Disambiguation pages with links
A disambiguation page should not have many pages linking to it. These pages are not articles. They are there to clarify and help readers in cases where there are two or more topics with a similar name. For example, if two or more famous people have the same name, a disambiguation page helps the reader find the article they want. Ideally, article pages should not link to disambiguation pages, except when the ambiguity (many meanings) of a term is being described. Instead, links should go directly to the right article. Where an article links to a disambiguation page on purpose, that link should be through a [[Foo (disambiguation)]] redirect, to make it clear that the link is on purpose. Links from namespaces other than articles are allowed, but still may need to be disambiguated. Redirects to disambiguation pages are not considered to be within the article namespace for purposes of this guideline.
How to help
- First, please read over Wikipedia:Disambiguation, which tells you how and when to disambiguate. It might also be a good idea to look at the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style for disambiguation pages. The guidelines are mostly the same on this wiki.
- Next, choose a disambiguation page to fix from the list on this page. Visit the disambiguation page you have chosen. Take a look at all the pages listed on it to see what they describe.
- Click on the What links here link in the "toolbox" on the left side of the screen.
- Visit each page that is listed. The most important pages to fix are article and template pages. User pages and "Wikipedia:" pages probably do not need to be fixed. Please do not change comments on talk pages—this is usually not allowed by the talk page guidelines. It's okay for redirects to point to a disambiguation page, but articles linking to those redirects need to be fixed.
- Change the link that goes to the disambiguation page so that it links to the right meaning listed on the disambiguation page.
- To help people find this page (so that they might help), consider using a change summary like:
Fixing links to disambiguation pages - [[Wikipedia:Disambiguation pages with links|You can help!]] - Please remember: it is more important to disambiguate correctly than to disambiguate quickly. Make sure you make the best choice; if you're not sure, leave a note on the talk page and let someone else who knows the subject better fix it.
- Sometimes, links can just be removed. Usually, a word should not be linked more than once in a single article or section. When the link refers to a meaning of the word for which there is no relevant article, make a red link to a possible title. If the meaning is not likely to be an enyclopedic subject, you might want to remove it or replace it with a link to [[:|Wiktionary]], using the shortcut [[]].
Tools and reports
Several automated tools can be used to make disambiguation easier. The English Wikipedia also has a guide to help you fix links more efficiently. All of the following tools work on Simple Wikipedia:
- AutoWikiBrowser is capable of mass disambiguation in semi-automatic mode. You must be approved for use of this tool at Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPageJSON. Once you download and install (see the AWB user manual for details), you must go to Options -> Preferences -> Site and select Language: simple.
- Wikipedia Cleaner is a Java-based tool designed to aid in various maintenance tasks, including fixing ambiguous links.
- Solve disambiguation.py is a python bot script designed to help fix ambiguous links.
Toolforge reports:
- Disambiguation pages with links - List of all disambiguation pages that are linked by articles. Updated hourly.
- Disambiguation link count - Get the number of mainspace links to your favorite disambiguation page. Updated in real time.
- Articles with the most disambiguation links - List of all articles that link to multiple disambiguation pages. Updated hourly.
- Disambiguation pages linked by an article - Look up all disambiguation pages linked from a single article. Updated in real time.
- Templates with disambiguation links - List of all templates that link to disambiguation pages - a quick way to identify and fix large numbers of disambiguation links with a single edit. Updated hourly.
- Low link disambigs - List of all disambiguation pages with five links or fewer. Includes list of the articles that link to each disambig. Updated hourly.
Other statistics and lists:
- Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:Disambiguation needed, links which have been explicitly marked as "disambiguation needed"
- Special:DisambiguationPageLinks, a special page listing links to disambiguation pages