ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:Indentation

This is an essay.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

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WP:INDENT

Good indentation makes prolonged discussions easier to read and understand. It might be helpful to think of discussions as reports with numbered/bulleted sections and subsections where material is not necessarily written in chronological order. Remember to also follow the Talk page guidelines. In these examples the bolded line is the most-recently-added reply. Long discussions should be split up by level two headings to provide [edit] section links and reduce edit conflicts.

Indentation guidelines

1. A reply should be placed beneath the original comment. The reply should be indented:

I think good indentation is extremely helpful--Whosonfirst 00:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me two--Whatsonsecond 00:10, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

2. If two replies are made to one specific comment, they should be at the same level of indentation with the later reply at the bottom:

I think good indentation is extremely helpful--Whosonfirst 00:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me two--Whatsonsecond 00:10, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me three--Idontknow 00:20, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

3. A response to a reply should be placed below that reply, but above all later replies. The response should be indented relative to the adjacent replies:

I think good indentation is extremely helpful--Whosonfirst 00:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me two--Whatsonsecond 00:10, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I thought you didn't like indentation, Whatsonsecond--Why 00:30, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me three--Idontknow 00:20, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

4. A new comment or sub-thread that is being added after a number of replies should go at the bottom. Do not add a new comment or sub-thread where it will separate an earlier comment from its replies:

I think good indentation is extremely helpful--Whosonfirst 00:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me two--Whatsonsecond 00:10, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I thought you didn't like indentation, Whatsonsecond--Why 00:30, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me three--Idontknow 00:20, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I thought you didn't like indentation either, Idontknow--Because 00:40, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I thought that too, Because--Today 00:50, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Good spelling and grammar are important on Talk pages--Tomorrow 01:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Outdenting

Sometimes a long discussion can cause indentation to become too deep, which may make it difficult to read, especially in narrower browser windows. In such cases you may consider 'outdenting' your post (also called 'undenting'). When doing so it is helpful to make clear what you are doing, for the benefit of readers. The templates {{outdent}} and {{outdent2}} exist for this purpose.

Example of {{outdent}} (shortcut {{od}}):

I think good indentation is extremely helpful--Whosonfirst 00:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me two--Whatsonsecond 00:10, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I thought you didn't like indentation, Whatsonsecond--Why 00:30, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I sure don't.--Idontknow 00:20, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I can take it or leave it.--Today 00:50, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

┌────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘I like it, but not too much.--Tomorrow 01:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Example of {{outdent2}} (shortcut {{od2}}):

I think good indentation is extremely helpful--Whosonfirst 00:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Me two--Whatsonsecond 00:10, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I thought you didn't like indentation, Whatsonsecond--Why 00:30, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I sure don't.--Idontknow 00:20, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

I can take it or leave it.--Today 00:50, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

(←) I like it, but not too much.--Tomorrow 01:00, 1 January 2008 (UTC)

Indentation guidelines

Outdenting

See also