Template:Distinguish/doc

This template renders a hatnote intended to inform the reader of the existence of one or more articles whose title(s) bears a strong resemblance to the current article. This template is used in the cases where the distinction between the titles is so obvious that the reader needs no further explanation. For cases where an explanation is required, use {{For}} and {{About}}.

Usage

{{Distinguish|Foo}} →

Not to be confused with Foo.

{{Distinguish|Foo|Bar|Gaz}} →

Not to be confused with Foo, Bar, or Gaz.

{{Distinguish|text = custom [[text]], and [[foo]], a common example term}} →

Not to be confused with custom text, and foo, a common example term.

When to use

This hatnote is generally used when readers have misspelled their desired title, and the error would be apparent by simply displaying the alternative term without further explanation. For example, consider a reader looking for the punctuation mark who instead ends up at coma:

Coma →

Not to be confused with Comma.

Readers are presumed to recognize that they actually wanted comma by merely looking at the spelling, and this case generally requires no further explanation.

However, {{distinguish}} is not suitable when the difference is not readily apparent without additional details. Consider a reader looking for a game they believe is named Reversi:

Reversi →

Not to be confused with Reversis.

In the above hatnote, it is not generally apparent how the suggested Reversis is different from Reversi, which is also a game.

Reversi →

This template is about the board game. For the card game, see Reversis.

Using {{about}} instead of {{distinguish}}, the differences in the suggested article is explained upfront without requiring the reader to click through and differentiate the terms on their own.

{{Distinguish}} should only be used when the ambiguity exists for a portion of the readership that is sufficient to warrant a hatnote. Care should be taken to avoid trivial uses.

This hatnote can also be used to distinguish from multiple articles:

Not to be confused with Foo or Bar.

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData documentation for this template used by VisualEditor and other tools; see the monthly error report for this template.

TemplateData for Distinguish

Syntax error in JSON.

Redirects

• {{Confused}}
• {{Confuse}}
• {{Misspelling}}