This page in a nutshell: Add template messages to inform readers and editors of specific problems with articles or sections. Do not use them as a badge of shame.
The following template messages may be added to articles needing a cleanup. Their purposes are to foster improvement of the encyclopedia and to notify readers about possible problems.
Unless otherwise noted, the cleanup messages, or tags, should be placed at the top—before other templates, images, or infoboxes, but after a possible hatnote (see WP:Hatnote#Placement). Certain tags can be placed at the top of an individual section, and others can be placed within the text itself (inline). Where the problem is not obvious, add an explanatory remark via the reason parameter as shown below or via the talk page.
Don’t insert tags that are similar or redundant. For example, most articles that read like essays have an inappropriate tone, and in fact they end up being automatically grouped in the same category, so it is unnecessary to tag with both {{tone}} and {{essay-like}}. Similarly, if an article has many problems, tag only the most important, a lengthy list often being less helpful than a shorter one. A tag is not intended as a badge of shame. (See also: tag bombing.)
A date parameter is added by a bot, or you can provide a date yourself.
Does the article meet inclusion requirements?
Before placing templates on a page it is worthwhile to cast a critical eye over the page to determine whether it should, in fact, be included in Wikipedia. Some articles can be tagged for speedy deletion or marked as an article for deletion.
Best practices in obscure or unpopular articles
On pages that have received little attention from editors or readers, cleanup templates can be used as a way to call attention to problems that need to be addressed by editors. Editors who want to help address these problems should look through the various cleanup categories such as maintenance and articles with content issues and try to address the problems so that the templates can be removed. Editors who do a lot of tagging of articles should also address the backlogs.
Best practices in heavily monitored articles
On pages that are being edited by a number of users, cleanup templates are used to inform readers and editors of ongoing discussions and attempts to fix the problems on the page. Such templates can be used to attract uninvolved users to discussions and cleanup efforts, and they can also serve as a warning to casual readers that the article may have problems and be subject to dramatic changes. In general, an editor who places a template message to indicate a problem like this should explain their rationale fully on the talkpage of the article. If the consensus of the other editors is that there is a problem or an editorial dispute that deserves such a clean-up template, then the editors should work to fix the problem as quickly and cleanly as possible so the template message can be removed. If the consensus is that there is no problem, then the message can be removed immediately. For heavily monitored articles, please do not add or remove template messages of this sort without using the talk page.
Use in sections
Many of these cleanup tags require you to place |article as the first parameter when you use the tag at the top of an article. When you want the template to refer to just one section, however, you replace |article with |section (where the | is a pipe key found on most keyboards as a shift-backslash (\). See the specific template below to determine if such "section use" is supported and appropriate.
Tag consolidation
If too many tags are put at the top of an article, the article can become eclipsed by the tags, especially with short or stub articles. Consider consolidating the tags into the {{multiple issues}} template.
Include only those parameters directly relevant to the issues of the particular article or section. Also, do not use this template without any parameters.
Use |section=y if placing the template in a particular section.
To specify the month tagged for the categories that sort articles by month, type |issue=July 2025
Cleanup
General cleanup
Use one of these general tags when none of the more specific tags fit.
This "see also" section may contain an excessive number of entries. Please ensure that only the most relevant links are given, that they are not red links, and that any links are not already in this article. (Learn how and when to remove this message)
This page may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page.
This page or section may contain link spam masquerading as content. Spam on Wikipedia consists of external links mainly intended to promote a website. If you are familiar with the content of the external links, please help by removing promotional links in accordance with Wikipedia:External links.
This article may have been copied and pasted from another location, possibly in violation of Wikipedia's copyright policy. Please review the source and remedy this by editing this article to remove any non-free copyrighted content and attributing free content correctly, or flagging the content for deletion. Please be sure that the supposed source of the copyright violation is not itself a Wikipedia mirror.
This article focuses only on one specialised aspect of the subject. Please help improve this article by adding general information and discuss at the talk page.
This article is about an event or subject that may not be current but does not specify a time period.. Please help improve it to include this information. The talk page may contain suggestions.
Off-topic
Articles occasionally contain content which is otherwise valid, but appears unrelated to the nominal topic of the article. However, such stray may be subject of interpretation and must not lead to common understanding.
Place {{ISBN|date=July 2025}} at the head of the relevant section(s). Remember that books published before 1974 may not have ISBNs (though more recent editions should).
This article is missing information about something. Please expand the article to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.
