Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Self-references to avoid: Difference between revisions

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	{{~~style-guideline~~\|~~] ] ]~~}}		{{redirect\|WP:SELF}}
			{{style-guideline\|MOS:SELFREF\|WP:SRTA\|WP:SELF\|type=style guideline}}
	{{policy in a nutshell\|Misplaced Pages is ]. To ease reusability, never allow the text of an article to assume that the reader is viewing it at Misplaced Pages, and try to avoid even assuming that the reader is viewing the article at a website. There may also be stylistic issues with using phrases such as ''this article'' unnecessarily.}}
			{{guideline in a nutshell\|Misplaced Pages's ] is reused in many places: do not assume that the reader is reading Misplaced Pages, or indeed any website. Articles may refer to themselves, but they shouldn't refer to Misplaced Pages in a non-neutral fashion except under special circumstances.}}
			{{style}}

			This guideline is about ]s and specifies which types of self-references should be avoided and which kinds are acceptable. A self-reference in an article usually mentions Misplaced Pages directly or tells readers to take an action on Misplaced Pages, such as editing the article.
	'''Avoid ]s''' within Misplaced Pages articles to the Misplaced Pages project, such as:

			Although self-references within Misplaced Pages articles to the Misplaced Pages project should usually be avoided, there are exceptions. Some examples of acceptable self-references are articles about Misplaced Pages, categories, and maintenance templates.
	: This Misplaced Pages article discusses ...

			==Types of self-reference==
	: Free content projects, such as this website ..
			===''This Misplaced Pages article discusses ...'', ''While Misplaced Pages is not a ...'', ''Edit this page ...''===
			{{Side box\|text=
			{{tick}} <big>This article discusses...</big><br/><br/>
			{{cross}} <big>This Misplaced Pages article discusses...</big>
			\|style=background-color: aliceblue\|metadata=no}}

			Mentioning that the article is being read on Misplaced Pages, or referring to Misplaced Pages policies or technicalities of using Misplaced Pages, should be avoided in the article namespace where it is unnecessary. If mentioning a policy is necessary to disambiguate article titles or subtopics, ] can serve that purpose.
	: While Misplaced Pages is not a dictionary, ... (in an article about a certain term)

			These types of self-references limit the use of Misplaced Pages as a ] encyclopedia suitable for ], as permitted by our ]. The goal of Misplaced Pages is to create ''an encyclopedia'', not merely to perpetuate itself, so the articles produced should be useful, even outside the context of the project used to create them. This means that while articles may refer to themselves, they should not refer to "Misplaced Pages" or to the Misplaced Pages project as a whole (e.g. "this website"). And our readers already know this is an encyclopedia; it is not useful to insert ], e.g., "While Misplaced Pages is not a dictionary ..." to an article on a jargon term.
	: ''Warning: Misplaced Pages contains spoilers'' (see ] for alternative text)

			Mentioning the Misplaced Pages community, or website features, can confuse readers of ]. Unless substantially part of the article topic, do not refer to the fact that the page can be edited, nor mention any Misplaced Pages project page or process, specialized Misplaced Pages jargon (e.g. "PoV" in place of "biased"), or any ] interface link in the sidebar or along the top of the screen.
	Such self-references are entirely acceptable on talk pages or in the Misplaced Pages namespace, but they are inappropriate in articles for two reasons. The first is that self-references are often considered disruptive in an encyclopedia because they distract from the topic at hand. A secondary concern is that self-references limit the use of Misplaced Pages as an ] encyclopedia suitable for ]ing, as permitted by our ]. Put simply, this policy is about remembering that the goal of Misplaced Pages is to create ''an encyclopedia'', not merely to perpetuate itself, so the articles produced should be useful even outside the context of the project used to create it.

