View source for Wiki143:Manual of Style/Layout

{{short description|Style guide which presents the typical layout of Wikipedia articles}}
{{About|the layout of Wikipedia articles|the layout of Wikipedia talk pages|Wikipedia:Talk page layout}}
{{Pp-semi|small=yes}}
{{Style-guideline|MOS:LAYOUT|MOS:STRUCTURE|WP:MOSLAYOUT}}
{{Style}}
[[File:Wikipedia layout sample large.png|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=An article with a table of contents block and an image near the start, then several sections|Sample article layout (click on image for larger view)]]

This guide presents the typical '''layout''' of Wikipedia articles, including the sections an article usually has, ordering of sections, and formatting styles for various elements of an article. For advice on the use of wiki [[Markup language|markup]], see [[Help:Editing]]; for guidance on writing style, see [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]].

__TOC__
{{anchor|ORDER}}

==Order of article elements<span id="Order of sections"></span>==
{{shortcut|MOS:ORDER|MOS:SECTIONORDER|WP:ORDER}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Section headings|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section#Order|Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists#Chronological ordering}}

A [[Wikipedia:Stub#Creating and improving a stub article|simple article]] should have, at least, (a) a lead section and (b) references. The following list includes additional standardized sections in an article. A complete article need not have all, or even most, of these elements.
# Before the article content
## [[Wikipedia:Short description|Short description]]<ref>Discussed in [[Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Layout/Archive 12#Short descriptions|2018]] and [[Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Layout/Archive 13#Where to put &lcub;&lcub;short description&rcub;&rcub;|2019]].</ref>
## {{tl|DISPLAYTITLE}}, {{tl|Lowercase title}}, {{tl|Italic title}}<ref>Per the template documentation at {{Section link|Template:Italic title/doc#Location on page}}</ref> (some of these may also be placed before the infobox<ref>Per the RFC at {{Section link|Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Layout/Archive 14#DISPLAYTITLE}}</ref> or after the infobox<ref>Per the template documentation at {{Section link|Template:DISPLAYTITLE#Instructions}}</ref>)
## [[Wikipedia:Hatnote|Hatnotes]]
## {{tl|Featured list}}, {{tl|Featured article}} and {{tl|Good article}} (where appropriate for article status)
## Deletion&nbsp;/ protection tags ([[Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion|CSD]], [[Wikipedia:Proposed deletion|PROD]], [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion|AFD]], [[:Category:Protection templates|PP]] notices)
## [[Wikipedia:Maintenance tags|Maintenance]], [[Wikipedia:Cleanup tags|cleanup]], and [[Wikipedia:Template messages/Disputes|dispute]] tags
## Templates relating to [[WP:ENGVAR|English variety]] and [[Wikipedia:Overview of date formatting guidelines|date format]]<ref>The matter was discussed in [[Template talk:Use dmy dates/Archive 1#Changing placement|2012]], [[Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Layout/Archive 11#Order of article elements: what about Italic title, Use DMY dates, etc ?|2014]], and [[Template talk:Use dmy dates/Archive 1#Placement|2015]].</ref>{{efn|These templates (see [[:Category:Use English templates]]) can also be placed at the end of an article.}}
## [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Infoboxes|Infoboxes]]{{efn|It is important that hatnotes and maintenance/dispute tags appear on the first page of the article. On the mobile site, the first paragraph of the lead section is moved above the infobox for the sake of readability. Since the infobox is generally more than one page long, putting hatnotes, etc., after it will result in them being placed after the first page, making them less effective.