View source for Illerai:Style guide/Disambiguation

{{shortcut|RS:DAB|RS:SGDAB|RS:DISAMBIG}}
{{nutshell|Provide links and disambiguation pages so that users typing in a likely topic name for more than one topic can quickly navigate to the article they seek.}}

'''Disambiguation''' is the process of resolving the conflicts that arise when a single term is [[wikipedia:Ambiguity|ambiguous]], and so may refer to more than one topic which the wiki covers. For example, the word "Gold" can refer to coins, an ore, a metal bar, and a rock, and numerous other things. There are three important aspects to disambiguation:

* Naming articles in such a way that each has a unique title.
* Making the links for ambiguous terms point to the correct article title.
* Ensuring that someone who searches for a topic using a particular term can get to the information on that topic quickly and easily, whichever of the possible topics it might be.

This page discusses the standard ways of handling the above issues and formatting of disambiguation pages.

==Usage==
===Content===
Disambiguation pages should contain a minimum of three entries. If there are only two topics with the same name, e.g. [[Vial of blood]] and [[Vial of blood (A Taste of Hope)]], the primary topic should link directly to the secondary topic with the {{T|Otheruses}} template. In these cases, creating a separate disambiguation page is unnecessary.

For disambiguation pages that cover a broad topic with dozens of possible entries, use your best judgement in determining what to include. Listing every single article with the topic in its title is overkill and makes it much more difficult for readers to find what they are looking for.

===Titling===
Article names follow Jagex's in-game spelling and capitalisation exactly. Names for items, monsters, etc. are often reused, especially in annual events or promotions, and therefore require parentheses in the title to differentiate versions.

[[RuneScape:Use common sense|Use common sense]] in determining how to name the parenthetical:

* Pages having to do with quests should contain the name of the quest, e.g. [[Air rune (The Slug Menace)]]. If the quest has a subtitle, the subtitle is dropped, e.g. [[Golem (Desert Treasure II)]].
* Non-player characters with no other distinguishing features may be named after their location, e.g. [[Thora (Miscellania)]] and [[Thora]].
* Quests and locations with the same name should have the quest as the primary topic and the location with the <code>(location)</code> parenthetical, as people are more likely to be looking for a quest walkthrough, e.g. [[Tree Gnome Village]] and [[Tree Gnome Village (location)]].

===Location===
The page that is most likely to be visited takes precedence when determining the location of disambiguation pages. Examples of possible cases include:

* [[Bucket of water]] is the most common item; other items also named "Bucket of water" are lesser-used quest items that are given parentheticals on [[Bucket of water (disambiguation)]].

===Hatnotes===
Hatnotes are the templates that provide links to disambiguation pages or similar articles. Editors should keep the number of hatnotes at the top to a minimum. Two is the suggested limit, e.g. one {{T|Otheruses}} – if there are three or more, they should be placed on their own disambiguation page.

In some cases there are different templates available, including or omitting information about the topic of the article. The shorter hatnote may be chosen if omitting the information is not likely to confuse the reader.

There are several hatnote templates available, each suited to different situations:

'''On the primary page (with no disambiguation page):'''
* {{T|Otheruses}} is the most common hatnote for noting other uses of the primary topic, and generally links to a <code>(disambiguation)</code> page
** Use <code><nowiki>{{otheruses|the quest|the location|Death Plateau (location)}}</nowiki></code> to produce:
*:{{otheruses|the quest|the location|Death Plateau (location)}}

'''When the primary topic redirects to another page:'''
* {{T|Redirect}} is used when an ambiguous term redirects to a primary topic, but could also refer to a page with a similar title. For example, "Chompy" redirects to [[Chompy bird]], but could also refer to [[Cooked chompy]].
** If there is a disambiguation page, use <code><nowiki>{{redirect|Chompy}}</nowiki></code> to produce:
*:{{redirect|Chompy}}
** If there is only one secondary topic, use <code><nowiki>{{redirect|Death Plateau|the location|Death Plateau (location)}}</nowiki></code>
*:{{redirect|Death Plateau|the location|Death Plateau (location)}}

'''When the primary topic may be confused with another page:'''
* {{T|Confuse}} is used when the primary topic could be confused with another page, either through misspelling (e.g. [[Aubury]] with [[Augury]]), a similar title ([[Mage Arena]] with [[Mage Training Arena]]), or similar subject matter ([[Poison]] with [[Venom]]).

As hatnotes separate the reader from the content they are looking for, descriptions should generally be as concise as possible. Long explanations are generally discouraged; the article's lead text, not the hatnote, should explain what the article is about.

==Format==
{{Shortcut|RS:DABFORMAT}}
===Introductory line===
Disambiguation pages should always begin with: <code><nowiki>'''[PAGENAME]''' may refer to:</nowiki></code>. The pagename should not be linked, nor should any further descriptive text be added to the first line.