			References that exist in a way that assumes the reader is using an encyclopedia, without reference to the specific encyclopedia (Misplaced Pages) or the manner of access (online), are acceptable. For instance, in the article on the ], before the alleged victim's identification, it said that "Due to concerns over privacy, the name of the alleged victim is not being included in this article." That is a reference that makes sense on ] and in print, and makes sense in a copy of Misplaced Pages that contains only the article space. Similarly, many ] explicitly state their inclusion criteria in the lead section. The template {{tlx\|printworthy selfref}} can be used to mark such passages as intentional self-references that are generally printworthy and mirror-worthy, but which some reusers may wish to suppress. Other examples of permissible self-references of this sort include ]s (the ] suppress their appearance in printed copies), and "See ..." ] (which may or may not be printworthy, depending upon whether they are inter-article; {{crossreference\|see ])}}.
	Misplaced Pages can, of course, write ''about'' ], but context is important. If you read about ]'s works, you are not interested in reading about Misplaced Pages's policies or conventions. If, however, you read about online communities, the article may well discuss Misplaced Pages as an example, in a neutral tone, without specifically implying that the article in question is being read on — or is a part of — Misplaced Pages. If, in this framework, you link from an article to a Misplaced Pages page outside the main namespace, use external link style to allow the link to work also in a site with a copy of the main namespace content.
	{{Associations/Wikipedia Bad Things}}
	==Think about print==
	Don't forget, we want to make the creation of a print version of Misplaced Pages as easy as possible, so try to use terms such as "this article" as opposed to "this website", and certainly don't use terms such as "]" (which make no sense when using a screen reader, for instance). You may also find it helpful to imagine you're reading the article in another encyclopedia.

			The templates that render self-referencing messages for the maintenance needs of developing articles, such as {{tlx\|stub}}, {{tlx\|npov}}, and {{tlx\|refimprove}}, are unavoidable (and may permissibly include things like "Edit this page ..."), but articles should normally avoid self-referencing templates such as {{tlx\|shortcut}} and the others.
	==Community and website feature references==
	While we're often inclined to mention the Misplaced Pages community that we are all part of, as well as the website features we use in creating the articles, these confuse readers of derivative works. In particular, do not refer to the fact that the page can be edited, do not refer to any Misplaced Pages project page or process, do not use specialized Misplaced Pages jargon (e.g. "POV" in place of "biased"), and do not refer to any link in the sidebar or along the top of the screen, such as the talk page, ''What links here'', or ''history''. Remember, ''articles'' are part of an ''encyclopedia'', not part of the Misplaced Pages ''project'' being used to create them.

			===''Note that ...'', ''It is important to ...'', ''What is ...?'', ''Surprisingly ...'', ''Of course ...''===
	However, there are exceptions to this. In particular, an article which is still in its initial development or under dispute often will include tags such as <nowiki>{{stub}}, and {{npov}}</nowiki> to help editors further develop the article, and the text in these templates include self-references. Try, however, to limit such self-references, even in templates.
			{{anchor\|Note that ...\|Note that\|NOTETHAT}}
			{{shortcut\|WP:4WALL\|WP:4THWALL}}
			{{main\|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style#Instructional and presumptuous language}}
			{{see also\|Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Words to watch#Editorializing}}
			Avoid "breaking the ]" to ] in an ], either ] or ]. This includes the pedagogical style of posing rhetorical questions to the reader (worst of all ]). Neutral cross-references, e.g. {{xt\|{{crossreference\|printworthy=y\|(See also ].)}}}}, are permissible (and best done with the {{tlx\|crossreference}} template), but are often best reworded ({{xt\|The ] is a recent breed developed from the Manx.}}).

			===''Click here to see more'' (think about print)===
	==Neutral references==
			{{anchor\|Think about print}}
	References which exist in a way which assumes the reader is using an encyclopedia without reference to the specific encyclopedia (Misplaced Pages), or the manner of access (online), are acceptable. For instance, the article on ], before her identification, said that "Due to concerns over privacy the name of the alleged victim is not being included in this article or at this time." That is a reference which makes sense on a mirror or a fork, makes sense in print, and makes sense in a copy of Misplaced Pages which contains only the article space. A more common example is the disambiguation message ''This article is about X. For Y, see Z.'' and all of the "See also" links.
			{{Shortcut\|WP:CLICKHERE}}
			Although ], articles should be written in a manner that facilitates transmission in other forms such as print, spoken word, and via a ]. So terms such as "this article" are preferable to "this webpage", and phrases like ]. In determining what language is most suitable, it may be helpful to imagine writing the article for a print encyclopedia.

			===''Free content projects, such as this website ...'' (writing about Misplaced Pages itself)===
	==In the Template and Category namespaces==
			{{anchor\|Writing about Misplaced Pages itself}}
	Limited use of self-references are sometimes found in the ] and the ], such as with disambiguation and stub notices. Expanding this to other areas is not encouraged due to the need of third party users to either delete those templates or modify them to remove the Misplaced Pages references.
			{{Shortcut\|WP:WAWI}}
			{{see also\|Misplaced Pages:About}}
			Articles about online communities may well discuss Misplaced Pages as an example, in a neutral tone, without specifically implying that the article in question is being read on—or is a part of—Misplaced Pages. In this framework, if you link from an article to a specific Misplaced Pages page, use external link style, so the link will make sense in any context. The {{tlx\|srlink}} template will do this for you.