}}
## [[:Category:Language maintenance templates|Language maintenance templates]]
## [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Layout#Images|Images]]
## [[#Navigation templates|Navigation header templates]] ([[WP:SIDEBAR|sidebar templates]])
# Article content
## [[Wikipedia:Lead section|Lead section]] (also called the introduction)
## [[Help:Section#Table of contents (TOC)|Table of contents]]
## [[#Body sections|Body]] (see [[#Specialized layout|below]] for specialized layout)
# [[#Standard appendices and footers|Appendices]]<ref name="sequence">This sequence has been in place since at least [[Special:PermanentLink/2166480|December 2003]] (when "See also" was called "Related topics"). See, for example, [[Wikipedia:Perennial proposals#Changes to standard appendices|Wikipedia:Perennial proposals § Changes to standard appendices]].</ref>{{efn|The original rationale for the ordering of the appendices is that, with the exception of "Works", sections which contain material outside Wikipedia (including "Further reading" and "External links") should come after sections that contain Wikipedia material (including "See also") to help keep the distinction clear. The sections containing notes and references often contain both kinds of material and, consequently, appear after the "See also" section (if any) and before the "Further reading" section (if any). Whatever the merits of the original rationale, there is now the additional factor that readers have come to expect the appendices to appear in this order.}}
## [[#Works or publications|Works or publications]] (for biographies only)
## [[#"See also" section|See also]]
## [[#Notes and references|Notes and references]] (this can be two sections in some citation systems)
## [[#Further reading|Further reading]]
## [[#External links|External links]]{{efn|There are several reasons why this section should appear as the last appendix section. So many articles have the "External links" section at the end that many people expect this to be the case. Some "External links" and "References" (or "Footnotes", etc.) sections are quite long and, when the name of the section is not visible on the screen, it could cause problems if someone meant to delete an external link but deleted a reference citation instead. Keeping the "External links" last is also helpful to editors who patrol external links.}}
# {{anchor|End matter}}[[#Standard appendices and footers|End matter]]
## [[Wikipedia:Succession boxes|Succession boxes]] and geography boxes
## Other [[#Navigation templates|navigation footer templates]] ([[WP:NAVBOX|navboxes]])<ref>[[Wikipedia talk:Layout/Archive 5#What is the rationale of putting navboxes at the very bottom?|Rationale for placing navboxes at the end of the article.]]</ref>
## {{tl|Portal bar}}{{efn|This template is primarily used when [[Template:Portal]] would cause formatting problems.}} (or {{tl|Subject bar}})
## {{tl|Taxonbar}}
## [[Wikipedia:Authority control|Authority control]] templates
## [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers#Geographical coordinates|Geographical coordinates]] (if not in the infobox) or {{tl|coord missing}}
## [[Help:Category#Default sort key|Defaultsort]]
## [[Wikipedia:Categorization|Categories]]{{efn|While categories are entered on the editing page ahead of stub templates, they appear on the visual page in a separate box after the stub templates. One of the reasons this happens is that every stub template generates a stub category, and those stub categories appear after the "main" categories. Another is that certain bots and scripts are set up to expect the categories, stubs and [[Help:Interlanguage links|interlanguage links]] to appear in that order, and will reposition them if they don't. Therefore, any manual attempt to change the order is futile unless the bots and scripts are also altered.}}
## {{t|Improve categories}} or {{tl|Uncategorized}} (These can alternatively be placed with other maintenance templates before the article content)
## [[Wikipedia:Stub|Stub templates]] (follow [[WP:STUBSPACING]])