First argument is added to description "{{{1}}}" appears: {{Missing information|foo, bar, baz and quux.}} ? "...information about: foo, bar, baz and quux." This template is for when the article needs to be expanded even to be accurate.
This article needs attention from an expert in PROJECTNAME. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article.WikiProject PROJECTNAME may be able to help recruit an expert.
After adding this template, start a section on the article discussion page describing what you wish the expert to address. {{Expert-talk}} may be used for this purpose.
Add one to five WikiProjects and they will be displayed in the list
After adding this template, start a section on the article discussion page describing what you wish the expert to address. {{Expert-talk}} may be used for this purpose.
This article needs attention from an expert in article. Please add a reason or a talk parameter to this template to explain the issue with the article.WikiProject Article may be able to help recruit an expert.
After adding this template, start a section on the article discussion page describing what you wish the expert to address. {{Expert-talk}} may be used for this purpose.
Parts of this Wikipedia page (those related to article) need to be updated. Please help update this Wikipedia page to reflect recent events or newly available information. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page.
This article is about an event or subject that may not be current but does not specify the time period.. Please help improve it to include this information. The talk page may contain suggestions.
This Wikipedia page needs to be updated. Please help update this Wikipedia page to reflect recent events or newly available information. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page.
This article appears to contradict another article. Please discuss at the talk page and do not remove this message until the contradictions are resolved.
This article appears to contradict the articles example and illustration. Please discuss at the talk page and do not remove this message until the contradictions are resolved.
Use this for specific sentences which contradict themselves or a nearby sentence.
An optional parameter can be added to specify the applicable guideline; e.g.: {{notability|biographies}}, {{notability|fiction}}. See the template documentation for a list of supported values.
This article's sources may have been cherry-picked. Its accuracy and/or neutrality is potentially compromised. Please help improve the article by introducing a greater range of sources and ensuring they lend equal weight to varying viewpoints.
This article may be unbalanced toward certain viewpoints. Please improve the article by adding information on neglected viewpoints, or discuss the issue on the talk page.
[circular reporting?] For the subtler case when you suspect the sources are based on facts first published at Wikipedia, but they didn't copy it directly
The inclusion of certain items in this list is disputed. Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.
To identify a list on Wikipedia that has content whose truth, factual nature, and/or relevance to the topic is in dispute. There is also an inline version, {{list fact}}.
For use in fiction-specific articles that have way too many trivial examples. (Ex.: For an article specifically about famous fictional horses that mentions the fact that Sesame Street once told kids how to spell "horse", or that one of the animals you can kill in an online game is a horse.)
For use when a nonfiction article has become overcrowded with too many references to fiction or other pop culture. (Ex.: Article on horses having a long section of TV shows, movies, video games, etc. that have "horse" in the name or feature horses in some way.)
This page is a list of project pages associated with the same title or shortcut. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended page. Note: This page may need to be cleaned up to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Further information might be found on the talk page.
The template {{Wikify}} has been deprecated since 25 August 2012, and is retained only for old revisions. If this page is a current revision, please remove the template.
This article lacks an infobox. You may wish to add one, so that the article resembles the standard display for this subject. This talk page may contain the banner of a relevant project, that provides the standardized infobox for this type of article. See also Category:Infobox templates, and Wikipedia:WikiProject Infoboxes.
This template should be used on talk pages.
Also has functionality to indicate that only a section in a page needs one. See the template page for more info.
This page's infoboxmay require expansion, verification, or otherwise need cleanup. Please ensure it meets Wikipedia's guidelines. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. You may also want to view the infobox template page to see the full parameter list and get guidance on the usage of that infobox.
The article [[{{{1}}}]] was nominated for deletion. [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/{{{2}}}|The discussion]] was closed on {{{3}}} with a consensus to merge the content into Wikipedia:Template index/Cleanup/sandbox. If you find that such action has not been taken promptly, please consider assisting in the merger instead of re-nominating the article for deletion. To discuss the merger, please use this talk page.
Do not remove this template after completing the merger. A bot will replace it with {{afd-merged-from}}.
This article was nominated for deletion. The discussion was closed on 22 July 2025 with a consensus to merge the content into the article New. If you find that such action has not been taken promptly, please consider assisting in the merger instead of re-nominating the article for deletion. To discuss the merger, please use the destination article's talk page. (July 2025)
Place this at the top of both pages or sections that are to be merged. Use the other page's name as the parameter. A link will be generated automatically. Separate additional pages with a vertical pipe; up to 20 pages can be listed.
By default, the discussion is directed to the talk page of the page on which this tag is placed. Optionally, discuss can be specified to direct the discussion to another page, see example of discuss usage.
