphs and be carefully sourced as appropriate.
1. Disambiguation links (dablinks)
2. Maintenance tags
3. Infoboxes
4. Foreign character warning boxes
5. Images
6. Navigational boxes (navigational templates)
7. Introductory text, and
8. Table of contents, moving to the heading of the first section.
Articles longer than a stub are generally divided into sections, and sections over a
certain length are generally divided into paragraphs; these divisions enhance the
readability of the article. The names and orders of section headings are often
determined by the relevant WikiProject, although articles should still follow good
organizational and writing principles regarding sections and paragraphs.
Headings introduce sections and subsections, clarify articles by breaking up text,
organize content, and populate the table of contents. Very short or very long sections
and subsections in an article look cluttered and inhibit the flow of the prose.
Headings follow a six-level hierarchy, starting at 1 and ending at 6. The level of the
heading is defined by the number of equal signs on either side of the title. Heading 1
(=Heading 1=) is automatically generated as the title of the article, and is never
appropriate within the body of articles. Sections start at the second level (==Heading
2==), with subsections at the third level (===Heading 3===), and additional levels of
subsections at the fourth level (====Heading 4====), fifth level, and sixth level.
This assistant helps to create headings of three nesting levels:
· Heading (level 2) - These are the headings of the highest level. It produces
headings of a large serif font followed by a line all along the page. It is equivalent to
the <h2></h2> tag of HTML code. Level 1 is restricted to the title of the article,
which should not be included in the article.
· Heading (level 3) - These are headings with a sans serif font of a smaller
size, but
bigger than the regular text.It is equivalent to the <h3></h3> HTML tag.
· Heading (level 4) - These are headings of an even smaller font size in
bold.It
is equivalent to the <h4></h4> HTML tag.
Once you know the sintaxis, you can create headings for the fifth and sixth levels, but
notice that these are not so easily distinguished from the subtitles of level 4.
Between adjacent sections, there should be a single blank line, but there is no need to
include a blank line between a heading and sub-heading.
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