Template:Distinguish/doc

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This is the documentation page. It should be transcluded into Template:Distinguish. See Template:Documentation for more information.

Usage

{{distinguish|Villager}}

{{distinguish|Villager|Illager}}

{{distinguish|Villager|Illager|Pillager}}

This hatnote is generally used when there can be confusion with a similar term. This is typically 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 fish who instead ends up at cow:

Cow →

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:

File:Red x.svg Void →

In the above hatnote, it is not generally apparent how the suggested "The Void" is different from Void.

File:Green check.svg Void →

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.

See also

• {{About}}, links the reader to other articles with similar titles or concepts that they may have been seeking instead.