==Body sections==
{{Shortcut|MOS:BODY}}
{{further|Help:Section|Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Article titles, headings, and sections}}
Articles longer than a [[wp:stub|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. Recommended names and orders of section headings may [[#Specialized layout|vary by subject matter]], although articles should still follow good organizational and writing principles regarding sections and paragraphs.

===Headings and sections===
{{shortcut|MOS:OVERSECTION}}
{{further|Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Section headings}}
[[File:Wikipedia layout sample bodies.png|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=The same article, with the central left highlighted: it contains just text in sections.|Body sections appear after the lead and table of contents (click on image for larger view).]]

Headings introduce sections and subsections, clarify articles by breaking up text, organize content, and populate the [[Help:Section#Table of contents (TOC)|table of contents]]. Very short sections and subsections clutter an article with headings and inhibit the flow of the prose. Short paragraphs and single sentences generally do not warrant their own subheadings.

Headings follow a six-level hierarchy, starting at 1 and ending at 6. The level of the heading is defined by the number of equals signs on each side of the title. Heading 1 (<code>= Heading&nbsp;1 =</code>) is automatically generated as the title of the article, and is never appropriate within the body of an article. Sections start at the second level (<code>== Heading&nbsp;2 ==</code>), with subsections at the third level (<code>=== Heading&nbsp;3 ===</code>), and additional levels of subsections at the fourth level (<code>==== Heading&nbsp;4 ====</code>), fifth level, and sixth level. Sections should be consecutive, such that they do not skip levels from sections to sub-subsections; the exact methodology is part of the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility|Accessibility]] guideline.{{efn|1=For example, skipping heading levels, such as jumping from <code>== Heading&nbsp;2 ==</code> to <code>==== Heading&nbsp;4 ====</code> without <code>=== Heading&nbsp;3 ===</code> in the middle, violates [[Wikipedia:Accessibility]] as it reduces usability for users of screen readers who use heading levels to navigate pages.}} Between sections, there should be a {{em|single}} blank line: multiple blank lines in the edit window create too much white space in the article. There is no need to include a blank line between a heading and sub-heading. When changing or removing a heading, consider adding an [[Template:Anchor|anchor template]] with the original heading name to provide for [[wp:incoming external links|incoming external links]] and [[wp:wikilink|wikilink]]s (preferably using <code><nowiki>{{subst:anchor}}</nowiki></code> rather than using <code><nowiki>{{anchor}}</nowiki></code> directly—see [[MOS:RENAMESECTION]]).

===Section order{{Anchor|Names and orders for section headings}}===
{{short|MOS:SNO}}
{{See also|Help:Section|WP:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Headings|WP:Manual of Style#Section headings|WP:Manual of Style/Capital letters#Section headings}}

Because of the diversity of subjects it covers, Wikipedia has no general standard or guideline regarding the order of section headings within the body of an article. The usual practice is to order body sections based on the precedent of similar articles. For exceptions, see [[#Specialized layout|Specialized layout]] below.

===Section templates and summary style===
<!--Linked from [[Wikipedia:How to copy-edit]]-->
{{further|WP:SUMMARYHATNOTE|Wikipedia:Summary style#Templates}}

When a section is a [[Wikipedia:Summary style|summary]] of another article that provides a full exposition of the section, a link to the other article should appear immediately under the section heading. You can use the {{tlx|Main}} template to generate a "Main article" link, in Wikipedia's [[Wikipedia:Hatnote|"hatnote"]] style.

If one or more articles provide further information or additional details (rather than a full exposition, see above), links to such articles may be placed immediately after the section heading for that section, provided this does not duplicate a wikilink in the text. These additional links should be grouped along with the {{tnull|Main}} template (if there is one), or at the foot of the section that introduces the material for which these templates provide additional information. You can use one of the following templates to generate these links:
* {{tlx|Further}}{{snd}} generates a "Further information" link
* {{tlx|See also}}{{snd}} generates a "See also" link

For example, to generate a "See also" link to the article on [[Wikipedia:How to edit a page]], type {{tlx|See also|Wikipedia:How to edit a page}}, which will generate:
{{xt|{{See also|Wikipedia:How to edit a page}}}}

===Paragraphs===
{{shortcut|MOS:PARA|MOS:LINEBREAKS}}
{{redirect|MOS:LINEBREAKS|preventing line breaks|Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Controlling line breaks}}
{{See also|WP:Writing better articles#Paragraphs|Help:Wikitext#Line breaks|WP:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Indentation}}

Sections usually consist of paragraphs of running prose, each dealing with a particular point or idea. Single-sentence paragraphs can inhibit the flow of the text; by the same token, long paragraphs become hard to read. Between paragraphs—as between sections—there should be only a {{em|single}} blank line. First lines are {{em|not}} indented. 

[[Bullet (typography)#Bullet points|Bullet points]] should not be used in the lead of an article.  They may be used in the body to break up a mass of text, particularly if the topic requires significant effort to comprehend. Sometimes, it may be preferable to use bullet points instead of having a series of very short paragraphs. However, bulleted lists are typical in the reference, further reading, and external links sections towards the end of the article. Bullet points are usually not separated by blank lines, as that causes an accessibility issue (''see'' [[MOS:LISTGAP]] for ways to create multiple paragraphs within list items that do not cause this issue).