If it is known which page or section is to receive the merged material, use the tags {{merge from}} or {{merge to}} instead.
If the proposed source is an entire page, place this at the top of the page or section that is to receive the merged material.
Place the tag {{merge to|Destination page}} at the top of the source page or section.
If a merger of multiple pages into a single page is being proposed, use {{merge from|Source 1|Source 2|Source 3}}.
By default, the discussion is directed to the talk page of the page on which this tag is placed. Optionally, the discuss parameter can be specified to direct the discussion to another page, see example of discuss usage.
If it is not known which page or section is to receive the merged material, use the tag {{merge|Other page}} instead.
Place the tag {{merge to|Destination page}} at the top of the page or section that is to have its content transferred to another page.
If the proposed source is an entire page, place the tag {{merge from|Source page}} at the top of the page or section that is to receive the merged material.
If the proposed source is one specific section of page, place the tag {{merge from|Source page#Source section}} at the top of the page or section that is to receive the merged material.
This page is currently being merged.
After a discussion, consensus to merge this page with Other page was found. You can help implement the merge by following the instructions at Help:Merging and the resolution on the discussion.
Place this at the top of a source page for which a merger has begun (but has not yet been completed).
A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil.
Use when the proposed new title is given. Do not sign this template—this tag is auto-signed when substituted. Be sure to use the subst:. This tag should be placed at the beginning of the section containing the relevant discussion.
A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil.
Use when the proposed new title is not known. Do not sign this template—this tag is auto-signed when substituted. Be sure to use the subst:. This tag should be placed at the beginning of the section containing the relevant discussion.
A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil.
This template adds subsections for survey and discussion. Do not sign this template—this tag is auto-signed when substituted. Be sure to use the subst: Click the "New Section" tab on the talk page and leave the Subject/headline blank, as the template by default automatically creates the heading.
It has been proposed in this section that multiple pages be renamed and moved.
A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil.
Do not sign this template—this tag is auto-signed when substituted. Be sure to use the subst: and place this tag at the beginning of the section containing the relevant discussion. Add additional related move requests in pairs (|current3= and |new3=, |current4= and |new4=, etc.).
It has been proposed in this section that multiple pages be renamed and moved somewhere else, with the names being decided below.
A bot will list this discussion on the requested moves current discussions subpage within an hour of this tag being placed. The discussion may be closed 7 days after being opened, if consensus has been reached (see the closing instructions). Please base arguments on article title policy, and keep discussion succinct and civil.
This project page may meet Wikipedia's criteria for speedy deletion because it is holding up a page move that is non-controversial or consensual, for instance reversing a redirect, or removing a disambiguation page that only points to a single article. The page to be moved to this name is page to be moved here. (link to perform this move) Reason for move: reason for move.Asserted to be non-controversial maintenance. See CSD G6.%5B%5BWP%3ACSD%23G6%7CG6%5D%5D%3A+Deleted+to+make+room+for+an+uncontroversial+page+moveG6
If this project page does not meet the criteria for speedy deletion, please remove this notice.
Do not sign this template—this tag is auto-signed when substituted. Be sure to use the subst: and use this tag only on Wikipedia:Requested moves/Technical requests. A bullet is automatically inserted. No edits to the article's talk page are required.
It has been suggested that this media object be renamed to [[:File:]] or a more suitable name for the following reason: For further information about when to rename, see Wikipedia:File names. This request will be dealt with by an administrator or file mover. Warning: the {{Rename media}} template is not meant to be used outside the File: namespace. Use {{Requested move}} on the talk page of the page that you believe should be moved instead.
Do not use the "Move" tab to move this category page while the discussion is in progress! Categories are processed following the 48-hour discussion period and their contents are moved by a bot.
Please do not empty the category or remove this notice while the discussion is in progress.
Add entry* [[:Category:Template index/Cleanup/sandbox]] to [[:Category:Proposed name]] – Reason ~~~~
This category is being considered for renaming to some other name.
This does not mean that any of the pages in the category will be deleted. They may, however, be recategorized.
Please share your thoughts on the matter at this category's entry on the Categories for discussion page.
Please do not empty the category or remove this notice while the discussion is in progress. add entry: {{subst:cfr2|Template index/Cleanup/sandbox|UNKNOWN|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}
This page is a candidate for copying over to Wikibooks using the Import process. If the page can be re-written into an encyclopedic article, please do so and remove this message.
