| ?
???????????
?????? ???????????? ??????????????
??????
????????????
.
??? ?????????? ???????????, ??????????? ????????????????. ????? ?????? ??????? ???????, ???????????? ???????????? ???????? ?????????? ????????? ??????? ??????? ????????? ???????? ???????????, ? ?????????????? ???????????????. ? ?????? ?????? ?????????? ???????? ????? ???,
???????????????
???????????????. ???????????? ????, ?????
????? ??????
??????????.
|
|
This page guides the presentation of numbers, dates, times, measurements, currencies, coordinates, and similar material in articles. Its aim is to promote clarity and cohesion; this is especially important
within
an article. The goal is to make the whole encyclopedia easier and more intuitive to use.
Where this manual provides options, consistency should be maintained within an article unless there is a good reason to do otherwise. The
Arbitration Committee
has ruled that editors should not change an article from one guideline-defined style to another without a substantial reason unrelated to mere choice of style, and that revert-warring over optional styles is unacceptable.
[a]
If discussion cannot determine which style to use in an article, defer to the style used by the first major contributor.
Quotations, titles, etc.
[
??????
]
Quotations, titles of books and articles, and similar "imported" text should be faithfully reproduced, even if they employ formats or units inconsistent with these guidelines or with other formats in the same article. If necessary, clarify via [bracketed interpolation], article text, or footnotes.
- It is acceptable to change other date formats in the same article to provide consistency, so long as those changes would otherwise be acceptable.
Non-breaking spaces
[
??????
]
Guidance on the use of
non-breaking space
s ("hard spaces")??
,
{{
nbsp
}}
,
 
,
{{
thinsp
}}
?? is given in some sections below;
{{
nowrap
}}
may also be useful in controlling linebreaks in some situations. Not all situations in which hard spaces or
{{
nowrap
}}
may be appropriate are described.
For further information see
Wikipedia:Manual of Style §?Non-breaking spaces
and
Wikipedia:Line-break handling
.
Statements likely to become outdated
[
??????
]
Except on pages updated regularly (e.g.
the "Current events" portal
), terms such as
now
,
currently
,
to date
,
so far
,
soon
, and
recently
should usually be avoided in favor of phrases such as
during the 1990s
,
since 2010
, and
in August 1969
. For current and future events, use phrases like
as of ?? 2024
or
since the beginning of 2024
to signal the time-dependence of the information.
Using
{{
as of
|2024}}
will produce the text
As of 2024
[update]
, with the additional benefit of putting the article in a category flagging it for periodic review. A full date is specified with
{{as of|2024|05|11}}
.
However, do not replace
since the beginning of 2005
with
{{as of|2005}}
because some information (the
beginning
of 2005) would be lost; instead, make use of the template's alternate-text parameter:
{{
as of
|2005|alt=since the beginning of 2005}}
.
Relative-time expressions are acceptable for very long periods, such as geological epochs:
Humans diverged from other primates long ago, but
only recently developed state legislatures
.
Dates, months, and years
[
??????
]
Acceptable date formats
General use
|
Only where brevity is helpful
(refs,
[b]
tables,
infoboxes, etc.)
|
Comments
|
2
September 2001
|
2
Sep 2001
|
|
September
2, 2001
|
Sep
2, 2001
|
A comma follows the year unless
followed by other punctuation that replaces the comma
:
- The weather on March 12, 2005, was clear and warm
- Everyone remembers July
21, 1969?? when man first landed on the Moon
|
2
September
|
2
Sep
|
Omit year only where there is no risk of ambiguity:
- The 2012 London Olympics ran from 25
July to 12
September
- January
1 is New Year's Day
|
September
2
|
Sep
2
|
No equivalent for
general use
|
2001-09-02
|
Use
yyyy
-
mm
-
dd
format only with
Gregorian
dates from 1583 onward.
[c]
|
September 2001
|
Sep 2001
|
|
Unacceptable date formats (except in
external titles and quotes
)
Unacceptable
|
Acceptable
|
Comments
|
Sep
.
2
|
Sep 2
|
Do not add a dot to the day or to an abbreviated month
[e]
|
9
.
June
|
9
June
or
June
9
|
9 june
june 9
|
Months are capitalized
|
9th June
June 9th
the 9th of June
|
Do not use ordinals (
1st
,
2nd
,
3rd
, etc.)
|
09-06
06-09
|
Do not use these formats
|
09 June
June 09
|
Do not use a leading zero in month or day
...
|
2007-4-15
|
2007-04-15
|
... except in all-numeric
(
yyyy
-
mm
-
dd
) format
|
2007/04/15
|
Do not use separators other than hyphens
|
07-04-15
|
Do not abbreviate year to two digits
|
15-04-2007
04-15-2007
2007-15-04
|
Do not use
dd
-
mm
-
yyyy
,
mm
-
dd
-
yyyy
or
yyyy
-
dd
-
mm
formats.
[f]
|
2007 April 15
2007 Apr 15
|
Do not use these formats.
|
7/2001
7-2001
07-2001
2001-07
2001 July
July of 2001
|
July 2001
|
Do not use these
formats.
|
July
,
2001
|
No comma between month and
year
|
3 July
,
2001
|
3
July 2001
|
July 3 2001
|
July
3
,
2001
|
Comma required between day and
year
|
the
'
97 elections
the
97 elections
|
the 1997 elections
|
Do not abbreviate year
|
Copyright MMII
|
Copyright 2002
|
Roman numerals
are not normally used for
dates
|
Two thousand one
|
2001
|
Years and days of the month are not normally written in
words
|
the first of May
May the first
|
May
1
or
1
May
|
June 0622
|
June 622
|
Do not zero-pad years
|
sold in the year 1995
|
sold in 1995
|
Use "the year" only where needed for clarity
(
About 1800
ships arrived in the year 1801
)
|
Consistency
[
??????
]
- Dates in article body text
should all use the same format:
She fell ill on
25 June 2005
and died on
28 June
, but not
She fell ill on
25 June 2005
and died on
June 28
.
- Publication dates
in an article's citations should all use the same format, which may be:
- the format used in the article body text,
- an abbreviated format from the
"Acceptable date formats" table
, provided the day and month elements are in the same order as in dates in the article body, or
- the format expected in the
citation style
being used (however, all-numeric date formats other than
yyyy
-
mm
-
dd
must still be avoided).
- For example, publication dates within a single article might be in one, but only one, of these formats (among others):
- Jones, J. (20 September 2008)
- Jones, J. (September 20, 2008)
- Access and archive dates
in an article's citations should all use the same format, which may be:
- the format used for publication dates in the article;
- the format expected in the citation style adopted in the article (e.g.
20 Sep 2008
);
or
- yyyy
-
mm
-
dd
- For example, access/archive dates within a single article might be in one, but only one, of these formats (among others):
- Jones, J. (September 20, 2008)
... Retrieved February 5, 2009.
- Jones, J. (20 Sep 2008)
... Retrieved 5 Feb 2009.
- Jones, J. (20 September 2008)
... Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- When a citation style does not expect differing date formats, it is permissible to normalize publication dates to the article body text date format, and/or access/archive dates to either, with date consistency being preferred.
Strong national ties to a topic
[
??????
]
- Articles on topics with strong ties to a particular English-speaking country should generally use the date format most commonly used in that nation. For the United States this is (for example)
July 4, 1976
; for most other English-speaking countries it is
4 July 1976
.
- Articles related to Canada or Israel may use either format with (as always) consistency within each article.
(See §?
Retaining existing format
, below.)
- In some topic areas, the customary format differs from the usual national one: for example, articles on the modern US military, including US military biographical articles, use day-before-month, in accordance with US military usage.
Retaining existing format
[
??????
]
- If an article has evolved using predominantly one date format, this format should be used throughout the article, unless there are reasons for changing it based on strong national ties to the topic or consensus on the article's talk page.
- The date format chosen by the first major contributor in the early stages of an article should continue to be used, unless there is reason to change it based on strong national ties to the topic or consensus on the article's talk page.
- Where an article has shown no clear sign of which format is used, the first person to insert a date is equivalent to "the first major contributor".
Era style
[
??????
]
- The default
calendar era
is the
Western Dionysian era system
, a year-numbering system also known as the Western Christian era (represented by
BC and AD
), or the
Common Era
(represented by
BCE and CE
).
- BC
and
AD
are the traditional ways of designating eras.
BCE
and
CE
are common in some scholarly texts and in certain topic areas. Either convention may be appropriate for use in Wikipedia articles.
- Use either the BC?AD or the BCE?CE notation consistently within the same article. Exception: do not change
direct quotations
, titles, etc.
- Do not change the established era style in an article unless there are reasons specific to its content. Seek consensus on the talk page
before
making the change. Open the discussion under a subhead that uses the word "era". Briefly state why the style is inappropriate for the article in question. A personal or categorical preference for one era style over the other is not justification for making a change.
- BCE
and
CE
or
BC
and
AD
are written in upper case, unspaced, without a full stop (period,
.
), and separated from the numeric year by a space (
5
BC
, not
5BC
). It is advisable to use a
non-breaking space
.
- AD
may appear before or after a year (
AD
106
,
106
AD
); the other abbreviations appear only after (
106
CE
,
3700
BCE
,
3700
BC
).
- In general, do not use
CE
or
AD
unless required to avoid ambiguity (e.g.
The Norman Conquest took place in 1066
not
1066
CE
nor
AD
1066
) or awkwardness
(
January 1, 1 AD
not
January 1, 1
).
On the other hand,
Plotinus
lived at the end of the 3rd century AD
will avoid confusion, and depending on context one- and two-digit years may look more natural with an era marker (
born in 2
AD
). Also, in
He did not become king until 55
CE
the era marker makes it clear that
55
does not refer to the new king's age (or write
He did not become king until the year 55
). If the era is shown for the initial date in a range, then use it for the final date as well: not
from 450 BCE to 200
but
from 450 to 200 BCE
or
from 450 BCE to 200 BCE
(and definitely
from 100 BCE to 200 CE
).
(See §?
Ranges
, below.)
- Uncalibrated (bce) radiocarbon dates:
Calibrated and uncalibrated
dates can diverge widely, and some sources distinguish the two only via
BCE
or
BC
(for calibrated dates) versus
bce
,
bc
or
b.c.
(uncalibrated). Avoid giving uncalibrated dates except in direct quotations, and even then a footnote or square-bracketed note [like this] should note that the date is uncalibrated or (ideally) give the calibrated date.
- BP or YBP
: In scientific and academic contexts, BP (before present) or YBP (years before present) are often used. (
Present
in this context conventionally refers to January
1, 1950.) Write
3000 years
BP
or
3000
YBP
or
3000
years before present
but not forms such as
3000 before present
and
3000 years before the present
. If one of the abbreviated forms is used, link to
Before present
on first use:
The Jones artifact was dated to 4000
YBP
, the Smith artifact to 5000 YBP.