			Such pages may include:
	When forced to use templates like this, you should use them in a way such that the article still makes sense when the template is removed, in order to facilitate automated removal.
			* Articles where Misplaced Pages played a major role in the subject of the article, for example: ]
			* Articles about prominent people involved in Misplaced Pages, for example: ]
			* Articles about ]
			* Articles where Misplaced Pages, or an individual incident related to it, is illustrative of the subject, such as ], ] and ]

			===''This article was criticized by ...'' (articles are about their subjects, not this website)===
	Misplaced Pages project coordination pages should be under ], not in categories which contain main-namespace articles by topic. (A small number of articles ''about'' Misplaced Pages are in the mainstream categories, and this is OK.) User pages may be categorized under ], but not under ].
			{{See also\|WP:Navel-gazing}}
			{{anchor\|Articles are about their subjects}}
			{{Shortcut\|WP:SUBJECT}}
			Misplaced Pages is an encyclopedia, so its articles are about their subjects; they are <em>not</em> about the articles themselves. This means that even if an article itself becomes famous, that article should not report this about itself.

			For example, a discussion of ]'s call for vandalism of the ] article might be appropriately mentioned in the article on '']'', but not in the article on elephants, because elephants have nothing to do with Stephen Colbert. Protests regarding depictions of Muhammad in Misplaced Pages's ] article are <em>not</em> addressed in that article (which is about the prophet Muhammad), but rather in the article ].
	==Examples of self-references==

			A mention of Misplaced Pages by a notable person is unlikely to justify a mention in their Misplaced Pages article; such a mention would have to reflect its ]. For example, a radio host mentioning that he read his Misplaced Pages biography is not normally an important event in his overall career. On the other hand, the media attention surrounding ]'s Misplaced Pages entry became ] in his public life.
	The following are some examples of self-references in Misplaced Pages's article namespace. They should at least be acknowledged or marked as self-references but not necessarily be deleted as they serve their purpose here on Misplaced Pages.

			==In templates and categories {{anchor\|In the Template and Category namespaces}}==
	* Articles that self-reference
			Self-references are sometimes found in the ] and the ]. Some of these are necessary or intrinsic to the purpose of the page, as with disambiguation information at the top of category pages and in {{tl\|stub}} templates, which encourage readers to edit the page. Unnecessary self-references are not encouraged in templates or categories, due to the need of third-party users to either delete those templates or modify them to remove the Misplaced Pages references. For example, all {{tl\|navbox}} templates should provide a list of related articles, but none of them should label these pages as "Misplaced Pages articles" or as "Related articles on this website".
	** Any article in the article namespace that links to one in the Misplaced Pages namespace
	** Any article in the article namespace that redirects to one in the Misplaced Pages namespace (except the shortcuts in the "pseudo" WP: namespace)
	** Articles that mention or are named "article" rather than "topic" and may also refer to Misplaced Pages itself. For example, "List of articles" rather than "List of topics".
	* Categories that self-reference
	** ] and its subcategories in the article namespace
	** User categories such as ] and ]
	* Use of templates in the article namespace that self-reference because they link to articles in the user, talk, or Misplaced Pages namespace or that are special articles.
	** Various ]
	** ]
	** ], ]
	** ], ], ]
	** ], ], ]
	** ] (Also the text only makes sense online)
	** ]
	** ]
	** ]
	** ]
	** ]
	** Templates used to advertise ] and other versions of itself
	*** ]
	*** ]
	*** ]
	*** ]
	*** ]
	*** ]
	*** ]
	*** ]

			When forced to use templates like this, you should use them in a way such that the article still makes sense when the template is removed, in order to facilitate automated removal.

			Misplaced Pages project coordination pages should be under ], not in categories that contain main-namespace articles by topic. (A small number of articles ''about'' Misplaced Pages are in the mainstream categories and this is OK.) User pages may be categorized under ], but not in any of the subcategories under ].

	==Self-reference tools==		==Self-reference tools==
			{{Shortcut\|WP:ITSELF}}
			The self-reference template, {{tlx\|selfref}}, is used to mark pieces of text and links that wouldn't make sense on copies of Misplaced Pages. This gives the ability to programmatically remove all such references or transform them into external links. Thus, the end product can have all of its self-references removed automatically for users, such as forks and mirrors. This template is most often used as a ] to help guide editors from an article to a related Misplaced Pages policy or guideline page in the ].

