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The Misplaced Pages Guide to Layout is an annotated, working example of some of the basics of laying out an article.
This little article is not about how to use wiki markup; see Misplaced Pages:How to edit a page for that. This little article is not about style; see Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style for that. This little article is just a summary of what some fairly clean, simple Misplaced Pages articles look like. For more complicated articles, you may want to copy the markup of some existing article you like the looks of.
Introductory material
The subject of the article should be mentioned in bold text ('''subject''') at a natural place in the first sentence, or at least the first paragraph. The name of the subject may appear slightly different from the title of the page, or may include variations, but normally it is identical to the page title.
If the article is long enough to contain several paragraphs, the first paragraph should be short and to the point, with a clear explanation of what the subject of the page is. If further introductory material is needed before the first header, then this can be given in additional paragraphs. It is common for introductions to biographical articles to dual as summaries, mentioning the most prominent achievements of the subject.
Introductory paragraphs should precede sections; in particular, they should not be in an ==Introduction== section of their own. The table of contents will automatically follow the introduction, preceding the first named section.
Links
Wikified articles link significant words to the corresponding article, for example, an article might mention pancakes without explaining what they are. Not every word should be linked, just helpful ones. Long stretches without links are unusual.
Structure of the article
Paragraphs should be relatively short, as the eye gets tired of following solid text for too many lines. Similarly, articles themselves should be kept relatively short. Articles are generally prose paragraphs, not bullet points. But lists may be included for reference.
Headers also help make an article clearer and determine the table of contents; see Misplaced Pages:Section. Since headers are hierarchical, and some people set their user preferences to number them, you should start with ==Header== and follow it with ===Subheader===, ====Subsubheader====, and so forth. Yes, the ==Header== is awfully big in some browsers, but that can be fixed in the future with a style sheet more easily than a nonhierarchical article structure can be fixed.
On the other hand, overuse of sub-headings should be avoided, as it can make the article look cluttered. Short paragraphs and single sentences generally do not warrant their own sub-heading, and in these circumstances it may be preferable to use bullet points or bolded text instead.
The degree to which subtopics should be kept on a single page or given their own pages is a matter of judgment.
Images
If the article can be illustrated with pictures, find an appropriate place to position these images. For more information, see Misplaced Pages:Picture tutorial.
Standardized appendices
Certain optional standardized sections go at the bottom of the article, as you see below.
Quotations
Under this header, list any memorable quotations that are appropriate to the subject.
- "Misquotations are the only quotations that are never misquoted." — Hesketh Pearson, Common Misquotations (1934)
This header is somewhat deprecated. Usually, the most relevant quotes can be placed directly into the article text in order to illustrate the topic. Lists of quotes are generally moved to Wikiquote and the Quotations section as a whole is replaced with a {{wikiquote}} badge, usually placed at the top of the external links section.
See also
Put here, in a bulleted list, other articles in the Misplaced Pages that are related to this one.
Related topics ought to be grouped by subject area for ease of navigation. Please also provide a brief explanatory sentence, when the relevance of the added links is not immediately apparent - like so:
- Related person made a similar achievement in 2005.
Or for a less formal feel you can simply use this:
See also: Main page, Recent changes
References
Put under this header, again in a bulleted list, any books, articles, web pages, etcetera that you used in constructing the article and/or recommend as sources of further information to readers.
- Pooh, W. T. & Robin, C. (1926). "How to catch a heffalump" in A. A. Milne (Ed.), The Karma of Kanga, pp. 23–47. Hundred Acre Wood: Wol Press. ISBN 999999999
The most important thing is to include the complete citation information, just as you would for any other bibliography; the precise formatting is still debatable and can be fixed later. See also: Misplaced Pages:Cite your sources and Misplaced Pages:ISBN.
External links
Put here, in list form, any web sites that you have used or recommend for readers of the article. Describe it if possible (see Misplaced Pages:Guide to writing better articles#Standard appendices)
(Some editors prefer to list external links under "References"; there is currently no consensus on the desirability of a separate section for online citations.)
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