When the title being disambiguated has a primary topic (i.e. when the disambiguation page's title ends in "(disambiguation)"), the introductory line should instead link to the topic (in '''bold''') and give a concise description of it. The second line should instead begin with: <code><nowiki>'''[PAGENAME]''' may also refer to:</nowiki></code>.

===Individual entries===
Each entry should be part of an unordered list (created with <code><nowiki>*</nowiki></code>). Entries may stand alone or have a short sentence fragment describing it. Information presented in the description should be kept to a bare minimum, and should only be just enough to direct a reader to the correct article. Piping links to hide the disambiguator parentheses is discouraged on disambiguation pages. It is less helpful to readers if the entries' link texts are all the same than if the links were to be distinct from each other.

===Organisation===
For pages with more than several items, the list may be split into sections. All pages should use level 2 headers (<code><nowiki>==Header==</nowiki></code>) and level 3 headers (<code><nowiki>===Header===</nowiki></code>) for subsections. These sections may typically be in alphabetical order.

Within each section, entries should be ordered to best assist the reader in finding their intended article. Entries are typically ordered first by similarity to the ambiguous title, then alphabetically. This rule [[RuneScape:Use common sense|may be ignored]] if an entry is much more associated with the ambiguous term and needs to be the first entry in a list.

Headers should be titled by subject area, which should be as general as possible. Common groupings include "Quests", "Non-player characters" or "NPCs", "Monsters", "Locations", and "Items". 

===See also section===
Related disambiguation pages can be linked to in a See also section. This can be particularly useful if navigation in a disambiguation page proves to be unwieldy due to the sheer amount of links to partial title matches (e.g. every page including "wall" anywhere in its title being included in the "[[Wall]]" disambiguation page); these can instead be covered in other disambiguation pages if they exist.

===Ending===
All disambiguation pages must have the {{T|Disambig}} template placed at the bottom for categorisation purposes.

===Example===
Example of disambiguation page:
<pre>
'''Chinchompa''' may refer to:

==NPCs==
* [[Hunter]] creatures:
** [[Chinchompa (Hunter)]], the standard variety of Hunter creature
** [[Carnivorous chinchompa]], the red variant of Chinchompa creature
** [[Black chinchompa (Hunter)]], the black Hunter variant found in the Wilderness

==Items==
* [[Ranged]] weapons:
** [[Chinchompa]], an explosive weapon requiring 45 Ranged
** [[Red chinchompa]], an explosive weapon requiring 55 Ranged
** [[Black chinchompa]], an explosive weapon requiring 65 Ranged

==Other==
* [[Baby chinchompa]], a pet
* [[Red chinchompa hunting ground]], a location

{{Disambig}}
</pre>

Example of disambiguation page introduction linking to primary topic in first sentence:
<pre>
'''[[Drake]]''' is a Slayer monster in the Karuulm Slayer Dungeon.

'''Drake''' may also refer to:
</pre>

Example of disambiguation page linking to other disambiguation pages in the See also section:
<pre>
'''Wall''' may refer to:

==Locations==
* [[Shayziens' Wall]], located west of [[Shayzien]]

==Scenery==
* [[Odd looking wall]], acts as the entrance to the [[Elemental Workshop (location)|Elemental Workshop]]
* [[Odd looking wall (Edgeville Dungeon)]], secret room entrace
* [[Wall (Crandor and Karamja Dungeon)]], links [[Crandor]] to [[Karamja]] found within the [[Crandor and Karamja Dungeon]]

===Agility obstacles===
* [[Wall (Draynor Village Rooftop Course)]], found within the [[Draynor Village Rooftop Course]]
* [[Wall (Varrock Rooftop Course)]], found within the [[Varrock Rooftop Course]]
* [[Wall (Seers' Village Rooftop Course)]], found within the [[Seers' Village Rooftop Course]]

===Agility shortcuts===
* [[Wall (Darkmeyer)]], located north-east of [[Darkmeyer]]
* [[Wall (Falador)]], located north-east of [[Falador Park]]
* [[Wall (Yanille)]], located on the south-western side of [[Yanille]]
* [[Weathered wall]], located in the dungeon underneath the [[Ectofuntus]]

==See also==
* [[Broken wall]]
* [[Crumbling wall]]
* [[Jutting wall]]
* [[Low wall]]
* [[Rough wall]]

{{Disambig}}
</pre>

==See also==
* [[RuneScape:Redirecting]]
* {{Wp|Wikipedia:Disambiguation}}
* {{Wp|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Disambiguation pages}}
* {{Wp|Wikipedia:Hatnote}}

{{Policies & Guidelines}}