==Standard appendices and footers<span id="Standard appendices and descriptions"></span><span id="standard appendices"></span>==
{{shortcut|MOS:APPENDIX|MOS:FOOTERS}}
{{for|the list and order of common appendices and footers|#Order of article elements}}

===Headings===
When appendix sections are used, they should appear at the bottom of an article, with <code>==level 2 headings==</code>,{{efn|1=Syntax:
<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext" style="color: #000000; background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #8FBC8F; font-size:111%;">
==See also==
* [[Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]
* [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]]
</syntaxhighlight>

Which produces:
<blockquote style="background: #FFFFFF; padding: 1em; border: 1px solid #999999; font-size:111%;">
{{fake heading|See also}}
* [[Wikipedia:How to edit a page]]
* [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style]]
</blockquote>}} followed by the various footers. When it is useful to sub-divide these sections (for example, to separate a list of magazine articles from a list of books), this should be done using level 3 headings (<code>===Books===</code>) instead of [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists#Description (definition, association) lists|definition list headings]] (<code>;Books</code>), as explained in the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Accessibility#Lists|accessibility guidelines]].

===Works or publications<span id="works"></span><span id="Works or Publications or Bibliography"></span>===
{{shortcut|MOS:LAYOUTWORKS|MOS:BIB}}
{{further|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists of works}}

'''Contents:''' A bulleted list, usually ordered chronologically, of the works created by the subject of the article.

'''Heading names:''' Many different headings are used, depending on the subject matter. "Works" is preferred when the list includes items that are not written publications (e.g. music, films, paintings, choreography, or architectural designs), or if multiple types of works are included. "Publications", "Discography" or "Filmography" are occasionally used where appropriate; however, "Bibliography" is discouraged because it is not clear whether it is limited to the works of the subject of the article.<ref>[[WT:Manual of Style/Layout/Archive 7#Bibliography|Rationale for discouraging the use of "Bibliography."]]</ref>{{efn|1=[https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=insource%3A%2F%3D%5Cs%2A%28Selected+b%7CB%29ibliography%5Cs%2A%3D%2F&title=Special:Search&profile=advanced&fulltext=1&ns0=1 Find all examples] of "Bibliography" and "Selected bibliography"}} "Works" or "Publications" should be plural, even if it lists only a single item.{{efn|name=pluralHeading|For further information, see [[Wikipedia:External links#External links section|Wikipedia:External links § External links section]].}}

==="See also" section<span id="See also section"></span>===
{{shortcut|MOS:SEEALSO|MOS:ALSO}}
{{for|the placement of "see also" notes at the top of an article|WP:RELATED}}
{{see also|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lists#Related topics (navigational lists)}}
A "See also" section is a useful way to organize [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking|internal links]] to related or comparable articles and "[[MOS:BTW|build the web]]". However, the section itself is not required; many high-quality and comprehensive articles do not have one. 

The section should be a bulleted list, sorted either logically (for example, by subject matter), chronologically, or alphabetically. Consider using {{tlx|Columns-list}} or {{tlx|Div col}} if the list is lengthy.

'''Contents:''' Links in this section should be relevant and limited to a reasonable number. Whether a link belongs in the "See also" section is ultimately a matter of editorial judgment and [[Wikipedia:What "Ignore all rules" means#Use common sense|common sense]]. One purpose of "See also" links is to enable readers to explore tangentially related topics; however, articles linked should be related to the topic of the article or be in the same defining category. For example, the article on [[Jesus]] might include a link to [[List of people claimed to be Jesus]] because it is related to the subject but not otherwise linked in the article. The article on [[Tacos]] might include [[Fajita]] as another example of Mexican cuisine.

