This template renders a hatnote intended to inform the reader of the existence of one or more articles whose title(s) bears a strong resemblance to the current article. This template 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}}.

{{distinguish|PAGE1}}

{{distinguish|PAGE1|PAGE2}}

{{distinguish|PAGE1|PAGE2|PAGE3}}

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

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:

Reversi

In the above hatnote, it is not generally apparent how the suggested Reversis is different from Reversi, which is also a game.

Reversi

Using {{about}} instead of {{distinguish}}, the differences in the suggested article 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 is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:Distinguish in articles based on its TemplateData.

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.

ParameterDescriptionTypeStatus
Name of article1

Name of article that you want to link to

Page namerequired
Optional additional article to link2

Optional additional article to link

Page nameoptional
Optional additional article to link3

Optional additional article to link

Page nameoptional
Optional additional article to link4

Optional additional article to link

Page nameoptional
  • {{Distinguish2}}, for multiple disambiguation targets or prepending "the".