Before you move this content to Wikibooks, verify that it conforms to Wikibooks policies of acceptable content at What is Wikibooks? Often content unacceptable to Wikipedia may not be acceptable on Wikibooks either; facilitate the copying of this article by listing it on Wikibooks:Requests for Import.
If this file has problems with attribution, copyright, or is otherwise ineligible for Commons, then remove this tag and DO NOT transfer it; repeat violators may be blocked from editing.
Other Instructions
Endorse this file for transfer by adding |human=<your username> to this Template.
If this file is freely licensed, but otherwise unsuitable for Commons (e.g. out of Commons' scope, still copyrighted in the US), then replace this Template with {{Do not move to Commons|reason=<Why it can't be moved>}}
If you think that a local copy of this file should be retained, then replace this Template with {{Keep local|reason=<Why a local copy is needed>}}
This page is a candidate for copying over to Wikiquote using the Transwiki process. If the page can be expanded into an encyclopedic article, rather than a list of quotations, please do so and remove this message.
This page is a candidate for copying over to Wikisource.
If the page can be edited into an encyclopedic article, rather than merely a copy of the source text, please do so and remove this message. Otherwise, you can help by formatting it per the Wikisource guidelines in preparation for being imported to Wikisource by a Wikisource admin. Note that if this source text is not in English, it will have to be copied using the transwiki process.
This page is a candidate for copying over to Wikiversity using the Import process. If the page can be re-written into an encyclopedic article, please do so and remove this message.
Before you move this content to Wikiversity, verify that it conforms to Wikiversity policies of acceptable content at What is Wikiversity? Often content unacceptable to Wikipedia may not be acceptable on Wikiversity either; facilitate the copying of this article by listing it on Wikiversity:Requests for Import.
This page is a candidate for copying over to Wikivoyage. If the page can be re-written into an encyclopedic article, please do so and remove this message.
[[WP:CSD#F8|F8]]: File available on Wikimedia Commons as [[c:File:Sample.png]]
This file is now available on Wikimedia Commons as File:Sample.png. Files that have been tagged with this template may be deleted after satisfying conditions of CSD F8. Administrators: If the file has been properly moved, delete it. If not, change the {{Now Commons}} tag to: {{Incomplete move to Commons|sample.png|reason=reason why the image could not be moved}}
Nominate the file for deletion if it is not usable or for example it is the same resolution or of lower-quality than the one on Commons.
This template should only be used in pages in the file namespace.
Splitting
For use on main page
Content split
When two or more topics are being dealt with on the same page which share the same or similar title and a disambiguation page seems appropriate use {{Split}}:
It has been suggested that this page be split into multiple pages. (Discuss)
Place the template at the top of the page for which the split is proposed.
By default, the discussion is directed to the talk page of the page on which this tag is placed. Optionally, |discuss= can be added to direct the discussion to another page. Example: {{split|discuss=Talk:Foobar#Split proposal}}, produces:
It has been suggested that this page be split into multiple pages. (Discuss)
Optionally, you can include suggested titles for between 2 and 20 new pages as parameters. Example: {{split|New title 1|New title 2}}, produces:
When an article is too long, and it is uncertain how the article should be split, use {{Very long}}:
This page may be too long to read and navigate comfortably. Consider splitting content into sub-articles, condensing it, or adding subheadings. Please discuss this issue on the article's talk page.
When there is a suggested new article name for some content use {{Split}} with |New article name=:
It has been suggested that portions of this section be split out into another page. (Discuss)
For use on talk page
{{Copied}} (for both source & destination) - {{Copied|from=|from_oldid=|to=|to_diff=|to_oldid=}}
Text and/or other creative content from Foo was copied or moved into Bar. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted as long as the latter page exists.
{{Split article}} (supporting multiple splits from the same page) - {{Split article|from=|from_oldid=|to=|diff=|date=}}
Material from Foo was split to Bar. The former page's history now serves to provide attribution for that content in the latter page, and it must not be deleted so long as the latter page exists. Please leave this template in place to link the article histories and preserve this attribution. The former page's talk page can be accessed at Talk:Foo.
This page is currently being split.
After a discussion, consensus to split this page with Destination was found. You can help implement the split by following the instructions at Help:Splitting and the resolution on the discussion.
It has been suggested that this page be split into multiple pages. (Discuss)
Place this at the top of a page for which a split into two or more new pages is proposed, and where they are distinct enough that a disambiguation page is not appropriate.
By default, the discussion is directed to the talk page of the page on which this tag is placed. Optionally, a "discuss" parameter can be specified to direct the discussion to another page.