- Other era systems
may be appropriate in an article. In such cases, dates should be followed by a conversion to Dionysian (or vice versa) and the first instance should be linked:
Qasr-al-Khalifa was built in
221
AH
(836
CE)
, or
in 836
AD (221
AH
)
.
- Astronomical year numbering
follows the Common Era and does not require conversion, but the first instance of a non-positive year should still be linked:
The March equinox passed into Pisces in
year
?67
.
Julian and Gregorian calendars
[
??????
]
A date can be given in any appropriate calendar, as long as it is (at the minimum) given in the
Julian calendar
or the
Gregorian calendar
or both, as described below. For example, an article on the early
history of Islam
may give dates in both
Islamic
and Julian calendars. Where a calendar other than the Julian or Gregorian is used, the article must make this clear.
- Current events are dated using the Gregorian calendar.
- Dates of events in countries using the Gregorian calendar at that time are given in the Gregorian calendar. This includes some of the
Continent of Europe from 1582
, the
British Empire
from 14
September 1752, and Russia from 14
February 1918
(see
Adoption of the Gregorian calendar
)
.
- Dates before 15
October 1582 (when the Gregorian calendar was first adopted in some places) are normally given in the Julian calendar. The Julian day and month should not be converted to the Gregorian calendar, but the start of the
Julian year
should be assumed to be 1
January
(see below for more details)
.
- Dates for Roman history before 45
BC are given in the
Roman calendar
, which was neither Julian nor Gregorian. When (rarely) the Julian equivalent is certain, it may be included.
- For dates in early Egyptian and Mesopotamian history, Julian or Gregorian equivalents are often uncertain. Follow the consensus of reliable sources, or indicate their divergence.
The dating method used should follow that used by reliable secondary sources (or if reliable sources disagree, that used most commonly, with an explanatory
footnote
).
Where it's not obvious that a given date should be given in Julian alone or in Gregorian alone, consider giving both styles, for example by using {{
OldStyleDate
}}. If a date appears without being specified as Old Style or New Style, tagging that date with {{
which calendar?
}} will the page to
Category:Articles containing ambiguous dates
for further attention.
If there is a need to mention
Old or New Style
dates in an article (as in the
Glorious Revolution
), a footnote should be provided on the first usage, stating whether the New Style refers to a start of year adjustment or to the Gregorian calendar (it can mean either).
At some places and times, the new year began on a date other than 1
January. For example, in England and its colonies until 1752, the year began on
Annunciation Day
, 25
March;
see the
New Year article
for other styles
. In writing about historical events, however, years should be assumed to have begun on 1
January
(see the example of the execution of Charles I in "
Differences in the start of the year
")
; if there is reason to use another start-of-year date, this should be noted.
Note: A change from a preference for two digits, to a preference for four digits, on the right side of
year?year
ranges was implemented in July 2016 per
this RFC
.
- Use a dash, or a word such as
from
or
between
, but not both:
from 1881 to 1886
(not
from 1881?1886
);
between June
1 and July
3
(not
between June
1?? July
3
)
- A simple
year?year
range is written using an en dash (
–
or
{{
ndash
}}
) not an em dash, hyphen or slash; this dash is
unspaced
(that is, with no space on either side); and the range's end year is usually given in full:
- 1881?1886
;
1881?1992
(not
1881?86
;
1881?? 1992
)
Markup:
1881{{
ndash
}}1886
or
1881–1886
- Two-digit ending years
(
1881?82
, but never
1881?882
or
1881?2
)
may
be used in any of the following cases: (1) two consecutive years; (2) infoboxes and tables where space is limited (using a single format consistently in any given table column); and (3) in certain topic areas if there is a very good reason, such as matching the established convention of reliable sources.
- The
slash notation
(
2005/2006
) may be used to signify a fiscal year or other special period, if that convention is used in reliable sources.
- Other "simple" ranges use an
unspaced
en dash as well:
- day?day
:
5?7
January 1979
;
January
5?7, 1979
;
elections were held March 5?8
.
- month?month
:
the 1940 peak period was May?July
;
the peak period was May?July
1940
;
(but
the peak period was
May 1940?? July
1940
uses a
spaced
en dash;
see below
)
- If at least one item on either side of the en dash contains a space, then a
spaced
en dash (
{{
snd
}}
) is used. For example:
- between specific dates in different months
:
They travelled
June
3?? August
18,
1952
;
They travelled 3
June?? 18
August 1952
- between dates in different years
:
- Charles Robert Darwin
(12
February
1809?? 19
April
1882) was an English naturalist
...
Markup:
12{{
nbsp
}}February 1809{{
snd
}}19{{
nbsp
}}April 1882
or
12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882
- Abraham Lincoln
(February
12, 1809?? April
15, 1865) was the 16th President of
...
- between months in different years
:
The exception was in force August
1892?? January
1903
;
The Ghent Incursion (March 1822?? January
1, 1823) was ended by the New Year's Treaty
Markup:
March 1822{{
snd
}}January{{
nbsp
}}1, 1823
or
March 1822 – January 1, 1823
- Where
era designations
,
circa
or
other modifiers
are present:
reigned 5 BC?? 12 AD
;?
reigned c. 1393?? 1414
.
(See §?
Uncertain, incomplete, or approximate dates
, below.)
- For ranges
"to present"
, constructions such as
1982?present
(with unspaced ndash),
January 1, 2011?? present
(spaced ndash), or
January 2011?? present
(spaced ndash) may be used, but other constructions may be more appropriate in prose
(see
§?Statements likely to become outdated
)
. In tables and infoboxes where space is limited,
pres.
may be used (
1982?pres.
). Do not use incomplete-looking constructions such as
1982?
and
1982?...
.
For a
person still living
:
Serena Williams
(born September
26, 1981) is a
...
, not
(September
26, 1981?? )
or
(born on September
26, 1981)
.
Do not use
*
to indicate
born
; use
b.
only where space is limited e.g. tables and infoboxes; use either
born
or
b.
consistently in any given table column.
Where
birthdate is unknown
:
John Smith
(died May
1, 1622)
or
John Smith
(died 1622)
Do not use
†
to indicate
died
; use
d.
only where space is limited, with consistency within any given table column.
An
overnight period
may be expressed using a slash between two contiguous dates:
the night raids of 30/31
May 1942
or
raids of 31
May
/ 1
June 1942
.
Or use an en dash: (unspaced)
raids of 30?31
May 1942
;
(spaced)
raids of
31
May?? 1
June
1942
.
- The
{{
Age
}}
template can keep ages current in infoboxes and so on:
{{age|1989|7|23}}
returns:
34
{{age|1989|7|23}}-year-old
returns:
34-year-old
{{age|1989|7|23}} years old
returns:
34 years old
- Date mathematics templates
are available for other age calculations.
Uncertain, incomplete, or approximate dates
[
??????
]
- To indicate "around", "approximately", or "about", the use of the spaced, unitalicised form
c.
1291
(or the
{{
circa
}}
template) is preferred over
circa
,
ca
,
ca.
,
around
,
approximately
, or
approx.
:
- At the birth of Roger Bacon (c. 1214)
...
- John Sayer
(
??????
1750?? 2
October 1818)
...
- the Igehalkid dynasty of Elam,
??????
?1400
BC
...
- Where both endpoints of a range are approximate, c. should appear before each date (the two-argument form of
{{
circa
}}
does this):
- Dionysius Exiguus
(
??????
470??
??????
540)
...
(not
Dionysius Exiguus
(
??????
470?? 540)
...
)
- Rameses III
(reigned
??????
?1180
??
?1150
BCE
)
...
(not
Rameses III
(reigned
??????
1180?? 1150
BCE)
...
)
- Where birth/death limits have been inferred from known dates of activity:
- Offa of Mercia
(before 734?? 26
July 796)
...
- Robert Menli Lyon
(1789?? after 1863)
...
- Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce
(June 24, 1842?? after December 26, 1913)
...
- When birth and death dates are unknown, but the person is known to have been active ("flourishing") during certain years,
fl.
,
[[Floruit|fl.]]
, or
{{
fl.
}}
may be used:
- Jacobus Flori
(
fl.
1571?1588) ...
- The linked forms should not be used on disambiguation pages, and "active" followed by the range is a better alternative for occupations not relating to the composition of works, whether it be musical, grammatical, historical, or any other such work.
- When a date is known to be either of two years (e.g. from a
regnal
or
AH
year conversion, or a known age at death):
- Anne Smith
(born 1912 or 1913; died 2013)
...
- Other forms of uncertainty should be expressed in words, either in article text or in a footnote:
April
14, 1224 (unattested date)
. Do not use a question mark (
1291?
), because it fails to communicate the nature of the uncertainty.
- Ranges in which
c.
,
after
,
fl.
or similar forms appear???whether on one or both sides???employ a
spaced
endash (
{{snd}}
) and ideally a non-breaking space should follow very short modifiers such as
c.
and
fl.
.
Examples
:
1896?? after 1954
,
??????
470??
??????
540
,
??????
?470
??
?540
.
Markup:
1896{{snd}}after 1954
,
{{c.}}{{nbsp}}470{{snd}}{{c.}}{{nbsp}}540
,
{{c.|470|540}}
Times of day
[
??????
]
Context determines whether the
12-
or
24-hour
clock is used. In all cases, colons separate hours, minutes, and (where present) seconds, e.g.
1:38:09
pm
or
13:38:09
. Use figures (
11
a.m.
or
12:45
p.m.
) rather than words (
twelve forty-five p.m.
).
- 12-hour clock times
end with lower-case
a.m.
or
p.m.
, or
am
or
pm
, preceded by a
non-breaking space
, e.g.
2:30
p.m.
or
2:30
pm
(markup:
2:30{{
nbsp
}}p.m.
or
2:30{{
nbsp
}}pm
), not
2:30p.m.
or
2:30pm
. Hours should not have a leading zero (e.g.
2:30
p.m.
, not
02:30
p.m.
). Usually, use
noon
and
midnight
rather than
12 pm
and
12 am
; whether "midnight" refers to the start or the end of a date should be explicitly specified unless clear from the context. Where several times that are all a.m. or all p.m. appear in close proximity, then
a.m.
or
p.m.
need be given only once if there is no risk of confusion.
- 24-hour clock times
have no a.m., p.m., noon or midnight suffix, and include a colon (
15:30
not
1530
). Hours under 10 should have a leading zero (
08:15
). The time
00:00
refers to midnight at the start of a date,
12:00
to noon, and
24:00
to midnight at the end of a date, but
24
should not be used for the first hour of the next day (e.g. use
00:10
for ten minutes after midnight, not
24:10
).
