The Wikipedia Guide to Layout is an annotated, working example of some of the basics of laying out an article. It is a summary of what some articles look like. For more complicated articles, you may wish to copy the markup of an existing article that appears to have an appropriate structure.

This guide is not about how to use wiki markup (see Help:Editing for that); nor is it about style (see Wikipedia:Manual of Style for that).

Unless an article is very short, it should start with a lead section comprising one or more introductory paragraphs. The lead is shown above the table of contents (for pages with more than three headings). The appropriate lead length depends on the length of the article, but should be no longer than three paragraphs. The lead should not be explicitly entitled == Introduction == or any equivalent header.

The subject of the article should be mentioned in bold text ('''subject''') at a natural place, preferably in the first sentence,

Normally, the first paragraph clearly explains the subject so that the reader is prepared for the greater level of detail to follow. If further introductory material is needed before the first section, this can be covered in subsequent paragraphs. Introductions to biographical articles commonly double as summaries, listing the best-known achievements of the subject.

First paragraph

The title or subject should almost always be part of the first sentence or elsewhere in the first paragraph.

• The Pythagorean theorem is named after and attributed to the 6th century BC Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras

The '''Pythagorean theorem''' is named after and attributed to the [[6th century BC]] Greek philosopher and mathematician [[Pythagoras]]

• Tom and Jerry — Pairing of names from Pierce Egan's Life in London

'''Tom and Jerry''' — Pairing of names from [[Pierce Egan]]'s ''Life in London''

If the subject of the article has more than one name, each new form of the name should be in bold on its first appearance.

• Sodium hydroxide (NaOH), also known as caustic soda or lye...

'''Sodium hydroxide''' ([[sodium|Na]][[oxygen|O]][[hydrogen|H]]), also known as '''caustic soda''' or '''lye'''....

If an article's title has a parenthetical disambiguator, it should not be included in the bold text. * Cream (food) should start with "Cream is a dairy product...", not "Cream (food) is a dairy product...".

Make the context clear in the first few words.

• In quantum physics, the Heisenberg uncertainty principle...

In [[quantum physics]], the '''Heisenberg uncertainty principle'''...

Avoid links in the bold title words, and avoid circular definitions. However, most words describing titles should be linked to more detail.

• Buddhist meditation, meditation used in the practice of Buddhism, "includes any method of meditation that has Enlightenment as its ultimate aim." (Kamalashila 1996)

'''Buddhist meditation''', [[meditation]] used in the practice of [[Buddhism]], "includes any method of meditation that has Enlightenment as its ultimate aim." (Kamalashila 1996)

"See also" line at top

A "see also" line is sometimes put at the beginning, to link to an article about another meaning of the word, or in the case of a link that many readers are likely to follow instead of reading the article. Do not make this initial "see also" a section. In such cases, the line should be italicized and indented using templates. A horizontal line should not be placed under this line.

Adding square brackets ([[...]]) around a word or phrase is an important part of Wikifying articles. This links significant words to a corresponding article that contains information that will help the reader to understand the original article. For example, an article might mention 'pancakes' without explaining what they are, although a brief phrase explaining the term might be more appropriate in many instances. An article about laser beams might provide helpful background material when mentioned in passing. It is important to follow the links that you have added and check that they lead to the right page. For advice about what to link and what not to link, see Wikipedia:Make only links relevant to the context, Wikipedia:Manual of Style (links)#Internal links and Wikipedia:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)#Date formatting. Useful links that are not mentioned in the prose paragraphs can be added to the "see also" section.

Structure of the article

The number of single-sentence paragraphs should be minimized, since these can inhibit the flow of the text. By the same token, paragraphs become hard to read once they exceed a certain length.

Articles generally comprise prose paragraphs, not bullet points; however, sometimes a bulleted list can break up what would otherwise be an overly large, grey mass of text, particularly if the topic requires significant effort on the part of readers. Bulleted lists should not be overused in the main text, but are typical in the reference and reading sections at the bottom.

