Wiki:Disambiguation

This page is an official policy of the Soulbound Wiki. It describes how to handle names that have more than one meaning. Follow it when a title collides. Propose changes on the talk page first.

Disambiguation is how the wiki handles a single name that could mean more than one thing — for example a quest, an NPC and an item all called Ember. This policy expands on Manual of Style § Page titles and works hand in hand with Wiki:Redirecting.

The whole policy turns on how many distinct meanings a name has:

Meanings	What to do
One	No disambiguation needed. The name is the article's canonical title; redirect variant spellings to it.
Exactly two	Give each article a parenthetical title and place an `{{Otheruses}}` hatnote at the top of each, pointing at the other. Do not create a disambiguation page.
Three or more	Create a disambiguation page at the bare name, listing every meaning. Give each article a parenthetical title.

Parenthetical qualifiers

When a name is shared, the articles are distinguished by a qualifier in parentheses, lower-case, after a single space:

(quest)
(NPC)
(item) — or a more specific type where it helps, such as (weapon) or (location).

So Ember the quest is titled Ember (quest), Ember the character Ember (NPC), and Ember the item Ember (item).

The quest takes precedence for the bare name. Where a quest shares its name with a location, item or NPC and there are only two meanings, the quest keeps the unqualified title and the other meaning takes the qualifier. With three or more meanings the bare name becomes the disambiguation page and even the quest is qualified.

Choose the qualifier that a reader would recognise. Do not stack qualifiers (Ember (item) (rare) is wrong) and do not qualify a name that does not actually collide.

Exactly two meanings: the hatnote

When a name has just two meanings, a full disambiguation page is overkill. Instead:

Title both articles with parenthetical qualifiers (or leave the quest unqualified and qualify the other, per the rule above).
Put an {{Otheruses}}

hatnote at the very top of each article, before the infobox and lead, pointing at the other meaning.

Example — two meanings:

On Ember (NPC):

{{Otheruses|the character|the throwable flask|Ember (item)}}

On Ember (item):

{{Otheruses|the throwable flask|the character|Ember (NPC)}}

If one of the two is clearly the primary meaning, that article may hold the bare title and simply carry an {{Otheruses}}

hatnote to the other; the secondary meaning takes the qualifier.

Three or more meanings: the disambiguation page

When a name has three or more meanings, create a disambiguation page at the bare name. It is a short navigation page, not an article.

Every meaning gets its own parenthetically-qualified article — including the quest.
The bare name holds the disambiguation page.
Each meaning's article carries no hatnote to the others; the disambiguation page does that job. (Optionally, a {{Redirect}}

hatnote can note "Ember redirects here" where a former redirect target changed.)

Example — three meanings. Page title Ember:

{{Disambig}}
'''Ember''' may refer to:

* [[Ember (quest)]], a side quest in Everdune.
* [[Ember (NPC)]], a blacksmith found in Arcadia.
* [[Ember (item)]], a throwable flask that deals fire damage.

Rules for the list:

One bullet per meaning, each opening with the linked article title, followed by a short, plain description.
Link only to the target article in each line — do not pipe in extra links or write paragraphs.
Order by likely relevance (or by type, quests first), not alphabetically for its own sake.
The {{Disambig}}

template places the page in the disambiguation category and marks it as a navigation page; every disambiguation page must carry it.

What a disambiguation page is not

Not an article. No infobox, no lead paragraph of lore, no images, no categories beyond the one {{Disambig}}

applies.

Not a search page. List only genuine, distinct meanings of the same name — not every page that happens to contain the word.
Not a redirect target for partial matches. A name with only one real meaning is a normal article, not a one-entry disambiguation page.

Parenthetical qualifiers

Exactly two meanings: the hatnote

Three or more meanings: the disambiguation page

What a disambiguation page is not

See also