Time zones
Give dates and times appropriate to the
time zone
where an event took place. For example, the date of the
attack on Pearl Harbor
should be December
7, 1941 (Hawaii time/?date). Give priority to the place at which the event had its most significant effects; for example, if a hacker in Monaco attacked a Pentagon computer in the US, use the time zone for the Pentagon, where the attack had its effect. In some cases, the best solution may be to add the date and time in
Coordinated Universal Time
(UTC). For example:
8
p.m.
Eastern Standard Time
on January
15, 2001 (01:00
UTC, January
16)
Alternatively, include just the
UTC offset
:
21:00
British Summer Time
(
UTC+1
) on 27
July 2012
Rarely, the time zone in which an event took place has since changed; for example, China to 1949 was divided into
five time zones
, whereas all of modern China is
UTC+8
. Similarly, the term "UTC" is not appropriate for dates before this system was adopted in 1960;
[1]
Universal Time
(UT) is the appropriate term for the mean time at the
prime meridian (Greenwich)
when it is unnecessary to specify the precise definition of the time scale. Be sure to show the UTC or offset appropriate to the clock time in use at the time of the event, not the modern time zone, if they differ.
Days of the week
[
??????
]
- Days of the week are capitalized (
Sunday
,
Wednesday
).
- Where space is limited (tables, infoboxes, etc.) an en dash may be used for a range (
Monday?Thursday
).
Seasons of the year
[
??????
]
- Seasons are uncapitalized (
a hot summer
) except when personified:
Old Man Winter's bleak greys relent as Spring begins to show her colors
.
- Avoid the use of seasons to refer to a particular time of year (
winter 1995
) as such uses are ambiguous: the seasons are six months apart in the northern and southern hemispheres, and areas near the equator have only
wet
and
dry season
s.
- Unambiguous alternatives include
early 1995
;
the first quarter of 1995
;
January to March 1995
;
spent the southern summer in Antarctica
.
- Referring to a season by name is appropriate when it is part of a formal or conventional name or designation (
annual mid-winter festival
;
the autumn harvest
;
2018 Winter Olympics
;
Times
Fall Books Supplement
;
Details appeared in
Quarterly Review
, Summer?2015
;
The Court's winter term
).
- To refer to a decade as a chronological period
per se
(not with reference to a social era or cultural phenomenon), always use four digits as in
the
1980s
. Do not use
the
1980's
,
the
1980?ies
, or
the
1980s'
(unless a possessive is actually meant).
- Prefixes should be hyphenated (
the
mid?1980s
;
pre?1960s social attitudes
).
- For a social era or cultural phenomenon associated with a particular decade:
- Two digits (with a preceding apostrophe) may be used as an alternative to four digits,
but only if this is a well-established phrase seen in reliable sources
(
the
Roaring
'20s
,
the
Gay
'90s
,
condemning the '60s counterculture
, but
grew up in 1960s Boston, moving to Dallas in
1971
, and do not write
the
90's
;
the
90s
;
or
the
90s'
).
- A third alternative (where seen in reliable sources) is to spell the decade out, capitalized:
changing attitudes of the Sixties
.
Centuries and millennia
[
??????
]
The sequence of numbered years in dates runs
...
2
BC, 1
BC, 1
AD, 2
AD
...
; there is no "
year zero
".
- Treat the 1st century AD as years
1?100
, the 17th century as
1601?1700
, and the second millennium as
1001?2000
; similarly, the 1st century BC/BCE was
100?1
BC/BCE, the 17th century BC/BCE was
1700?1601
BC/BCE, and the second millennium
2000?1001
BC/BCE.
- Centuries and millennia are identified using either "Arabic" numerals (
the 18th century
) or words (
the second millennium
). When used adjectivally they contain a hyphen (
nineteenth-century painting
or
19th-century
painting
). Do not use superscripts (
19
th
century
).
- Do not capitalize (
the best Nineteenth-century paintings
;
during the Nineteenth Century
)
- Do not use
Roman numerals
(
XVIII
century
).
- The 18th century
refers to the period (
1701?1800
), while strictly
the 1700s
refers either to (
1700?1799
) or (
1700?1709
)
- When using forms such as
the 1900s
, ensure that there is no ambiguity as to whether the century or just its first decade is meant.
- See
WP:Manual of Style §?En dashes
for use of hyphens and dashes in obscure situations.
Long periods of time
[
??????
]
- When the term is frequent, combine
yr
(years) or
ya
(years ago) with
k
(thousand):
kya
,
kyr
;
M
(million):
Mya
,
Myr
; and
b
(
short-scale
billion):
bya
,
byr
.
(See
Year §?Abbreviations yr and ya
for more information.)
- In academic contexts,
SI
annus-based units are often used:
ka
(kiloannus),
Ma
(megaannus), and
Ga
(gigaannus).
(See
Year §?SI prefix multipliers
for more information.)
- Show the meaning parenthetically, and consider linking to the appropriate section of the
Year
article
(see links above)
on first occurrence and where the use is a standalone topic of interest. In source quotations, use square brackets:
"a measured Libby radiocarbon date of 35.1
mya [million years ago] required calibration ..."
Numbers as figures or words
[
??????
]
Information on specific situations is scattered elsewhere on this page.
Generally, in article text:
- Integers from zero to nine are spelled out in words.
- Integers greater than nine
expressible in one or two words
may be expressed either in numerals or in words (
16
or
sixteen
,
84
or
eighty-four
,
200
or
two hundred
). When written as words, numbers between 21 and 99 are hyphenated (including when part of a larger number):
fifty-six
or
fifty-six thousand
but
five
hundred
or
five
thousand
.
- Other numbers are given in numerals (
3.75
,
544
) or in forms such as
21
million
. Markup:
21{{nbsp}}million
- Billion
and
trillion
are understood to represent their
short-scale
values of 10
9
(1,000,000,000) and 10
12
(1,000,000,000,000), respectively. Keep this in mind when translating articles from non-English or older sources.
- M
(unspaced, capitalized) or
bn
(unspaced) respectively may be used for "million" or "billion" after a number, when the word has been spelled out at the first occurrence (
She received £70
million and her son £10M
).
- SI prefixes and symbols, such as
mega-
(
M
),
giga-
(
G
) and
tera-
(
T
), should be used only with units of measure as appropriate to the field, and not to express large quantities in other contexts. Examples of misuse:
In a population of 1.3G
people, 300
megadeaths would be expected.
- Sometimes, the
variety of English
used in an article may suggest the use of a numbering system other than the Western thousands-based system. For example, the
South Asian numbering system
is conventionally used for certain things (especially monetary amounts) in
South Asian English
. This is discouraged in Wikipedia articles by
WP:Manual of Style §?Opportunities for commonality
.
- When it is done anyway, for contextually important reasons, link the first spelled-out instance of each quantity (e.g.
[[crore]]
, which yields:
crore
). If no instances are spelled out, provide a note after the first instance, directing the reader to the article about the numbering system.
- Provide a conversion to Western numbers for the first instance of each quantity (the templates
{{
lakh
}}
,
{{
crore
}}
, and
{{
lakh crore
}}
may be used for this purpose), and provide conversions for subsequent instances if they do not overwhelm the content of the article. For example, write
three
crore
(thirty million)
. When converting a currency amount, use the exchange rate that applied at the time being written about; the
{{
INRConvert
}}
template can be used for this purpose.
- Group digits in Western thousands-based style (e.g.,
30,000,000
; not
3,00,00,000
);
see
§?Delimiting (grouping of digits)
, below
.
- The variety of English does not uniquely determine the method of numbering in an article. Other considerations?? such as conventions used in mathematics, science, and engineering?? may also apply. The choice and order of formats and conversions is a matter of editorial discretion and consensus at the article.
Notes and exceptions:
- Avoid beginning a sentence with a figure:
- Use:
There were many matches
;
23 ended in a draw.
Or:
There were many matches
.
Twenty-three ended in a draw.
- Not:
There were many matches
.
23 ended in a draw.
- Use:
No elections were held in 1945 and 1950.
- Not:
1945 and 1950 had no elections.
(Nor:
Nineteen forty-five and 1950 had no elections
?
comparable numbers should be both written in words or both in figures.)
- Opening a sentence with a proper name or technical term that begins with a numeral can usually be avoided by rewording:
- Prefer:
Typically, 1-naphthylamine is synthesized via the Feldenshlager?Glockenspiel process.
Or:
Feldenshlager?Glockenspiel is the process typically used in the synthesis of 1-naphthylamine.
- Avoid:
1-Naphthylamine is typically synthesized via the Feldenshlager?Glockenspiel process.
- In tables and infoboxes, quantities are expressed in figures (
Years in office:
5
); but numbers within a table's explanatory text and comments follow the general rule.
- Numbers in mathematical formulae are never spelled out (
3 < π < 22/7
, not
three < π < 22 sevenths
).
- Sport scores and vote tallies should be given as figures, even if in the zero-to-nine range (
a 25?7 victory
; and
passed with 7 ayes, 2 nays, and 1 abstention
).
- Comparable quantities should be all spelled out or all in figures, even if one of the numbers would normally be written differently:
five cats and thirty-two dogs
, or
5 cats and 32 dogs
, not
five cats and 32 dogs
- Adjacent quantities not comparable should usually be in
different formats:
twelve 90-minute volumes
or
12 ninety-minute volumes
, not
12 90-minute volumes
or
twelve ninety-minute volumes
.
- Avoid awkward juxtapositions:
On February 25, 2011, twenty-one more were chosen
, not
On February 25, 2011, 21 more were chosen
.
- Sometimes figures and words carry different meanings; for example,
Every locker except one was searched
implies there is a single exception (without specifying which), while
Every locker except
1 was searched
means that only locker number
1 was not searched.
- Proper names, technical terms, and the like are never altered:
10 Downing Street
,
Nine Inch Nails
,
Channel 8
,
Seven Samurai
,
The Sixth Sense
,
Chanel No.?5
,
Fourth Estate
,
The Third Man
,
Second Coming
,
First Amendment
,
Zero Hour!
,
Less Than Zero
- Figures as figures: Use a figure when the figure itself (its
glyph
, shape, etc.) is meant:
a figure-8 pattern
;
in the shape of the numeral
6
.
(See
WP:Manual of Style/Text formatting §?Words as words
.)
- Only figures are used with unit
symbols
(
2 min
not
two min
), but figures or words may be used with unit
names
(
2 minutes
or
two minutes
), within the guidelines above.
(See also table:
General guidelines on unit names and symbols
.)
Ordinals
[
??????
]
- For guidance on choosing between e.g.