{{shortcut|MOS:NOTSEEALSO|MOS:NOTSEEAGAIN}}

{{anchor|NOTSEEALSO}}The "See also" section should {{em|not}} include [[Wikipedia:Red link|red links]], links to [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation|disambiguation pages]] (unless used in a disambiguation page for [[MOS:DABSEEALSO|further disambiguation]]), or [[Wikipedia:External links|external links]] (including links to pages within [[Wikipedia:Wikimedia sister projects|Wikimedia sister projects]]). As a general rule, the "See also" section should {{em|not}} repeat links that appear in the article's body.<ref>The community has rejected past proposals to do away with this guidance. See, for example, [[Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Layout/Archive 12#RfC: remove the proscription against previously-linked terms in the "See also" section?|this RfC]].</ref>

Editors should provide a brief annotation when a link's relevance is not immediately apparent, when the meaning of the term may not be generally known, or when the term is ambiguous. For example:
:* [[Joe Shmoe]]{{snd}}made a similar achievement on April 4, 2005
:* [[Ischemia]]{{snd}}restriction in blood supply
The "{{snd}}" dash can be generated using {{tlx|snd}},

If the linked article has a [[WP:Short description|short description]] then you can use {{tl|Annotated link}} to automatically generate an annotation. For example, {{tlx|Annotated link|Winston Churchill}} will produce:
:* {{annotated link|Winston Churchill}}

'''Other internal links:''' {{tlx|Portal}} links are usually placed in this section. As an alternative, {{tlx|Portal bar}} may be placed with the end matter navigation templates. See relevant template documentation for correct placement.

'''Heading name:''' The standardized name for this section is "See also".

===Notes and references<span id="Notes"></span><span id="References"></span><span id="Notes or references"></span>===
{{shortcut|MOS:FNNR|MOS:NOTES|MOS:REFERENCES}}
{{hatnote|For how to generate and format these sections, see [[Help:Footnotes]], [[Help:Shortened footnotes]], and [[Wikipedia:Citing sources]] (particularly {{slink|Wikipedia:Citing sources|How to create the list of citations|nopage=yes}}).}}
{{Redirect|MOS:NOTES|hatnotes|Wikipedia:Hatnotes|Musical notes|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Music#Images and notation}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Text formatting#Citations}}
[[File:Wikipedia layout sample Notes References.png|thumb|upright=0.8|alt=The same article, with a horizontal section near the bottom highlighted, containing a two-column and a one-column section.|Notes and References appear after See also (click on image for larger view).]]

'''Contents:''' This section, or series of sections, may contain any or all of the following:

# [[Help:Footnotes#Footnotes: predefined groups|Explanatory footnotes]] that give information which is too detailed or awkward to be in the body of the article
# [[Wikipedia:Citing sources#Inline citations|Citation footnotes]] (either short citations or full citations) that connect specific material in the article with specific sources
# Full citations to sources, if [[Wikipedia:Citing sources#Short citations|short citations]] are used in the footnotes
# [[Wikipedia:Citing sources#General references|General references]] (full bibliographic citations to sources that were consulted in writing the article but that are not explicitly connected to any specific material in the article)

[[Wikipedia:Citing sources#Variation in citation methods|Editors may use any citation method they choose]], but it should be consistent within an article.

If there are both citation footnotes and explanatory footnotes, then they may be combined in a single section, or separated using the [[Help:Footnotes#Grouping footnotes|grouped footnotes]] function. General references and other full citations may similarly be either combined or separated (e.g. "References" and "General references"). There may therefore be one, two, three or four sections in all.

It is most common for only citation footnotes to be used, and therefore it is most common for only one section ("References") to be needed. Usually, if the sections are separated, then explanatory footnotes are listed first, short citations or other footnoted citations are next, and any full citations or general references are listed last. General references should be sorted logically (for example, by subject matter), chronologically, or alphabetically.

'''Heading names:''' Editors may use any reasonable section and subsection names that they choose.{{efn|One reason this guideline does not standardize section headings for citations and explanatory notes is that Wikipedia draws editors from many disciplines (history, English, science, etc.), each with its own note and reference section-naming convention (or conventions). For more, see [[Wikipedia:Perennial proposals#Changes to standard appendices|Wikipedia:Perennial proposals § Changes to standard appendices]], [[Wikipedia:Perennial proposals#Establish a house citation style|§ Establish a house citation style]], and [[Template:Cnote2/example]].}} The most frequent choice is "References". Other options, in diminishing order of popularity, are "Notes", "Footnotes" or "Works cited", although these are more often used to distinguish between multiple end-matter sections or subsections.