			Many hatnote templates that ''do'' contain helpful preset text and linking, such as {{t\|for}} and {{t\|about}}, support a {{para\|selfref}} parameter that gives them the same functionality as {{tlf\|Self reference}}, making them better options in most circumstances.
	The self-reference template ] provide a way to contain all the self-references as tags. This gives the ability to programatically remove all such references or transform them into external links. Thus, the end product can have all of its self-references removed automatically for users such as forks and mirrors.

	In cases where a Misplaced Pages page should be ~~mentioned on~~ Misplaced Pages itself (for instance, at ]), and this link should be kept on mirrors, the format {{~~]\|~~link}} can be used to write the link as external rather than internal, to prevent it breaking in mirrors. For instance: {{srlink\|Main Page}} as opposed to ].		In cases where a Misplaced Pages page should link to Misplaced Pages itself (for instance, at ]) and this link should be kept on mirrors, the format {{tlx\|srlink\|link}} can be used to write the link as external, rather than internal when outside of Misplaced Pages, to prevent it breaking in mirrors. For instance: {{srlink\|Main Page\|Misplaced Pages's Main Page}} (made by <code><nowiki>{{srlink\|Main Page\|Misplaced Pages's Main Page}}</nowiki></code>) as opposed to ] (<code><nowiki>]</nowiki></code>).

	==See also==		==See also==
			* ], includes a partial list of page elements that are hidden on printable versions of pages

			* ], an essay about the printworthiness of redirect pages
	* ]
			* ]
	* ], fixes external links in articles that should be internal
			*

			*
	]
			* {{section link\|Misplaced Pages:Verifiability#Misplaced Pages and sources that mirror or use it}} – Do not use articles from Misplaced Pages as reference sources
	]
	]		* ]
			{{Style wide}}
			]

Latest revision as of 03:06, 2 January 2025

"WP:SELF" redirects here. For other uses, see WP:SELF (disambiguation).

This guideline is a part of the English Misplaced Pages's Manual of Style.
It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts

This page in a nutshell: Misplaced Pages's free content is reused in many places: do not assume that the reader is reading Misplaced Pages, or indeed any website. Articles may refer to themselves, but they shouldn't refer to Misplaced Pages in a non-neutral fashion except under special circumstances.

Manual of Style (MoS)

Content

Formatting

Images

Layout

Lists

By topic area

Legal

Arts

Music
Anime and manga Comics Film Lyrics and poetry Novels Television Video games Visual arts Writing about fiction
Music Music samples Record charts Stringed instruments

History

Regional

Religion

Science

Sports

Cue sports (Snooker)
Figure skating (Terminology)

Related guidelines

This guideline is about self-references and specifies which types of self-references should be avoided and which kinds are acceptable. A self-reference in an article usually mentions Misplaced Pages directly or tells readers to take an action on Misplaced Pages, such as editing the article.

Although self-references within Misplaced Pages articles to the Misplaced Pages project should usually be avoided, there are exceptions. Some examples of acceptable self-references are articles about Misplaced Pages, categories, and maintenance templates.

Types of self-reference

This Misplaced Pages article discusses ..., While Misplaced Pages is not a ..., Edit this page ...

Y This article discusses...

N This Misplaced Pages article discusses...

Mentioning that the article is being read on Misplaced Pages, or referring to Misplaced Pages policies or technicalities of using Misplaced Pages, should be avoided in the article namespace where it is unnecessary. If mentioning a policy is necessary to disambiguate article titles or subtopics, hatnotes can serve that purpose.

These types of self-references limit the use of Misplaced Pages as a free content encyclopedia suitable for forking, as permitted by our licenses. The goal of Misplaced Pages is to create an encyclopedia, not merely to perpetuate itself, so the articles produced should be useful, even outside the context of the project used to create them. This means that while articles may refer to themselves, they should not refer to "Misplaced Pages" or to the Misplaced Pages project as a whole (e.g. "this website"). And our readers already know this is an encyclopedia; it is not useful to insert content disclaimers, e.g., "While Misplaced Pages is not a dictionary ..." to an article on a jargon term.

Mentioning the Misplaced Pages community, or website features, can confuse readers of derived works. Unless substantially part of the article topic, do not refer to the fact that the page can be edited, nor mention any Misplaced Pages project page or process, specialized Misplaced Pages jargon (e.g. "PoV" in place of "biased"), or any MediaWiki interface link in the sidebar or along the top of the screen.

