Multiversal Omnipedia:Disambiguation

Disambiguation at the Multiversal Omnipedia is the process of resolving ambiguity - meaning the conflicts that occur when articles about two or more different topics have the same "natural" title. In other words, disambiguations are types of turnpikes that lead to different meanings of a related word.

A disambiguation page should include links to all the entries that share a common or similar name, with brief descriptions to differentiate the versions. Sometimes, such as with real-world definitions, these do not require entire entries, and can be summarized with a description on the disambiguation page instead.

Disambiguation pages come in two basic types:

• When there are multiple uses of a word or name, and they are all from different universes, create a single article with that name (say, "Jack O'Lantern") as a disambiguation page with the list of links to versions. In that case, each different entry should have a different subtitle, such as "Jack O'Lantern (Folklore)" or "Jack O'Lantern (Marvel)". Make sure to include the {{disambig}} template at the bottom of the disambiguation page.

• When a particular use of a word or name is considered the original, "true" or most well-known definition, make that use the primary article (say, "Shadow") and include the {{othervers}} template at the top. This will provide a link to a page called 'name (disambiguation)' (i.e. "Shadow (disambiguation)"), which is where the list of links should go- including one for the primary meaning. The 'name (disambiguation)' page should be the same as in the first basic type, including the template at the bottom.

Sometimes, a disambiguation page may not be necessary if all the item or characters with the same name all share the same universe or are otherwise related in some way- instead, a single, multi-section entry is more appropriate. A mix of these approaches may be needed in certain cases.

Disambiguation pages can also be used to redirect "traffic" in other ways, such as providing a list of links to organizations with the same abbreciation (such as "CIA") or a list of characters sharing the same first name (such as "John").