Wikipedia:Superfluous bolding explained: Difference between revisions
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{{supplement|pages=[[MOS:BOLDTITLE]] page|shortcut=WP:SBE|shortcut2=WP:BOLDITIS}} |
{{supplement|pages=[[MOS:BOLDTITLE]] page|shortcut=WP:SBE|shortcut2=WP:BOLDITIS}} |
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The '''Wikipedia:Superfluous bolding explained''' page is a Wikipedia page about not awkwardly cramming an article's title in bold into its first sentence when it makes no sense to do so. |
The '''Wikipedia:Superfluous bolding explained''' page is a Wikipedia page about not awkwardly, superfluously cramming an article's title in bold into its first sentence when it makes no sense to do so. |
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Wikipedia articles often have a consistent structure, and Wikipedia editors tend to mimic the structures of other articles ("[[monkey see, monkey do]]") while writing, often without realizing why those article structures exist in the first place. |
Wikipedia articles often have a consistent structure, and Wikipedia editors tend to mimic the structures of other articles ("[[monkey see, monkey do]]") while writing, often without realizing why those article structures exist in the first place. |
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In many cases, an article's subject has a given name or commonly |
In many cases, an article's subject has a given name or commonly accepted terminology. Topics like "[[apple]]", "[[John Henry]]", "[[World War II]]", and "[[bluejacking]]" all have given names. In this case, the article's title (which is also the name of the article's subject) is mentioned at the earliest natural point in the first sentence of the article. This name and any other names for the topic (synonyms) are bolded to help readers recognize what they are looking at, especially if they've visited from a synonym's disambiguation page: |
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{{quote|The '''United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''' (usually shortened to the '''United Kingdom''' or '''UK''') occupies part of the [[British Isles]] in northwestern [[Europe]] ...}} |
{{quote|The '''United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland''' (usually shortened to the '''United Kingdom''' or '''UK''') occupies part of the [[British Isles]] in northwestern [[Europe]] ...}} |
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Trying to mimic other articles, editors will often try to fit such a title in the first sentence and bold it, leading to very awkward phrasing: |
Trying to mimic other articles, editors will often try to fit such a title in the first sentence and bold it, leading to very awkward phrasing: |
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{{quote|The '''electrical characteristics of a dynamic loudspeaker''' are a dynamic |
{{quote|The '''electrical characteristics of a dynamic loudspeaker''' are a dynamic loudspeaker driver's electrical characteristics, the chief one of which is ...}} |
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{{quote|The '''Selarang Barracks Incident''', also known as the '''Barrack Square Incident''' was an incident on ...}} |
{{quote|The '''Selarang Barracks Incident''', also known as the '''Barrack Square Incident''' was an incident on ...}} |
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It also gives undue weight to the chosen title, implying that it is an official term, commonly |
It also gives undue weight to the chosen title, implying that it is an official term, commonly accepted name, or the only acceptable title, when it is actually just a description and the event or topic is given many different names in common usage: |
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{{quote|The '''January 31, 2007 Boston bomb scare''' occurred when Boston police officers mistakenly identified ...}} |
{{quote|The '''January 31, 2007 Boston bomb scare''' occurred when Boston police officers mistakenly identified ...}} |
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So, in the case of purely descriptive titles, we should ''not'' bold the article title in the introduction, and there is no need to repeat it verbatim at the beginning of the article and fit an awkwardly |
So, in the case of purely descriptive titles, we should ''not'' bold the article title in the introduction, and there is no need to repeat it verbatim at the beginning of the article and fit an awkwardly worded sentence around it: |
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{{quote|The chief electrical characteristic of a dynamic |
{{quote|The chief electrical characteristic of a dynamic loudspeaker's driver is ...}} |
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== See also == |
== See also == |
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Revision as of 03:19, 15 August 2012
 | This is an explanatory essay about the MOS:BOLDTITLE page. This page provides additional information about concepts in the page(s) it supplements. This page is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. |
The Wikipedia:Superfluous bolding explained page is a Wikipedia page about not awkwardly, superfluously cramming an article's title in bold into its first sentence when it makes no sense to do so.
Wikipedia articles often have a consistent structure, and Wikipedia editors tend to mimic the structures of other articles ("monkey see, monkey do") while writing, often without realizing why those article structures exist in the first place.
In many cases, an article's subject has a given name or commonly accepted terminology. Topics like "apple", "John Henry", "World War II", and "bluejacking" all have given names. In this case, the article's title (which is also the name of the article's subject) is mentioned at the earliest natural point in the first sentence of the article. This name and any other names for the topic (synonyms) are bolded to help readers recognize what they are looking at, especially if they've visited from a synonym's disambiguation page:
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (usually shortened to the United Kingdom or UK) occupies part of the British Isles in northwestern Europe ...
But Wikipedia is not a dictionary, and articles are focused on topics, not terms. Since the term "saturn" is used for many different unrelated topics, for instance, we give each a separate article. This also means that Wikipedia has articles about topics that don't necessarily have their own names. Examples include "Electrical characteristics of dynamic loudspeakers", "Effects of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans", "Economy of Japan", "1921 in Afghanistan", and "Hinduism in Azerbaijan". In other words, the title of the article is merely a description of the article topic, not a given name.
Trying to mimic other articles, editors will often try to fit such a title in the first sentence and bold it, leading to very awkward phrasing:
The electrical characteristics of a dynamic loudspeaker are a dynamic loudspeaker driver's electrical characteristics, the chief one of which is ...
The Selarang Barracks Incident, also known as the Barrack Square Incident was an incident on ...
It also gives undue weight to the chosen title, implying that it is an official term, commonly accepted name, or the only acceptable title, when it is actually just a description and the event or topic is given many different names in common usage:
The January 31, 2007 Boston bomb scare occurred when Boston police officers mistakenly identified ...
So, in the case of purely descriptive titles, we should not bold the article title in the introduction, and there is no need to repeat it verbatim at the beginning of the article and fit an awkwardly worded sentence around it:
The chief electrical characteristic of a dynamic loudspeaker's driver is ...