Several alternate titles ("Sources", "Citations", "Bibliography") may also be used, although each is questionable in some contexts: "Sources" may be confused with [[source code]] in computer-related articles, product purchase locations, river origins, [[journalism sourcing]], etc.; "Citations" may be confused with official awards, or a summons to court; "Bibliography" may be confused with the complete list of printed works by the subject of a biography ("Works" or "Publications").

If multiple sections are wanted, then some possibilities include:
* For a list of explanatory footnotes or shortened citation footnotes: "Notes", "Endnotes" or "Footnotes"
* For a list of full citations or general references: "References" or "Works cited"

With the exception of "Bibliography", the heading should be plural even if it lists only a single item.{{efn|name=pluralHeading}}

===Further reading===
<!-- Please note that "Bibliography" is an alternate title for the works section and is also used as a title in some articles' notes and references sections. Accordingly, it is not suggested as a title here. -->
{{shortcut|MOS:FURTHER}}
{{See also|Wikipedia:Further reading}}

'''Contents:''' An optional bulleted list, usually alphabetized, of a reasonable number of publications that would help interested readers learn more about the article subject. Editors may include brief annotations. Publications listed in [[Wikipedia:Further reading|further reading]] are formatted in the same [[WP:CITE#HOW|citation style]] used by the rest of the article. The Further reading section should not duplicate the content of the External links section, and should normally not duplicate the content of the References section, unless the References section is too long for a reader to use as part of a general reading list. This section is not intended as a repository for [[WP:General references|general references]] or full citations that were used to create the article content. Any links to external websites included under "Further reading" are subject to the guidelines described at [[Wikipedia:External links]].

===External links===
{{shortcut|MOS:LAYOUTEL|MOS:ELLAYOUT}}
{{main|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Linking#External links section|Wikipedia:External links}}

'''Contents:''' A bulleted list of recommended [[Wikipedia:External links#What can normally be linked|relevant websites]], each accompanied by a short description. These hyperlinks should not appear in the article's body text, nor should links used as references normally be duplicated in this section. "External links" should be plural, even if it lists only a single item.{{efn| name=pluralHeading}} Depending on the nature of the link contents, this section may be accompanied or replaced by a [[#Further reading|"Further reading"]] section.

====Links to sister projects====
{{main article|Wikipedia:Wikimedia sister projects}}

Links to [[Wikipedia:Wikimedia sister projects|Wikimedia sister projects]] and {{tlx|Spoken Wikipedia}} should be placed in the last section of the page, which is usually "External links".  If the article does not already have an "External links" section, then you may choose whether to place larger sister link(s) (such as {{tl|Sister project links}} or {{tl|Commons category}}) in whatever the last section is (usually "References"), or to create an "External links" section and use the less common ''inline'' form of these templates (e.g., {{tl|Commons-inline}}). 

{{commonscat|Wikipedia logos}}
* Box-type templates (such as {{tlx|Commons category}}, shown here for the [[c:Category:Wikipedia logos]] at Commons) have to be put at the beginning of the last section of the article so that boxes will appear next to, rather than below, the list items. (Do {{em|not}} make a section whose sole content is box-type templates.)
* "Inline" templates are used when box-type templates are not desirable, either because they result in a long sequence of right-aligned boxes hanging off the bottom of the article, or because there are no external links except sister project ones. "Inline" templates, such as {{tlx|Commons category-inline}}, create links to sister projects that appear as list items, like this:
** {{commons category-inline|Wikimedia Foundation}}

===Navigation templates===
{{shortcut|MOS:LAYOUTNAV|MOS:NAVLAYOUT}}
{{main article|Wikipedia:Categories, lists, and navigation templates#Navigation templates}}