Headings help to make an article clearer, and populate the table of contents; see Wikipedia:Section, which users can choose under 'Preferences' to view (the default) or not to view. Headings are hierarchical, so you should start with == Header == and follow it with === Subheader ===, ==== Subsubheader ====, and so forth. The 'second-level' == Header == is overly large in some browsers, but that can be fixed for individual viewers with a style sheet more easily than a nonhierarchical article structure can be fixed (see help:User style).

Just as for paragraphs, sections and subsections that are very short will make the article look cluttered and inhibit the flow. Short paragraphs and single sentences generally do not warrant their own subheading, and in these circumstances, it may be preferable to use bullet points.

The degree to which subtopics should appear in a single article or be given their own pages is a matter of judgment and of controlling the total length of the article.

Between paragraphs and between sections, there should be only a single blank line. Multiple blank lines unnecessarily lengthen the article and can make it more difficult to read.

If a section is a summary of another article

When a section is a summary of another article, it should have a link before the text (but after the section heading):

{{main|Circumcision and law}}

which produces:

"See also" for one section

If the "See also" refers to a particular section, references to related articles that have not been linked from free links in the text may be placed before the text (but after the section heading):

{{See also|troll|flame}}

which produces:

Note: In short articles without sections, this is equivalent to the top note (above).

Rather than scattering such additional references thoughout the text of a section, they should be grouped together at the beginning of the section for easy selection by the reader:

• {{Main}}
• {{See also}}
• {{See}}
• {{Further}}

Wikimedia Commons is the free media repository of Wikimedia and Wikipedia

If the article can be illustrated with pictures, find an appropriate place to position these images and get them from Wikimedia Commons. For more information, see Wikipedia:Picture tutorial and Wikipedia:Images

You can use the template messages.

A horizontal dividing line has a conventional use, as a demarcation of division to isolate sections that logically could stand on their own as main sections with a disambiguating category in parentheses: Orion (mythology) and Orion (constellation). Horizontal dividing lines set apart the distinct meanings of a term.

When such sections contain only a few sentences in a single paragraph, this is a good way for readers to find your information. But if your article on a secondary meaning contains more than one paragraph, it may become confusing to the eye.

Note that these lines are not taken into account in the section numbering and TOC. As a result, the explanation of the second meaning of the word is treated as part of the previous section of the text written for the first meaning. To avoid this, use appropriate headers in addition to dividing lines.

In Wikipedia markup, a horizontal line is defined by a line of four dashes ('----').

Certain optional standard sections should be added at the bottom of an article.

Common appendix sections (in the preferred order) are:

• See also
• References
• Bibliography
• External links

All succession boxes should go at the very end of the article, following "External links" but preceding the categories and interwiki links.

See also

Put here, in a bulleted list, other articles in the Wikipedia that are related to this one.

Mostly, topics related to an article should be included within the text of the article as free links. The "See also" section provides an additional list of internal links as a navigational aid.

It should be a heading of level 2 so that it appears in the table of contents. For example:

==See also==
* [[Troll]]
* [[Flame]]

which produces:

Related topics should 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.

Individual sections in the "Main article" may have their own "See also" which should be placed before any other text in the section. Use the template:

{{See also|:Help:Section}}

which produces:

References

Put under this header, again in a bulleted list, any books, articles, web pages, et cetera that you used in constructing the article and have referenced (cited) in the article.

• 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: Wikipedia:Cite sources and Wikipedia:ISBN.

Bibliography

Put under this header, again in a bulleted list, any books, articles, web pages, et cetera that you recommend as further reading, useful background, or sources of further information to readers.

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 Wikipedia:Guide to writing better articles).

• Yale Web Style Guide for web pages

Some editors prefer to list external links under "References"; there is currently no consensus on the desirability of a separate section for on-line citations.

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 largely 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.

• Wikipedia:Manual of Style (headings)
• Wikipedia:User preferences help
• Wikipedia:Guide to writing better articles#Headings
• Wikipedia:Talk page guidelines- (how to use headings on talk pages)