15th
and
fifteenth
, see
§?Numbers as figures or words
.
- Use two-letter suffixes as ordinal indicators:
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th
and so on (
2nd
Battalion
not
2d
Battalion
). Do not superscript (
123
rd
).
- Do not use a dot (
.
) or the ordinal mark (
º
) to indicate ordinals.
- Regnal number
s are normally written with
Roman numeral
s (without suffix, e.g.
Elizabeth II
not
Elizabeth IInd
or
Elizabeth 2nd
).
Number ranges
[
??????
]
As with date ranges
(see
above
)
, number ranges in general, such as page ranges, should state the full value of both the beginning and end of the range, with an
en dash
between, e.g.
pp.
1902?1911
or
entries
342?349
.
Forms such as
1901?11
and
342?9
may be used where space is limited (such as in tables and infoboxes), or where a
citation style
formally requires it. (As usual, quotations are not changed.)
Singular versus plural
[
??????
]
- Nouns following
simple fractions
are singular (
took
¼
dose
;
net change was ?
½
point
;
3?2
dose
).
- Nouns following
mixed number
s are plural (
1
½
doses
;
another 4
¾
miles
).
- Nouns following the lone, unsigned digit
1
are singular, but those following other decimal numbers (i.e. base-10 numbers not involving fractions) are plural (
increased 0.7 percentage points
;
365.25?days
;
paid 5 dollars per work hour, 1 dollar per travel hour, 0 dollars per standby hour
;
increased by 1?point
but
net change +1?points
;
net change ?1?points
;
net change 1.0?points
).
- The same rules apply to numbers given in words (
one dose
;
one and one-half doses
;
zero dollars
;
net change of negative one points
).
Fractions and ratios
[
??????
]
- Spelled-out fractions are hyphenated:
seven-eighths
.
- Where numerator and denominator can each be expressed in one word, a fraction is usually
spelled out
(e.g.
a two-thirds majority
;
moved one-quarter mile
); use figures if a fraction appears with a symbol (e.g.
¼
mi
?? markup:
{{
frac
|1|4}}
mi
, not
a quarter of a mi
or
one-quarter mi
). A common exception is a series of values:
The distances were
1?¼
,
⅔
and
½
mile, respectively
.
- Mixed numbers
are usually given in figures, unspaced (not
Fellini's film
8
½
or
8-
½
but
Fellini's film
8?½
?? markup:
{{frac|8|1|2}}
). In any case the integer and fractional parts should be consistent (not
nine and
½
).
- Metric (SI) measurements generally use decimals, not fractions (
5.25
mm
, not
5
¼
mm
).
- Non-metric (imperial and US customary) measurements may use fractions or decimals (
5
¼
inches
;
5.25
inches
); the practice of reliable sources should be followed, and within-article consistency is desirable.
- In science and mathematics articles, mixed numbers are rarely used (use
4
/
3
the original
rather than
1
1
/
3
times the original voltage
). The use of
{{
frac
}}
is discouraged
in favor of one of these styles:
- ?? markup:
<
math
>\textstyle\frac{1}{2}</math>
- 1
/
2
?? markup:
{{
sfrac
|1|2}}
- 1/2
?? markup:
1/2
- Do not use special characters such as
½
(deprecated markup:
½
or
½
).
- Ordinal suffixes such as
-th
should not be used with fractions expressed in figures (not
each US state has 1/50th of the
Senate's
votes
;
1/8th mile
, but
one-fiftieth of the
Senate's
votes
;
1/8 mile
;
one-eighth mile
).
- Dimensionless ratios (i.e. those without accompanying units) are given by placing a colon between integers, or placing
to
between numbers-as-words:
favored by a 3:1 ratio
or
a three-to-one ratio
, not
a 3/1 ratio
or
a 3?1 ratio
.
- Use a colon (spaced) when one or more decimal points is present
(
a 3.5?:?1 ratio
?? markup:
a 3.5 : 1 ratio
).
- Do not use the colon form where units are involved (
dissolve using a
3 ml?: 1 g ratio
)???instead see
ratios
section of table at
§?Unit names and symbols
, below.
Decimals
[
??????
]
- A period/full point (
.
)??
never
a comma?? is used as the decimal point (
6.57
, not
6,57
).
- Numbers between ?1 and +1 require a leading zero (
0.02
, not
.02
); exceptions are sporting performance averages (
.430
batting average
) and commonly used terms such as
.22
caliber
.
- Indicate repeating digits with an
overbar
e.g.
14.31{{overline|28}}
gives
14.31
28
. (Consider explaining this notation on first use.) Do not write e.g.
14.31(28)
because it resembles
notation for uncertainty
.
Grouping of digits
[
??????
]
- Digits should be grouped and separated either by commas or by narrow gaps (
never
a period/full point).
- Grouping with commas
- Left of the decimal point, five or more digits are grouped into threes separated by commas (e.g. ?
12,200
, ?
255,200?km
, ?
8,274,527th
, ?
?86,400
).
- Numbers with exactly four digits left of the decimal point may optionally be grouped (either ?
1,250
?or ?
1250
), provided that this is consistent within each article.
- When commas are used left of the decimal point, digits right of the decimal point are not grouped (i.e. should be given as an unbroken string).
- Markup:
{{
formatnum:
}}
produces this formatting.
- Grouping with narrow gaps
- Digits are grouped both sides of the decimal point (e.g. ?
6
543
210
.123
456
, ?
520.012
34
?°C
, ?
101
325
/
760
).
- Digits are generally grouped into threes. Right of the decimal point,
usual
practice is to have a final group of four in preference to leaving an "orphaned" digit at the end (
99.123
4567
, but
99.123
456
7
would also be acceptable). In mathematics-oriented articles long strings may be grouped into fives (e.g. ?
3.14159
26535
89793
23846
...
).
- This style is especially recommended for articles related to science, technology, engineering or mathematics.
- Markup: Templates
{{
val
}}
or
{{
gaps
}}
may be used to produce this formatting. Note that use of
any
space character as a separator in numbers, including non-breaking space, is problematic for
screen reader
s.
(See
§?Non-breaking spaces
.)
Screen readers read out each
group
of digits as separate numbers (e.g. ?
30 000
? is read as "thirty zero zero zero".)
- Delimiting style should be consistent throughout a given article.
- Either use commas or narrow gaps, but not both in the same article.
- Either group the thousands in a four-digit number or do not, but not mixed use in the same article.
- However, grouping by threes and fives may coexist.
- An exception is made for four-digit page numbers or four-digit calendar years. These should never be grouped (not ?
sailed in 1,492
, ?though ?
dynasty collapsed around 10,400?BC
?or ?
by
13
727
?AD
, Vega will be the northern pole star
).
Percentages
[
??????
]
- In the body of non-scientific/non-technical articles,
percent
(American English) or
per cent
(British English) are commonly used:
10 percent
;
ten percent
;
4.5 per cent
. Ranges are written
ten to twelve per cent
or
ten to twelve percent
, not
ten?twelve per cent
or
ten to twelve
%
.
- In the body of scientific/?technical articles, and in
tables and infoboxes
of any article, the symbol
%
(unspaced) is more common:
3%
, not
3
%
or
three
%
. Ranges:
10?12%
, not
10%?12%
or
10 to 12%
.
- When expressing the difference between two percentages, do not confuse a percentage change with a change in
percentage point
s.
Scientific and engineering notation
[
??????
]
- Scientific notation
always has a single nonzero digit to the left of the point: not
60.22
×
10
22
, but
6.022
×
10
23
.
- Engineering notation
is similar, but adjusted so that the exponent is a multiple of three:
602.2
×
10
21
.
- Avoid mixing scientific and engineering notations (
A
2.23
×
10
2
?m
2
region covered by
234.0
×
10
6
?grains of sand
).
- In a table column (or other presentation) in which all values can be expressed with a single power of 10, consider giving e.g.
×
10
7
once in the column header, and omitting it in the individual entries. (Markup:
{{e|7}}
)
- In both notations, the number of digits indicates the precision. For example,
5
×
10
3
means rounded to the nearest thousand;
5.0
×
10
3
to the nearest hundred;
5.00
×
10
3
to the nearest ten; and
5.000
×
10
3
to the nearest unit.
Markup:
{{
val
}}
and
{{
e
}}
may be used to format exponential notation.
Uncertainty and rounding
[
??????
]
- Where explicit uncertainty information (such as a
margin of error
) is available and appropriate for inclusion, it may be written in various ways:
- (1.534 ± 0.035) × 10
23
m
- 12.34
m
2
± 5%
(not used with scientific notation)
- 15.34
+0.43
?0.23
× 10
23
m
- 1.604(48) × 10
?4
J
(equivalent to
(1.604 ± 0.048) × 10
?4
J
)
[g]
- Polls estimated Jones's share of the vote would be 55 percent, give or take about 3 percent
- Markup:
{{
+-
}}
,
{{
su
}}
, and
{{
val
}}
may be used to format uncertainties.
- Where explicit
uncertainty is unavailable
(or is unimportant for the article's purposes) round to an appropriate number of
significant digit
s; the precision presented should usually be conservative. Precise values (often given in sources for formal or matter-of-record reasons) should be used only where stable and appropriate to the context, or significant in themselves for some special reason.
- The speed of light is defined to be 299,792,458
m/s
- but
Particle velocities eventually reached almost two-thirds the 300-million-metre-per-second speed of light.
- checks worth $250 (equivalent to $1,800 in 2016)
(not
$1,845.38 in 2016
)
- The city's 1920 population was 10,000
(not
population was 9,996
?? an official figure unlikely to be accurate at full precision)
- but
The town was ineligible because its official census figure (9,996) fell short of the statutory minimum of ten thousand
(unusual case in which the full-precision official figure is truly informative)
- The accident killed 337 passengers and crew, and 21 people on the ground
(likely that accurate and precise figures were determined)
- At least 800 persons died in the ensuing mudslides
(unlikely that any precise number can be accurate, even if an official figure is issued)
- or
Officials listed 835 deaths, but the Red Cross said dozens more may have gone unreported
(in reporting conflicting information, give detail sufficient to make the contrast intelligible)
- The jury's award was $8.5
million
(not
$8,462,247.63
).
The appeals court reduced this to $3,000,001 (one dollar in actual damages, the remainder in punitive damages).
- The number of decimal places should be consistent within a list or context (
The response rates were 41.0 and 47.4 percent, respectively
, not
41 and 47.4 percent
), unless different precisions are actually intended.
- It may sometimes be appropriate to note the
lack
of uncertainty information, especially where such information is normally provided and necessary for full interpretation of the figures supplied.
- A local newspaper poll predicted 52 percent of the vote would go to Smith, but did not include information on the uncertainty of this estimate
- The
{{
undue precision
}}
template may be added to figures appearing to be overprecise.