An article may end with [[Wikipedia:Navigation template|Navigation templates]] and footer navboxes, such as [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Succession Box Standardization#Overview|succession boxes]] and geography boxes (for example, {{tlx|Geographic location}}). Most navboxes do not appear in printed versions of Wikipedia articles.{{efn|The [[User talk:Ruud Koot/2010#Do you recall the reason?|rationale]] for not printing navigation boxes is that these templates mostly consist of [[wikilink]]s that are of no use to print readers. There are two problems with this rationale: first, other wikilink content does print, for example [[#See also section|"See also" sections]] and [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Succession Box Standardization#Overview|succession boxes]]; second, some navigation boxes contain useful information regarding the relationship of the article to the subjects of related articles.<!--This claim should be reviewed periodically; e.g., most hatnotes have been moved to Lua module code which auto-applies the "unprintworthy" class unless told not to, and succession and other navigation boxes may have class="unprintworthy" or equivalent applied to them.-->}}

:{{xref|For navigation templates in the lead, see {{slink|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section |Sidebars}}.}}

==Specialized layout==
[[Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists|Stand-alone lists]] and [[Wikipedia:Talk page layout|talk pages]] have their own layout designs.

Certain topics have Manual of Style pages that provide layout advice, including:
* [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Chemistry#Article types|Chemistry]]
* [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Film#Primary content|Film]]
* [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Medicine-related articles#Content_sections|Medicine]], for articles on treatments, procedures, medical products, fields of medicine, and other concepts
* [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Television|Television]]
* [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Video games#Layout|Video games]]

Some WikiProjects have [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Guide#Advice pages|advice pages]] that include layout recommendations. You can find those pages at [[:Category:WikiProject style advice]].

==Formatting==
===Images===
{{shortcut|MOS:LAYIM}}
{{main article|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Images}}

Each image should ideally be located in the section to which it is most relevant, and most should carry an explanatory [[Wikipedia:Captions|caption]]. An image that would otherwise overwhelm the text space available within a [[Display resolution|1024×768 window]] should generally be formatted as described in relevant formatting guidelines (e.g. [[WP:IMAGESIZE]], [[MOS:IMGSIZE]], {{Section link|Help:Pictures#Panoramas}}). Try to harmonize the sizes of images on a given page in order to maintain visual coherence.

If "stacked" images in one section spill over into the next section at 1024×768 screen resolution, there may be too many images in that section. If an article overall has so many images that they lengthen the page beyond the length of the text itself, you can use a [[Wikipedia:Picture tutorial#Galleries|gallery]]; or you can create a page or category combining all of them at [[Wikimedia Commons]] and use a relevant template ({{tl|Commons}}, {{tl|Commons category}}, {{tl|Commons-inline}} or {{tl|Commons category-inline}}) to link to it instead, so that further images are readily available when the article is expanded. See {{section link|Wikipedia:Image use policy|Image galleries}} for further information on galleries.

Use {{para|upright|{{var|scaling factor}}}} to adjust the size of images; for example, {{para|upright|1.3}} displays an image 30% larger than the default, and {{para|upright|0.60}} displays it 40% smaller. Lead images should usually be no larger than {{para|upright|1.35}}.

Avoid article text referring to images as being to the left, right, above or below, because image placement varies with platform (especially mobile platforms) and screen size, and is meaningless to people using screen readers; instead, use captions to identify images.

===Horizontal rule<span id="Horizontal dividing line"></span>===
{{shortcut|MOS:HR|MOS:----}}
[[Help:Wikitext#Horizontal rule|Horizontal rules]] are sometimes used in some special circumstances, such as inside {{tl|sidebar}} template derivatives, but not in regular article prose.

===Collapsible content===
As explained at [[MOS:COLLAPSE]], limit the use of {{tl|Collapse top}}/{{tl|Collapse bottom}} and similar templates in articles. That said, they can be [[WP:TALKOFFTOPIC|useful in talk pages]].

==See also==
* [[Help:Section]]
* [[Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines]]&nbsp;– shows how to use headings on talk pages
* [[Wikipedia:Talk page layout]]

==Notes==
{{Notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Writing guides|state=expanded}}
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{{Wikipedia policies and guidelines}}

[[Category:Wikipedia how-to]]
[[Category:Wikipedia Manual of Style (layout)| ]]