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 | This page in a nutshell: Correct disambiguation is important and quite straightforward in practice once you get the hang of it, but the rules go for more than eighty pages and are a nightmare. |
If topics covered by two different articles share one name, then the term is ambiguous and it is necessary to disambiguate. If there is a primary topic then the base name should lead directly to the article on that topic, [1] either by being the title of the article, or by being a redirect to it. [2] If there is no primary topic, then the base name should similarly lead directly to a disambiguation page. [3]
Does that sound simple enough? Often it is. But...
- ^ Wikpedia article title policy, section on disambiguation: If the article is about the primary topic to which the ambiguous name refers, then that name can be its title without modification, provided it follows all other applicable policies.
- ^ Guideline on disambiguation, section on primary topic redirects: The title of the primary topic article may be different from the ambiguous term. This may happen when the topic is primary for more than one term, when the article covers a wider topical scope, or when it is titled differently according to the naming conventions. When this is the case, the term should redirect to the article (or a section of it).
- ^ Wikpedia article title policy, section on disambiguation: If the topic is not primary, the ambiguous name cannot be used and so must be disambiguated.