- Avoid using "approximately", "about", and similar terms with figures that have merely been approximated or rounded in a normal and expected way, unless the reader might otherwise be misled.
- The tallest player was 6 feet 3 inches
(
not
... about 6 feet 3 inches
?? heights are conventionally reported only to the nearest inch, even though greater precision may be available in principle)
- but
The witness said the assailant was about 5 feet 8 inches tall
("about" because here the precise value is unknown, with substantial uncertainty)
- The reader may be assumed to interpret large round numbers (
100,000 troops
) as approximations. Writing a quantity in words (
one hundred thousand troops
) can further emphasize its approximate nature.
- See
§?Unit conversions
below for precision issues when converting units.
Non-
base
-10 notations
[
??????
]
- In computer-related articles, use the prefix
0x
for hexadecimal,
0
for octal, and
0b
for binary, unless there is a strong reason to use some other notation.
[h]
Explain these prefixes in the article's introduction or on first use.
- In all other articles, use
<sub>
to create subscripts:
137
9
,
201
3
. Markup:
137<sub>9</sub>
,
201<sub>3</sub>
- For bases above 10, use symbols conventional for that base (as seen in reliable sources) e.g. for
base 16
use
0?9 and A?F
.
Mathematical formulae
[
??????
]
For the display of a mathematical formula, there are multiple options, covered in detail at
WP:Manual of Style/Mathematics §?Typesetting of mathematical formulae
. One uses special MediaWiki
?<
math
>
...
?</
math
>
markup using
LaTeX
syntax, which is capable of complex formulae; the other relies on conventionalized
HTML
formatting of simple formulae.
On the user end, the
?<
math
>
markup is displayed as a
PNG
image by default. Logged-in users can optionally have it rendered in
MathML
, or in HTML (via
MathJax
); detailed instructions are at
Help:Displaying a formula
.
Do not put
?<
math
>
markup in headings
; it is an
accessibility problem
.
Unit choice and order
[
??????
]
Quantities are typically expressed using an appropriate "primary unit", displayed first, followed, when appropriate, by a conversion in parentheses e.g.
200 kilometres (120?mi)
. For details on when and how to provide a conversion, see the section
§?Unit conversions
. The choice of primary units depends on the circumstances, and should respect the principle of "
strong national ties
", where applicable:
- In
non-scientific articles relating to the United States
, the primary units are
US customary
, e.g.
97
pounds (44
kg)
.
- In
non-scientific articles relating to the United Kingdom
, the primary units for most quantities are metric or other internationally used units,
[i]
except that:
- UK engineering-related articles, including those on bridges and tunnels, generally use the system of units that the topic was
drawn up
in (but road distances are given in imperial units, with a metric conversion ? see next bullet);
- the primary units for distance/?length, speed and fuel consumption are miles, miles per hour, and miles per imperial gallon (except for short distances or lengths, where miles are too large for practical use);
- the primary units for personal height and weight are feet?/inches and stones/?pounds;
- imperial pints are used for quantities of draught beer/?cider and bottled milk;
- In
all other articles
, the primary units chosen will be
SI
units,
non-SI units officially accepted for use with the SI
, or such other units as are conventional in reliable-source discussions of the article topic (such as
revolutions per minute
(rpm) for
rotational speed
,
hand
s for heights of horses, et cetera).
Special considerations:
- Quantities set via definition (as opposed to measured quantities) should be given first in the units used in the definition, even if this makes the structure of presentation inconsistent:
During metrification, the speed limit was changed from 30
mph (48
km/h) to 50
km/h (31
mph)
.
- Or use
about
to emphasize which is the statutory, exact value:
...from 30
mph (about 48
km/h) to 50
km/h (about 31
mph)
.
- Nominal quantities (e.g.
2
×
4
lumber
) require consideration of whether the article is concerned with the item's actual dimensions or merely with its function. In some cases, the nominal quantity may suffice; in others it may be necessary to give the nominal size (often in non-SI units), the actual size in non-SI units, and the actual size in SI units.
- Whenever a conversion is used, ensure that the precision of the converted quantity in the article is comparable to the precision of the value given by the source
(see
§?Unit conversions
)
.
- Where the article's primary units differ from the units given in the source, the
{{
convert
}}
template's
|order=flip
flag can be used; this causes the
original
unit to be shown as secondary in the article, and the
converted
unit to be shown as primary:
{{convert|200|mi|km|order=flip}}
→
The two cities are 320 kilometres (200?mi) apart.
Unit conversions
[
??????
]
Where English-speaking countries use different units for the same quantity, provide a conversion in parentheses:
the Mississippi River is 2,320 miles (3,734?km) long
;
the Murray River is 2,508 kilometres (1,558?mi) long
. But in science-related articles, supplying such conversion is not required unless there is some special reason to do so.
- Where an
imperial unit
is not part of the
US customary system
, or vice versa?? and in particular, where those systems give a single term different definitions?? a double conversion may be appropriate:
Rosie weighed 80 kilograms (180?lb; 12?st 8?lb)
(markup:
{{convert|80|kg|lb stlb}}
);
The car
had a fuel economy of 5?L/100?km (47?mpg
?US
; 56?mpg
?imp
)
(markup:
{{convert|5|L/100km|mpgus mpgimp|abbr=on}}
).
- Generally, conversions to and from metric units and US or imperial units should be provided, except:
- When inserting a conversion would make a common or linked expression awkward (
The four-minute mile
).
- When units are part of the subject of a topic?? nautical miles in articles about the history of nautical law (
5 nautical miles
),
SI
units in scientific articles (
a 600-kilometer asteroid
), yards in articles about American football?? it can be excessive to provide conversions every time a unit occurs. It might be best to note that this topic will use the units (possibly giving the conversion factor to another familiar unit in a parenthetical note or a footnote), and link the first occurrence of each unit but not give a conversion every time it occurs.
- Converted quantity values should use a
level of precision
similar to that of the source quantity value, so
the Moon is 380,000
kilometres (240,000
mi) from Earth
, not
(236,121
mi)
. Small numbers may need to be converted to a range where rounding would cause a significant distortion, so
one mile (1?2
km)
, not
one mile (2
km)
. Be careful especially when your source has already converted from the units you're now converting back to. This may be evidenced by multiples of common conversion factors in the data, such as 160 km (from 100 miles).
See
false precision
.
- Conversion templates
can be used to convert and format many common units, including
{{
convert
}}
, which includes non-breaking spaces.
- In a
direct quotation
, always retain the source units. Any conversions can be supplied either in the quote itself (in square brackets, following the original measurement) or in a footnote.
See
footnoting
and
citing sources
.
{{
Units attention
}}
may be added to articles needing general attention regarding choice of units and unit conversions.
- Avoid
edit-warring
over unit conversions, or performing mass conversions from one unit style to another across many articles;
sanctions
may apply.
[j]
Unit names and symbols
[
??????
]
- Definitions:
- Examples of
unit names
: foot, metre, kilometre, (meter, kilometer US).
- Examples of
unit symbols
: ft, m, km.
- Unit names and symbols should follow the practice of reliable sources.
- In prose, unit names should be given in full if used only a few times, but symbols may be used when a unit (especially one with a long name) is used repeatedly, after spelling out the first use (e.g.
Up to 15 kilograms of filler is used for a batch of 250
kg
).
- Exception: Certain units are generally represented by their symbols (e.g.
°C
rather than
degrees Celsius
) even on first use, though their unit names may be used for emphasis or clarity (
conversion of degrees Celsius to degrees Fahrenheit
).
- Exception: Consider using
inches
(but not
in.
) in place of
in
where the latter might be misread as a preposition???but not where the value is followed by a parenthesized conversion e.g.
bolts 5?in (12.7?cm) long
, or is part of such a conversion (
bolts 12.7?cm (5?in) long
).
- Where space is limited, such as in tables, infoboxes, parenthetical notes, and mathematical formulas, unit symbols are preferred.
- Units unfamiliar to general readers should be presented as a name?symbol pair on first use, linking the unit name (
Energies were originally 2.3
megaelectronvolt
s (MeV), but were eventually 6
MeV
).
- Ranges use unspaced en dash (
{{
ndash
}}
) if only one unit symbol is used at the end (e.g.
5.9?6.3
kg
), and spaced en dash (
{{
snd
}}
) if two symbols are used (e.g.
3
μm?? 1
mm
); ranges in prose may be specified using either unit symbol or unit names, and units may be stated either after both numerical values or after the last (all acceptable:
from 5.9 to 6.3 kilograms
;
from 5.9 kilograms to 6.3 kilograms
;
from 5.9 to 6.3
kg
;
from 5.9
kg to 6.3
kg
).
- Length?width, length?width?height and similar dimensions may be separated by the multiplication sign (
×
or
×
) or the word
by
.
- With the multiplication sign, each number should be followed by a unit name or symbol (if appropriate):
- 1 m × 3 m × 6 m
, not
1 × 3 × 6 m
,
(1 × 3 × 6) m
, nor
1 × 3 × 6 m
3
- a metal plate 1 ft × 3 ft × 0.25 in
- a railroad easement 10 ft × 2.5 mi
- The
×
symbol is preceded by a space (preferably non-breaking), and followed by a space (which may also be non-breaking in short constructions).
- With
by
, the unit need be given only once if it is the same for all values:
1 by 3 by 6 metres
or
1 by 3 by 6 m
- The unspaced letter
x
may be used in common terms such as
4x4
.
General guidelines on use of units
Aspect
|
Guideline
|
Acceptable
|
Unacceptable
|
Unit names and symbols
|
Except as listed in the
§?Specific units
table below, unit
symbols
are uncapitalized unless they are derived from a proper name, in which case the first letter (of the base unit symbol, not of any prefix) is capitalized.
[k]
|
8 kg
100 kPa
|
8 Kg
100 kpa
|
Unit symbols are undotted.
|
38 cm of rope
|
38 cm
.
of rope
|
Unit
names
are given in lower case except: where any word would be capitalized, or where otherwise specified in the SI brochure
[3]
or this Manual of Style.
|
- He walked several miles.
