Wikipedia:Manual of Style (disambiguation pages)

This style guideline is intended to make the search more efficient, by giving disambiguation pages a consistent look and by avoiding distracting information. In brief, the pages should contain only disambiguation content, whether or not the page title contains the parenthetical (disambiguation). (This guideline does not apply to articles that are primary topics, even if the articles are prefaced by a "See also" hatnote or the like at the top of the page.)

In general, the title of a disambiguation page is the ambiguous term itself, provided there is no primary topic for that term. If there is already a primary topic, then "(disambiguation)" is added to the title of the disambiguation page, as in . For more on how to title a disambiguation page, see .

The first line of a disambiguation page should be the introductory line (see below) unless there is a link to Wiktionary using the templates shown below, in which case that should be the first line. If there is a link to the primary topic (see below), that line should appear before the introductory line, but after the Wiktionary link. Each of these three should begin its own line (the Wiktionary template creates a box on the right side of the page).

When a dictionary definition should be included (see ), rather than writing a text entry, create a cross-link to Wiktionary, one of the . To do this, use one of these Wiktionary link templates on the first line:

When a page has "(disambiguation)" in its title – i.e., it is the disambiguation page for a term for which a primary topic has been identified – users are most likely to arrive there by clicking on a top link from the primary topic article, generated by a template in the {{}} series. For example, the article School contains the hatnote:

The primary topic is the one reached by using the disambiguation page title without the (disambiguation) qualifier. Capitalisation differences matter, so there will only be one primary topic for a title.

Since it is unlikely that this primary topic is what readers are looking for if they have reached the disambiguation page, it should not be mixed in with the other links. It is recommended that the link back to the primary topic appear at the top, in a brief explanatory sentence. For instance:

A school is an institution for learning.

School may also refer to:

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