References that exist in a way that assumes the reader is using an encyclopedia, without reference to the specific encyclopedia (Misplaced Pages) or the manner of access (online), are acceptable. For instance, in the article on the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case, before the alleged victim's identification, it said that "Due to concerns over privacy, the name of the alleged victim is not being included in this article." That is a reference that makes sense on mirrors and forks and in print, and makes sense in a copy of Misplaced Pages that contains only the article space. Similarly, many list articles explicitly state their inclusion criteria in the lead section. The template {{printworthy selfref}} can be used to mark such passages as intentional self-references that are generally printworthy and mirror-worthy, but which some reusers may wish to suppress. Other examples of permissible self-references of this sort include disambiguation links (the templates for which suppress their appearance in printed copies), and "See ..." cross-references (which may or may not be printworthy, depending upon whether they are inter-article; see Template:Crossreference/doc).

The templates that render self-referencing messages for the maintenance needs of developing articles, such as {{stub}}, {{npov}}, and {{refimprove}}, are unavoidable (and may permissibly include things like "Edit this page ..."), but articles should normally avoid self-referencing templates such as {{shortcut}} and the others.

Note that ..., It is important to ..., What is ...?, Surprisingly ..., Of course ...

Shortcuts

Main page: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style § Instructional and presumptuous language See also: Misplaced Pages:Manual of Style/Words to watch § Editorializing

Avoid "breaking the fourth wall" to address readers directly in an unencyclopedic tone, either instructional or opinionated. This includes the pedagogical style of posing rhetorical questions to the reader (worst of all in headings). Neutral cross-references, e.g. (See also Cymric cat.), are permissible (and best done with the {{crossreference}} template), but are often best reworded (The Cymric cat is a recent breed developed from the Manx.).

Click here to see more (think about print)

Shortcut

WP:CLICKHERE

Although Misplaced Pages is not a paper encyclopedia, articles should be written in a manner that facilitates transmission in other forms such as print, spoken word, and via a screen reader. So terms such as "this article" are preferable to "this webpage", and phrases like "click here" should be avoided. In determining what language is most suitable, it may be helpful to imagine writing the article for a print encyclopedia.

Free content projects, such as this website ... (writing about Misplaced Pages itself)

Shortcut

WP:WAWI

This article was criticized by ... (articles are about their subjects, not this website)

In templates and categories

Self-references are sometimes found in the templates and the categories. Some of these are necessary or intrinsic to the purpose of the page, as with disambiguation information at the top of category pages and in {{stub}} templates, which encourage readers to edit the page. Unnecessary self-references are not encouraged in templates or categories, due to the need of third-party users to either delete those templates or modify them to remove the Misplaced Pages references. For example, all {{navbox}} templates should provide a list of related articles, but none of them should label these pages as "Misplaced Pages articles" or as "Related articles on this website".

When forced to use templates like this, you should use them in a way such that the article still makes sense when the template is removed, in order to facilitate automated removal.

Misplaced Pages project coordination pages should be under Category:Misplaced Pages administration, not in categories that contain main-namespace articles by topic. (A small number of articles about Misplaced Pages are in the mainstream categories and this is OK.) User pages may be categorized under Category:Wikipedians, but not in any of the subcategories under Category:People.

Self-reference tools

Shortcut

WP:ITSELF

The self-reference template, {{selfref}}, is used to mark pieces of text and links that wouldn't make sense on copies of Misplaced Pages. This gives the ability to programmatically remove all such references or transform them into external links. Thus, the end product can have all of its self-references removed automatically for users, such as forks and mirrors. This template is most often used as a hatnote template to help guide editors from an article to a related Misplaced Pages policy or guideline page in the Misplaced Pages project namespace.

Many hatnote templates that do contain helpful preset text and linking, such as {{for}} and {{about}}, support a |selfref= parameter that gives them the same functionality as {{Self reference}}, making them better options in most circumstances.

In cases where a Misplaced Pages page should link to Misplaced Pages itself (for instance, at Misplaced Pages) and this link should be kept on mirrors, the format {{srlink|link}} can be used to write the link as external, rather than internal when outside of Misplaced Pages, to prevent it breaking in mirrors. For instance: Misplaced Pages's Main Page (made by {{srlink|Main Page|Misplaced Pages's Main Page}}) as opposed to Misplaced Pages's Main Page (]).