- Miles of trenches were dug.
|
A Gallon equals 4
Quarts.
|
The spelling of certain unit names (some of which are listed in
§?Specific units
, below) varies with the
variety of English followed by the article
.
|
|
|
Write unit names and symbols in upright (
roman
) type, except where emphasizing in context.
|
10
m
29 kilograms
|
10
m
29
kilograms
|
Thus each two-liter jug contained only two
quarts
.
|
|
Do not use precomposed unit symbol characters.
|
|
㎓
,
㎦
|
Numeric values
|
Do not spell out numbers before unit
symbols
...
|
12
min
|
twelve
min
|
...
but words
or
figures may be used with unit
names
.
|
- twelve minutes
- 12 minutes
|
|
A value with no accompanying unit is usually given in figures.
|
Set the pointer to 5.
|
Set the pointer to five.
|
Use a non-breaking space (
{{
nbsp
}}
or
) between a number and a unit
symbol
, or use
{{
nowrap
}}
...
|
29
kg
(markup:
29 kg
or
{{nowrap|29 kg}}
)
|
29kg
|
... though with certain symbols
no
space is used (see "Specific
units" table below)
...
|
23°
47′
22″
|
23
°
47
′
22
″
|
... and a normal space is used between a number and a unit
name
.
|
29
kilograms
(markup:
29?kilograms
)
|
|
To form a value and a unit
name
into a compound adjective use a hyphen or hyphens
...
|
- a five-day holiday
- a five-cubic-foot box
- a 10-centimeter blade
|
|
... but a non-breaking space (never hyphen) separates a value and unit
symbol
.
|
|
a 10-cm blade
|
Plurals
|
SI
unit
names
are pluralized by adding the appropriate
-s
or
-es
suffix
...
|
1 ohm
;
10 ohms
|
|
... except for these irregular forms.
|
1 henry
;
10 henries
1 hertz
;
10 hertz
1 lux
;
10 lux
1 siemens
;
10 siemens
|
10 henrys
10 hertzes
10 luxes
|
Some non-SI units have irregular plurals.
|
1 foot
;
10 feet
|
10 foots
|
1 stratum
;
10 strata
(unusual)
|
10 stratums
|
Unit
symbols
(in any system) are identical in singular and plural.
|
- grew from 1 in to 2 in
- grew from 1 inch to 2 inches
- grew from one to two inches
|
grew from 1 in to 2 ins
|
Powers
|
Format exponents using <sup>, not special characters.
|
km
2
(markup:
km<sup>2</sup>
)
|
km²
(
km²
)
|
Or use
squared
or
cubed
(
after
the unit being modified).
|
ten metres per second squared
|
ten metres per squared second
|
For areas or volumes only,
square
or
cubic
may be used (
before
the unit being modified).
|
ten metres per square second
|
tons per square mile
|
|
sq
or
cu
may be used with US customary or imperial units, but not with
SI
units.
|
15
sq
mi
3
cu
ft
|
15
sq
km
3
cu
m
|
Products
|
Indicate a product of unit
names
with either a hyphen or a space.
|
|
|
Indicate a product of unit
symbols
with
&
sdot
;
or
&
nbsp
;
.
|
- ms
= millisecond
- m?s
or
m
s
= metre-second
|
|
Exception:
In some topic areas, such as power engineering, certain products take neither space nor
⋅
. Follow the practice of reliable sources in the article's topic area.
|
|
|
To pluralize a product of unit
names
, pluralize only the final unit. (Unit
symbols
are never pluralized.)
|
ten foot-pounds
|
ten feet-pounds
|
Ratios, rates, densities
|
Indicate a ratio of unit
names
with
per
.
|
meter per second
|
meter/second
|
Indicate a ratio of unit
symbols
with a forward slash (
/
), followed by either a single symbol or a parenthesized product of symbols?? do not use multiple slashes. Or use
?1
,
?2
, etc.
|
- metre per second
- m/s
- m?s
?1
|
|
|
|
To pluralize a ratio of unit
names
, pluralize only the numerator unit. (Unit
symbols
are never pluralized.)
|
- ten newton-metres per second
- 10 N?m/s
|
|
Some of the special forms used in the imperial and US customary systems are shown here
...
|
- mph
= miles per hour
- mpg
= miles per gallon
- psi
=
pound
s per square inch
|
|
... but only the slash or negative exponent notations are used with SI (and other metric) units.
|
|
gsm
|
|
kph
|
Prefixes
|
Prefixes should not be separated by a space or hyphen.
|
25 kilopascals
|
- 25 kilo pascals
- 25 kilo-pascals
|
Prefixes are added without contraction, except as shown here:
|
kilohm
megohm
hectare
|
kiloohm
megaohm
hectoare
|
The
centi-
,
deci-
,
deca-
, and
hecto-
prefixes should generally be avoided; exceptions include centimetre, decibel, hectolitre, hectare, and hectopascal.
|
|
1 hectometre
|
Do not use
M
for 10
3
,
MM
for 10
6
, or
B
for 10
9
(except as noted elsewhere on this page for
M
and
B
, e.g.
for monetary values
)
|
3 km
8 MW
125 GeV
|
3 Mm
8 MMW
125 BeV
|
Mixed units
|
Mixed units are traditionally used with the imperial and US customary systems
...
|
- a wall 1 ft 1 in thick
- a wall 1 foot 1 inch thick
- a man 6 feet 2 inches tall
- a 6-foot 2-inch man
- a 6 ft 2 in man
|
- 1 ft?, 1 in
(no comma)
- 1 foot?, 1 inch
- a man 6 foot 2 tall
- a 6-foot 2 man
-
|
- 1 US fl pt 8 oz
- 1 US fl pt 8 US fl oz
|
|
... and in expressing time durations
...
|
|
- 1:30′07″
- 1 hr 30 min 7 sec
- 1 h 30 m 7 s
|
... but are not normally used in SI.
|
|
1 m 33 cm
|
Note to table:
- ↑
Only use this format if it is clear from the context whether this means hours and minutes (H:MM) or minutes and seconds (M:SS).
- ↑
This format is used in astronomy (see the IAU Style Manual
[5]
for details).
Specific units
[
??????
]
- The following table lists only units that need special attention.
- The
SI Brochure
[3]
should be consulted for guidance on use of other SI and non-SI units.
Guidelines on specific units
Group
|
Name
|
Symbol
|
Comment
|
Length, speed
|
|
|
Do not use
′
(
′
),
″
(
″
), apostrophe
(
'
) or quote
(
"
).
|
foot per second
|
ft/s
(
not
fps
)
|
|
hand
|
h
or
hh
|
Equal to 4 inches; used in measurement of horses. A dot may be followed by additional inches e.g.
16.2 hh
indicates
16 hands 2 inches.
|
knot
|
kn
(
not
kt
or
kN
)
|
|
|
m
|
|
micron
|
μm
(
not
μ
)
|
Markup:
μm
Link to
micrometre
(for which micron is a synonym) on first use.
|
astronomical unit
|
au
(
not
A.U.
,
ua
)
|
The preferred option is
au
. Articles that already use
AU
may switch to au or continue with AU; seek consensus on the talk page.
|
- mile
- miles per hour
- nautical mile
|
- mi
- mph
- nmi
or
NM
(
not
nm
or
M
)
|
In nautical and aeronautical contexts use
statute mile
rather than mile to avoid confusion with nautical mile.
|
Volume, flow
|
- cubic centimetre
- cubic centimeter
(US)
|
cm
3
|
Markup:
cm<sup>3</sup>
|
cc
|
Non-SI abbreviation used for certain
engine displacement
s; link to
Cubic centimetre
on first use.
|
- imperial fluid ounce
- imperial pint
- imperial quart
- imperial gallon
- US fluid ounce
- US fluid pint
- US fluid quart
- US gallon
|
- imp fl oz
- imp pt
- imp qt
- imp gal
- US fl oz
- US fl pt
- US fl qt
- US gal
|
US
or
imperial
(or
imp
) must be specified;
fluid
or
fl
must be specified for fluid ounces and US units, except with gallon. (Without
fluid
,
ounce
is ambiguous?? versus avoirdupois ounce or troy ounce?? and US
pint
or US
quart
are ambiguous?? versus US dry pint or US dry quart.)
|
cubic foot
|
cu ft
(
not
cf
)
|
Write
five million cubic feet
,
5,000,000
cu
ft
, or
5
×
10
6
?cu?ft
, not
5
MCF
.
|
cubic foot per second
|
cu ft/s
(
not
cfs
)
|
|
|
l
or
L
|
The symbol l (lowercase "el") in isolation (i.e. outside forms as ml) is easily mistaken for the digit
1 or the capital letter
I
("eye").
|
Mass, force, density, pressure
|
|
|
Spell out in full.
|
pound per square inch
|
psi
|
|
|
t
(
not
mt
or
MT
)
|
|
troy ounce
|
oz t
|
t
or
troy
must be specified. Articles about precious metals, black powder, and gemstones should always specify whether ounces and pounds are
avoirdupois
or
troy
.
|
troy pound
|
lb t
|
carat
|
carat
|
Used to express masses of gemstones and pearls.
|
Purity
|
carat or karat
|
k
or
Kt
|
A measure of purity for gold alloys. (Do not confuse with the unit of mass with the same spelling.)
|
Time
|
|
|
Do not use
′
(
′
),
″
(
″
), apostrophe
(
'
) or quote
(
"
) for minutes or seconds. See also the hours?minutes?seconds formats for time durations described in the
Unit names and symbols table
.
|
year
|
a
|
Use
a
only with an
SI prefix multiplier
(
a rock formation 540
Ma
old
, not
Life expectancy rose to 60 a
).
|
y
or
yr
|
See
§?Long periods of time
for all affected units.
|
Information, data
|
bit
|
bit
(
not
b
or
B
)
|
See also
§?Quantities of bytes and bits
, below.
Do not confuse bit/second or byte/second with
baud (Bd)
.
|
byte
|
B
or
byte
(
not
b
or
o
)
|
bit per second
|
bit/s
(
not
bps
,
b/s
)
|
byte per second
|
B/s
or
byte/s
(
not
Bps
,
bps
,
b/s
)
|
Angle
|
arcminute
|
′
|
Markup:
′
(
prime?′
not apostrophe/?single quote
'
).
No space (
47′
, not
47
′
).
|
arcsecond
|
″
|
Markup:
″
(
double prime?″
not double-quote
"
).
No space (
22″
, not
22
″
).
|
degree
|
°
|
Markup:
°
(degree ° not
masculine ordinal
º
or
ring
?
?).
No space (
23°
, not
23
°
).
|
Temperature
|
degree Fahrenheit
|
°F
(
not
F
)
|
Markup:
°
. Use a non-breaking space:
12{{
nbsp
}}°C
, not
12°C
nor
12°{{
nbsp
}}C
(
12
°C
, not
12°C
nor
12°
C
).
|
degree Celsius
(
not
degree centigrade)
|
°C
(
not
C
)
|
kelvin
(
not
degree kelvin)
|
K
(
not
°K
)
|
|
Energy
|
|
cal
|
In certain subject areas,
calorie
is conventionally used alone. Articles following this practice should specify on first use whether the use refers to the small calorie or to the kilocalorie (large calorie). Providing conversions to
SI
units (usually calories to joules or kilocalories to kilojoules) may also be useful. A kilocalorie (
kcal
) is 1000 calories. A calorie (small calorie) is the amount of energy required to heat 1 gram of water by 1 °C. A kilocalorie is therefore also a kilogram calorie.
|
- kilocalorie
- large calorie
- kilogram calorie
- (
not
Calorie??
can be ambiguous)
|
kcal
|
Quantities of bytes and bits
[
??????
