Wikipedia:Short description

This is an information page. It is not an encyclopedic article, nor one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia's norms, customs, technicalities, or practices. It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting.

Shortcuts WP:SDESC WP:SHORTDES WP:SHORTDESC

This page in a nutshell: The short description of a Wikipedia article is a brief phrase, with a specific format, designed to work together with the title to indicate the article's scope. Every article whose title is not already fully self-explanatory should have a short description. The short description appears with the title in lists such as search results, helping users identify the desired article.

The short description of a Wikipedia page is a brief phrase intended to complement and clarify the page title, particularly in contexts where this is seen in isolation from the page itself. Taken together, the title and short description concisely explain the scope of the page—for example, to help a user identify the desired article in a list of search results.

Short descriptions appear in the results of Wikipedia mobile and some desktop searches, ^{[note 1]} and are also displayed immediately below the title on the article page itself by some mobile Wikipedia apps.

The default desktop view of an article does not show the short description, but logged-in users can change this by enabling the Shortdesc helper in the Gadgets section of their Preferences. Short descriptions are then displayed and directly editable.
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