Template:Distinguish

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This template renders a hatnote intended to inform the reader, of the article invoking it, of the existence of one or more articles whose title(s) bear(s) a strong resemblance to the reader's (then-)current article; it 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:

File:Red x.svg 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 difference 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 [https://bambots.brucemyers.com/TemplateParam.php?wiki=enwiki&template=Distinguish monthly error reporHatnotefor this template.

TemplateData for Distinguish

A hatnote used when there is an ambiguity in an article's title.

Template parameters

This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.

Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Name of article	1	Name of article that you want to link to	Page	suggested
Optional additional article to link	2	Optional additional article to link	Page	optional
Optional additional article to link	3	Optional additional article to link	Page	optional
Optional additional article to link	4	Optional additional article to link	Page	optional
Custom text	text	Custom message in wikitext; e.g. "[[foo]] and [[bar]]" produces "Not to be confused with [[foo]] and [[bar]]."	String	optional
Self reference	selfref	If set, marks note as being a self reference, to not be shown when content is reused	Boolean	optional

Redirects

• {{Confused}}
• {{Confuse}}
• {{Misspelling}} (See also: {{R from misspelling}})