]
In quantities of
bit
s and
byte
s, the prefixes
kilo-
(symbol
k
or
K
),
mega-
(
M
),
giga-
(
G
),
tera-
(
T
), etc., are ambiguous. They may be based on a decimal system (like the standard
SI
prefixes), meaning 10
3
, 10
6
, 10
9
, 10
12
, etc., or they may be based on a binary system, meaning 2
10
, 2
20
, 2
30
, 2
40
, etc. The binary meanings are more commonly used in relation to solid-state memory (such as
RAM
), while the decimal meanings are more common for data transmission rates, disk storage and in theoretical calculations in modern academic textbooks.
Prefixes for multiples of
bit
s (bit) or
byte
s (B)
|
|
|
|
Follow these recommendations when using these prefixes in Wikipedia articles:
- Following the SI standard, a lower-case
k
should be used for "kilo-" whenever it means 1000 in computing contexts, whereas a capital
K
should be used instead to indicate the binary prefix for 1024 according to JEDEC. (If, under the exceptions detailed further below, the article otherwise uses IEC prefixes for binary units, use
Ki
instead).
- Do not assume that the binary or decimal meaning of prefixes will be obvious to everyone. Explicitly specify the meaning of k and K as well as the primary meaning of M, G, T, etc. in an article (
{{
BDprefix
}}
is a convenient helper). Consistency within each article is desirable, but the need for consistency may be balanced with other considerations.
- The definition most relevant to the article should be chosen as primary for that article, e.g. specify a binary definition in an article on RAM, decimal definition in an article on
hard drives
,
bit rate
s, and a binary definition for Windows file sizes, despite files usually being stored on hard drives.
- Where consistency is not possible, specify wherever there is a deviation from the primary definition.
- Disambiguation should be shown in bytes or bits, with clear indication of whether in binary or decimal base. There is no preference in the way to indicate the number of bytes and bits, but the notation style should be consistent within an article. Acceptable examples include:
- A 64
MB (
64
×
1024
2
-byte)
video card and a 100
GB
(100
×
1000
3
-byte)
hard drive
- A 64
MB (
64
×
2
20
-byte)
video card and a 100
GB
(100
×
10
9
-byte)
hard drive
- A 64
MB
(67,108,864-byte)
video card and a 100
GB
(100,000,000,000-byte)
hard drive
- Avoid inconsistent combinations such as
A 64
MB
(67,108,864-byte)
video card and a 100
GB
(100
×
1000
3
-byte)
hard drive
. Footnotes, such as those seen in
Power Macintosh 5500
, may be used for disambiguation.
- Unless explicitly stated otherwise, one byte is eight bits
(see
Byte §?History
)
.
The
IEC prefix
es
kibi-
(symbol
Ki
),
mebi-
(
Mi
),
gibi-
(
Gi
), etc., are generally not to be used except:
[l]
- when the majority of cited sources on the article topic use IEC prefixes;
- in a direct quote using the IEC prefixes;
- when explicitly discussing the IEC prefixes; or
- in articles in which both types of prefix are used with neither clearly primary, or in which converting all quantities to one or the other type would be misleading or lose necessary precision, or declaring the actual meaning of a unit on each use would be impractical.
Choice of currency
- In
country-specific articles
, such as
Economy of Australia
, use the currency of the subject country.
- In
non-country-specific articles
such as
Wealth
, use US dollars (
US$123
on first use, generally
$123
thereafter), euros (
€123
), or pounds sterling (
£123
).
Currency names
- Do not capitalize the names or denominations of currencies, currency subdivisions, coins and banknotes: not
a Five-Dollar bill, four Quarters, and one Penny total six Dollars one Cent
but
a five-dollar bill, four quarters, and one penny total six dollars one cent
.
Exception:
where otherwise required, as at the start of a sentence or in such forms as
Australian dollar
.
- To pluralize
euro
use the standard English plurals (
ten euros and fifty cents
), not the
invariant plurals used for European Union legislation and banknotes
(
ten euro and fifty cent
). For the adjectival form, use a hyphenated singular (
a two-euro pen and a ten-cent coin
).
- Link the first occurrence of lesser-known currencies (
Mongolian togrog
s
).
Currency symbols
- In general, the first mention of a particular currency should use its full, unambiguous signifier (e.g.
A$52
), with subsequent references using just the appropriate symbol (e.g.
$88
), unless this would be unclear.
Exceptions:
- In an article referring to multiple currencies represented by the same symbol (e.g. the dollars of the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries??
see
Currency symbols §?dollar variants
) use the full signifier (e.g.
US$
,
A$
) each time, except (possibly) where a particular context makes this both unnecessary and undesirable.
- In articles entirely on EU-, UK- and/or US-related topics, all occurrences may be shortened (
€26
,
£22
or
$34
), unless this would be unclear.
- The
pound sterling
is represented by the
£
symbol, with one horizontal bar. The double-barred
?
symbol is ambiguous, as it has also been used for the
Italian lira
and other currencies. For non-British currencies that use pounds or a pound symbol (e.g. the
Irish pound
, IR£) use the symbol conventionally preferred for that currency.
- If there is no common English abbreviation or symbol, follow the
ISO 4217
standard.
See also
List of circulating currencies
.
Formatting
- A period (full stop,
.
) is used as the decimal point?? never a comma (
$6.57
, not
$6,57
).
- For the grouping of digits (e.g.
£1,234,567
) see
§?Grouping of digits
, above.
- Do not place a currency symbol
after
the accompanying numeric figures (e.g.
123$
,
123£
,
123€
) unless that is the normal convention for that symbol when writing in English:
smaller British coins include 1p, 2p, and 5p denominations
. Never use forms such as
$US123
or
$123 (US)
.
- Currency abbreviations that come before the numeric value are
unspaced
if they consist of a nonalphabetic symbol only, or end in a symbol (
£123
;
€123
); but
spaced
if alphabetic (
R
75
).
- Ranges should be expressed giving the currency signifier just once:
$250?300
, not
$250?$300
.
- million
and
billion
should be spelled out on first use, and (optionally) abbreviated
M
or
bn
(both unspaced) thereafter:
She received £70 million and her son £10M
;
the school's share was $250?300 million, and the charity's $400?450M
.
- In general, a currency symbol should be accompanied by a numeric amount e.g. not
He converted his US$ to A$
but
He converted his US dollars to Australian dollars
or
He exchanged the US$100 note for Australian dollars
.
- Exceptions may occur in tables and infoboxes where space is limited e.g.
Currencies accepted:
US$
,
SFr
,
GB£
,
€
. It may be appropriate to wikilink such uses, or add an explanatory note.
Conversions
- Conversions of
less-familiar currencies
may be provided in terms of more familiar currencies?? such as the US dollar, euro or pound sterling?? using an appropriate rate (which is often
not
the current exchange rate). Conversions should be in parentheses after the original currency, rounding to avoid
false precision
(two significant digits is usually sufficient, as most exchange rates fluctuate significantly), with at least the year given as a rough point of conversion rate reference; e.g.
Since 2001 the grant has been 10,000,000
Swedish kronor
($1.4M, €970,000, or £850,000 as of ???????2009
[update]
)
, not
($1,390,570, €971,673 or £848,646)
- For
obsolete currencies
, provide an equivalent (formatted as a conversion) if possible, in the modern replacement currency (e.g. decimal pounds for historical pre-decimal pounds-and-shillings), or a US-dollar equivalent where there is no modern equivalent.
- In some cases, it may be appropriate to provide a conversion accounting for inflation or deflation over time.
See
{{
Inflation
}}
and
{{
Inflation-fn
}}
.
- The
Insert
menu below the editing window gives a more complete list of math symbols, and allows symbols to be inserted without the HTML encoding (e.g.
÷
) shown here.
- Spaces are placed to left and right when a symbol is used
with two operands
(
the sum 4 + 5
), but no space is used when
there is one operand
(
the value?+5
).
Exception:
spaces are usually omitted in inline fractions formed with
/
:
3/4
not
3 / 4
.
- The
{{
mvar
}}
(for single-letter variables) and
{{
math
}}
(for more complicated expressions) templates are available to display mathematical formulas in a manner distinct from surrounding text.
- The
{{
nbsp
}}
and
{{
nowrap
}}
templates may be used to prevent awkward linebreaks.
Common mathematical symbols
Symbol name
|
Example
|
Markup
|
Comments
|
Plus /
positive
|
x
+
y
|
{{math|''x'' + ''y''}}
|
|
+
y
|
{{math|+''y''}}
|
Minus /
negative
|
x
?
y
|
{{math|''x'' − ''y''}}
|
Do not use hyphens (
-
) or dashes (
{{
ndash
}}
or
{{
mdash
}}
).
|
?
y
|
{{math|−''y''}}
|
Plus-minus /
minus-plus
|
41.5 ± 0.3
|
41.5 ± 0.3
|
|
?(±
a
) = ?
a
|
{{math|1=−(±''a'') = ∓''a''}}
|
Multiplication,
dot
|
x
?
y
|
{{math|''x'' ⋅ ''y''}}
|
Multiplication
,
cross
|
x
×
y
|
{{math|''x'' × ''y''}}
|
Do not use the letter
x
to indicate multiplication. However, an
unspaced
x
may be used as a substitute for "by" in common terms such as
4x4
.
|
Division
, obelus
|
x
÷
y
|
{{math|''x'' ÷ ''y''}}
|
|
Equal / equals
|
x
=
y
|
{{math|1=''x'' = ''y''}}
or
{{math|''x'' {{=}} ''y''}}
|
Note the use of
1=
or
{{=}}
to make the template parameters work correctly
|
Not equal
|
x
≠
y
|
{{math|''x'' ≠ ''y''}}
|
|
Approx. equal
|
π
? 3.14
|
{{math|''π'' ≈ 3.14}}
|
Less than
|
x
<
y
|
{{math|''x'' < ''y''}}
|
Less or equal
|
x
≤
y
|
{{math|''x'' ≤ ''y''}}
|
Greater than
|
x
>
y
|
{{math|''x'' > ''y''}}
|
Greater or equal
|
x
≥
y
|
{{math|''x'' ≥ ''y''}}
|
- For draft guidance on, and examples of, coordinates for linear features, see
Wikipedia:WikiProject Geographical coordinates/Linear
.
