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{{style-guideline|]<br>]<br>]}}
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'''Headings''' are used to divide an ] into ]. This helps writers to structure their text better and makes it easier for readers to understand the article.
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==Wording==
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*In general, heading titles should be ]s or ]s ("Effects of the wild", not "About the effects of the wild"). ''See also'' is an exception to this rule.
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*Definite and indefinite articles ("The", "A" and "An") should be omitted from the beginning of headings ("Mammals", 'not "The Mammals").
*Avoid restating the subject or article title, or of an enclosing section in headings<!--Unclear: what's an "enclosing section"?--> ("Early life", not "His early life"). The reader assumes the overall subject, which should not appear repeatedly in titles.

===Capitalization===<!-- This section is linked from ] -->
Capitalize the first letter of the first word and any ]s in headings, but leave the rest lower case. Thus "Rules and regulations", ''not'' "Rules and Regulations".

===Linking===
Avoid links within headings. Depending on settings, some users may not see them clearly. It is much better to put the appropriate link in the first sentence under the heading.

===Special characters===

Avoid using special characters in headings, such as an ampersand (&), a plus sign (+), curly braces ({}), or square braces (). In place of the ampersand, use the word "and" ''unless'' the ampersand is part of a formal name.

===Repetition of section titles===

Avoid repeating section titles. However, if this is necessary, the automatically generated Table of Contents will only be able to differentiate between the repeated titles if they have the same capitalization. Manual links to sections with repeated titles (regardless of capitalization) will always go to the first occurrence.

===Standard appendices===
{{See also|Misplaced Pages:Guide to layout#Standard appendices and descriptions}}
Some heading titles have standard wording, and for these, the wording or capitalization must not be changed. Two equally acceptable sequences exist, as shown below, and the choice of one over the other depends on the system of references and notes being used in the article.
*'''See also'''
*'''Notes'''
*'''References'''
*'''Further reading'''
*'''External links'''
or
*'''See also'''
*'''References'''
*'''Notes'''
*'''Further reading'''
*'''External links'''

There is usually no need to maintain both a Notes and References section, but it can be helpful. See ].

==Markup==
Use the <tt>==</tt> (two equal signs) style markup for headings, not the <nowiki>'''</nowiki> (triple apostrophes) used to make words appear '''bold''' in ].

Start with "<tt>==</tt>", add the heading title, then end with "<tt>==</tt>".

The reasons for this are:
* Sections can be linked to both internally and externally.
* Sections can be automatically numbered for users with that preference set.
* A ] can be automatically generated from the sections.
* Sections can be edited individually.
* Words within properly marked headers are given greater weight in searches.
* Visually impaired users may be using software which begins by giving a summary of the article, built from the heading tags.

===Nesting===<!-- This section is linked from ] -->
Nest headings correctly, for the same reasons as above. The hierarchy is as follows:
* the automatically-generated top-level heading of any page is a H1, which gives the article title;
* primary headings within the text of the article itself must therefore be H2, ie "<tt>==</tt>";
* below that, the sub-heading of "<tt>==</tt>" is "<tt>===</tt>";
* the sub-sub-heading below that is "<tt>====</tt>"… and so on.

Example:
<nowiki>==Heading 1==</nowiki>
<nowiki>===Heading 1.1===</nowiki>
<nowiki>====Heading 1.1.1====</nowiki>
<nowiki>==Heading 2==</nowiki>

===Bold and italic text===
Use of bold and italic text for emphasis within a heading is discouraged. However, italics may be used to typeset a title within a header when appropriate (see ]).

==Spaces==
Spaces above and below headings are completely optional. Spaces between the == and the heading text are also optional (<code>==Heading==</code> vs <code>== Heading ==</code>). With the current ] software, these extra spaces will not affect the appearance of the heading in any way; the rendered page is identical. ''Multiple'' blank lines ''will'' add white space, however.

It is much like the issue of whether to use ]. It only affects the appearance of the text in the edit box, so use whichever approach best facilitates editing for you, but don't add or remove these spaces just as an edit style preference as it can cause large differences to appear in the edit history.

Note that the ''Start a new discussion'' tab on a Talk: page (the "+" link) inserts a blank line before and after the heading, and spaces in between the == and the heading text. Some editors find this easier to read in the wikitext source code.

==Tables of contents (overview)==
For each article with more than three headings, a table of contents (TOC) is automatically generated from the section headings, unless:
*(for a user) preferences are set to turn it off
*(for an article) in the edit box the code <tt><nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki></tt> is added

The TOC is put before the first section header unless it is placed manually with the code <tt><nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki></tt>. Thus there may be some introductory text before it, known as the "lead". See ''']''' for recommendations on the length of the lead section.

When the <tt><nowiki>__TOC__</nowiki></tt> code is used, the TOC is available for articles with fewer than four headings.

For more on tables of contents see ].

===Floating the TOC===
The TOC can, when an editor chooses, be floated either right or left using {{tl|TOCright}} or {{tl|TOCleft}}. It is not always a good idea to do this. For more on floating the TOC, including guidelines on when it is advisable, see ].

==See also==
* ] explains sections and table of contents which are generated with creation of headings.

]

]
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