It has been suggested that this section be split out into another page. (Discuss)
Place this at the top of one or more sections for which a split into a new page is proposed.
By default, the discussion is directed to the talk page of the page on which this tag is placed. Optionally, a "discuss" parameter can be specified to direct the discussion to another page.
It has been suggested that sections of this page be split out into another page titled New title. (Discuss)
Place this at the top of a page for which a split of multiple sections into a new page is proposed.
By default, the discussion is directed to the talk page of the page on which this tag is placed. Optionally, a "discuss" parameter can be specified to direct the discussion to another page.
If possible, instead use {{split section}} or {{split section|new title}} in each of the sections that should be split into the new page.
Place this at the top of one or more sections for which a split into a new section on the same page.
By default, the discussion is directed to the talk page of the page on which this tag is placed. Optionally, a "discuss" parameter can be specified to direct the discussion to another page.
Please do not add machine translations of foreign language articles to Wikipedia. Due to their poor quality, they are generally not useful and can be very difficult to fix. In the future, please follow the instructions laid out at Wikipedia:Translation.
For user talk pages: similar to an uw-1 level advisory.
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in Spanish. Click [show] for important translation instructions.
View a machine-translated version of the Spanish article.
Machine translation, like DeepL or Google Translate, is a useful starting point for translations, but translators must revise errors as necessary and confirm that the translation is accurate, rather than simply copy-pasting machine-translated text into the English Wikipedia.
Consider adding a topic to this template: there are already 1,700 articles in the main category, and specifying|topic= will aid in categorization.
Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. If possible, verify the text with references provided in the foreign-language article.
You must provide copyright attribution in the edit summary accompanying your translation by providing an interlanguage link to the source of your translation. A model attribution edit summary is Content in this edit is translated from the existing Spanish Wikipedia article at [[:es:source article]]; see its history for attribution.
You may also add the template {{Translated|es|source article}} to the talk page.
An <version-no> earlier translated version of this section may have introduced errors of fact which may no longer be evident after subsequent copyediting. It needs attention from someone fluent in <Language1> and English to check it for accuracy. Please see this article's entry at WP:PNT for discussion.
If you have just labeled this page as needing attention, please add {{subst:Needtrans|pg=Wikipedia:Template index/Cleanup/sandbox |language=<Language1> |comments=The translated version in question is {{oldid|Template index/Cleanup/sandbox|<version-no>|rev <version-no>}}. }} ~~~~ to the bottom of the WP:PNTCU section on Wikipedia:Pages needing translation into English.
For translated articles that may have factual errors, but where subsequent edits have polished the English without addressing translation accuracy.
This article needs translation from French to English.
This article is written in French. If it is intended for readers from the French language community, it should be contributed to the French Wikipedia. See the list of Wikipedias.
If you want to assess this article, you may want to check its Google translation. However, please do not add an automated translation to the article, since these are generally of very poor quality.
For articles that are completely or almost completely in a foreign language.
Note that if the issue isn't dealt with in two weeks, the article goes to Articles for deletion.
This article has been translated from a Wikipedia article in another language, and requires proofreading. If you are confident enough in your fluency of English and the original language, please proofread it.
This article has been translated from the article Deutsche Sprache in the German Wikipedia, and requires proofreading. If you are confident enough in your fluency of English and German, please proofread it.
For articles that are fully translated but that might need proofreading.
This article may be a rough translation from <Language1>. It may have been generated, in whole or in part, by a computer or by a translator without dual proficiency. Please help to enhance the translation. The original article is under "<Language2>" in the "languages" list.
[[Category:Wikipedia articles needing cleanup after translation from <Language1>]]
For articles that have been translated into English, but poorly so.
Place this on the talk page when text from another language Wikipedia is translated and included on a page in the English Wikipedia. It serves as attribution under the licence requirements.
Example: {{translated page|source language code|source page title|version=123456789|insertversion=987654321|section=name}}
A passage in this article or section needs to be translated from <Language> into English. If you are confident enough in your fluency of English and <Language>, please feel free to add a translation.
{{subst:uw-notenglish|1=Wikipedia:Template index/Cleanup/sandbox}} ~~~~ on the talk page of the author.
For articles that are mostly in English, but have a considerable sized passage in a foreign language. Consider using {{not English-inline}} instead if the passage is small.
This article is in the process of being translated from [[[:XX:Foo|Foo]]] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language code: xx (help) in the xx-language Wikipedia. In order to reduce edit conflicts, please consider not editing it while translation is in progress.
For articles currently undergoing translation work.
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg?lang=en){kind=small}