- Quick guide
:
To add
44°06′45″N
87°54′47″W
? / ?
44.1124°N 87.9130°W
? /
44.1124; -87.9130
to the top of an article, use either
{{Coord|44.1124|N|87.9130|W|display=title}}
(which does not require minutes or seconds but does require the user to specify north/ south and east/west)
or
{{Coord|44.1124|-87.9130|display=title}}
(in which the north and east are presumed by positive values while the south and west are negative ones).
These coordinates are in
decimal degrees
.
- Degrees, minutes and seconds, when used, must each be separated by a
pipe ("|")
.
- Map datum
must be
WGS84
if possible (except for off-Earth bodies).
- Avoid
excessive precision
(0.0001° is <11 m, 1″ is <31 m).
- Maintain
consistency
of decimal places or minutes/seconds between latitude and longitude.
- Latitude (N/S) must appear before longitude (E/W).
Optional coordinate parameters follow the longitude and are separated by
an underscore ("_")
:
Other optional parameters are separated by
a pipe ("|")
:
- display
|display=inline
(the default) to display in the body of the article only,
|display=title
to display at the top of the article only (in desktop view only; title coordinates do not display in mobile view), or
|display=inline,title
to display in both places.
- name
name=
X
to label the place on maps (default is
PAGENAME
)
Thus:
{{Coord|44.1172|-87.9135|dim:30_region:US-WI_type:event
|display=inline,title|name=accident site}}
Use
|display=title
(or
|display=inline,title
) once per article, for the subject of the article, where appropriate.
Geographical coordinates
on Earth should be entered using a template to standardise the format and to provide a link to maps of the coordinates. As long as the templates are adhered to, a robot performs the functions automatically.
First,
obtain the coordinates
. Avoid
excessive precision
.
The
{{
Coord
}}
template offers users a choice of display format through
user style
s, emits a
Geo microformat
, and is recognised (in the
title
position) by the "nearby" feature of Wikipedia's mobile apps and by external service providers such as Google Maps and Google Earth, and Yahoo. Infoboxes automatically emit
{{
Coord
}}
.
The following formats are available.
- For degrees only (including decimal values):
{{coord|
dd
|
N/S
|
dd
|
E/W
}}
- For degrees/minutes:
{{coord|
dd
|
mm
|
N/S
|
dd
|
mm
|
E/W
}}
- For degrees/minutes/seconds:
{{coord|
dd
|
mm
|
ss
|
N/S
|
dd
|
mm
|
ss
|
E/W
}}
where:
- dd
,
mm
,
ss
are the degrees, minutes and seconds, respectively;
- N/S
is either
N
for northern or
S
for southern
latitude
s;
- E/W
is either
E
for eastern or
W
for western
longitude
s;
- negative values may be used in lieu of
S
and
W
to denote Southern and Western
Hemispheres
For example:
For the city of
Oslo
, located at 59° 55′ N, 10° 44′ E:
{{coord|59|55|N|10|44|E}}
?? which becomes
59°55′N
10°44′E
? / ?
59.917°N 10.733°E
? /
59.917; 10.733
For a country, like
Botswana
, less precision is appropriate:
{{coord|22|S|24|E}}
?? which becomes
22°S
24°E
? / ?
22°S 24°E
? /
-22; 24
Higher levels of precision are obtained by using seconds:
{{coord|33|56|24|N|118|24|00|W}}
?? which becomes
33°56′24″N
118°24′00″W
? / ?
33.94000°N 118.40000°W
? /
33.94000; -118.40000
Coordinates can be entered as decimal values
{{coord|33.94|S|118.40|W}}
?? which becomes
33°56′S
118°24′W
? / ?
33.94°S 118.40°W
? /
-33.94; -118.40
Increasing or decreasing the number of decimal places controls the precision. Trailing zeros should be used as needed to ensure that both values have the same level of precision.
London Heathrow Airport
,
Amsterdam
,
Jan Mayen
and
Mount Baker
are examples of articles that contain geographical coordinates.
Generally, the larger the object being mapped, the
less precise
the coordinates should be. For example, if just giving the location of a city, precision greater than 100
meters is not needed unless specifying a particular point in the city, for example the central administrative building. Specific buildings or other objects of similar size would justify precisions down to 10
meters or even one meter in some cases (1′′ ~15
m to 30
m, 0.0001° ~5.6
m to 10
m).
The final field, following the E/W, is available for attributes such as
type:
,
region:
, or
scale:
(the codes are documented at
Template:Coord/doc#Coordinate parameters
)
.
When adding coordinates, please remove the
{{
coord missing
}}
tag from the article, if present.
For more information, see
the geographical coordinates WikiProject
.
Templates other than
{{
coord
}}
should use the following variable names for coordinates:
lat_d
,
lat_m
,
lat_s
,
lat_NS
,
long_d
,
long_m
,
long_s
,
long_EW
.
- ↑
See
Arbitration Committee
statements of principles in
cases
on style-related edit warring in
June 2005
,
November 2005
, and
February 2006
.
- ↑
Only certain citation styles use abbreviated date formats. By default, Wikipedia does not abbreviate dates.
Use a consistent citation style within any one article.
- ↑
All-numeric
yyyy
-
mm
-
dd
dates might be assumed to follow the
ISO 8601
standard, which mandates the Gregorian calendar. Also, technically all must be four-digit years, but Wikipedia is unlikely to ever need to format a far-future date beyond the year 9999.
- ↑
The
routine linking of dates
is deprecated. This change was made August 24, 2008, on the basis of
this archived discussion
. It was ratified in two December 2008 RfCs:
Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers/Three proposals for change to MOSNUM
and
Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers/Date Linking RFC
.
- ↑
For consensus discussion on abbreviated date formats like "Sep 2", see
Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Archive 151 §?RFC: Month abbreviations
.
- ↑
These formats cannot, in general, be distinguished on sight, because there are usages in which
03-04-2007
represents March
4, and other usages in which it represents April
3. In contrast, there is no common usage in which
2007-04-03
represents anything other than April
3.
- ↑
The number in parentheses in a construction like
1.604(48) × 10
?4
J
is the numerical value of the standard uncertainty referred to the corresponding last digits of the quoted result.
[2]
- ↑
The
0x
and
0
prefixes, but not
0b
, are borrowed from the
C programming language
.
- ↑
If there is disagreement about the primary units used in a UK-related article, discuss the matter on the article talk-page or at
Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style/Dates and numbers
(
WT:MOSNUM
). If consensus cannot be reached, refer to historically stable versions of the article and retain the units used in these as the primary units. Also note the
style guides
of British publications (e.g.
The Times
, under "Metric").
- ↑
See, e.g.,
Wikipedia:General sanctions/Units in the United Kingdom
.
- ↑
These definitions are consistent with all units of measure mentioned in the
SI Brochure
[3]
and with all units of measure catalogued in
EU directive 80/181/EEC
.
[4]
- ↑
Wikipedia follows common practice regarding
byte
s and other data traditionally quantified using
binary prefix
es (e.g.
mega-
and
kilo-
, meaning 2
20
and 2
10
respectively) and their unit symbols (e.g.
MB
and
KB
) for RAM and
decimal prefix
es for most other uses. Despite the IEC's 1998 international standard creating several new binary prefixes (e.g. mebi-, kibi-, etc.) to distinguish the meaning of the decimal
SI prefix
es (e.g.
mega-
and
kilo-
, meaning 10
6
and 10
3
respectively) from the binary ones, and the subsequent incorporation of these IEC prefixes into the
ISO/IEC 80000
, consensus on Wikipedia in computing-related contexts favours the retention of the more familiar but ambiguous units
KB
,
MB
,
GB
,
TB
,
PB
,
EB
, etc. over use of unambiguous IEC binary prefixes.
For detailed discussion, see
WT:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)/Archive/Complete rewrite of Units of Measurements (June 2008)
.
- ↑
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
(PDF)
.
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures
. June 2, 2009. p.?3. CCTF/09-32
. Retrieved
August 20,
2015
.
This coordination began on January 1, 1960, and the resulting time scale began to be called informally 'Coordinated Universal Time.'?
- ↑
"Fundamental Physical Constants: Standard Uncertainty and Relative Standard Uncertainty"
.
The NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty
. US
National Institute of Standards and Technology
. June 25, 2015
. Retrieved
December 12,
2017
.
- ↑
3.0
3.1
3.2
"Chapter 4: Non-SI units accepted for use with the SI, and units based on fundamental constants (contd.)"
.
SI Brochure: The International System of Units (SI)
(8th?ed.).
Bureau International des Poids et Mesures
. 2014 [2006]
. Retrieved
August 20,
2015
.
Tables 6, 7, 8, and 9 give additional guidance on non-SI units.
- ↑
"Council Directive of 20 December 1979 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement"
.
Eur-Lex.Europa.eu
.
European Union
. 2017 [1979]. 80/181/EEC (Document 01980L0181-20090527)
. Retrieved
December 12,
2017
.
- ↑
Wilkins, G. A. (1989). "5.14 Time and angle".
IAU Style Manual
(PDF)
.
International Astronomical Union
. p.?S23
. Retrieved
12 December
2017
.
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Functions
| |
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| |
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|
Conversions
|
---|
convert
| many units (see:
list
)
| cvt
| many units; abbreviated {{
convert
}}
| convinfobox
| for use in infoboxes
| bbl to t
| barrels of oil to tonnes
| long ton
| long hundredweights, quarters and pounds to kilograms;
long tons and hundredweights to pounds and metric tonnes
| miles-chains
| miles and chains to kilometres linking "chains"
| rndfrac
| decimals to fractions
|
| |
|
|
Notation
|
---|
bigmath
| for stand-alone formulas, using a bigger font to match
\displaystyle
PNG-rendered
TeX
formulas
| | bra?ket notation
| frac
| for creating fractions
?
(not for use in science or mathematical articles; instead, use
{{
sfrac
}}
)
| intmath
| integral symbol
s
| | angular bracket
s
| | multiline delimiters (2?5 lines inclusive)
| math
| for short inline formulas
| mathcal
| [mathematical] calligraphic font for use in mathematical formulas, as an alternative to
\mathcal{...}
in
LaTeX
markup
|
| mvar
| a short form to refer to individual italicized maths variables in normal text
| | arbitrary characters/diacritics set above/below one another
| radic
| Radicals
√
2
| sfrac
| for creating fractions
3
/
5
(this template should be used in science or mathematical articles instead of
{{
frac
}}
)
| | Subscripts and superscripts
| tmath
| wraps a
TeX
math expression in
<math>
tags
| val
| to report measurement values, uncertainties and units
| vec
| for various overarrows, underarrows, pointing left, right or both ways
|
|
|
|
|
|