This is an
essay on the use of
line breaks and layout
accessibility. 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. |
Do not use a line break anywhere in an article where you would not expect to hear a two-second pause. When editing, line breaks are usually encountered either as:
<br />
, or{{
br}}
, which is just a wrapper for the HTML tag.Line breaks are not a proper tool for controlling the displayed width of text. Instead, they have a clear meaning: when you use a line break, you are telling the reader that they have reached a boundary separating two paragraphs. Some readers may take your word for it when you tell them this. For example, screen readers may pause reading when they encounter a line break, including a line break you quickly inserted into a column header in a table—or that you inserted into every column header across an entire article. Always use another method to control the width of text if you don't intend to break up that text.
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. |
Wikipedia articles are HTML documents. While this is potentially an underwhelming declaration, it's worth it to keep in mind that HTML defines the meaning of its elements, not simply their appearance.
The best way to create lists on Wikipedia is to create lists—and not to use line breaks, which instead communicate that you are sequencing sufficiently unrelated items, like independent paragraphs. By default, Wikipedia lists using asterisks (<ul>...</ul>
) are
bulleted, which is often unacceptable in infoboxes or other claustrophobic places. Instead, you can:
{{
unbulleted list}}
or {{
plainlist}}
.{{
hlist}}
, {{
flatlist}}
, or {{
cslist}}
is preferable in a given situation. These are also structured semantically as lists, but they flow like body text.Usually, line breaks are used in tables because one cell being too wide elongates the entire column it's in, which is not ideal in many situations when column headers or entries more than few words longer than usual may be required.
This is an
essay on the use of
line breaks and layout
accessibility. 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. |
Do not use a line break anywhere in an article where you would not expect to hear a two-second pause. When editing, line breaks are usually encountered either as:
<br />
, or{{
br}}
, which is just a wrapper for the HTML tag.Line breaks are not a proper tool for controlling the displayed width of text. Instead, they have a clear meaning: when you use a line break, you are telling the reader that they have reached a boundary separating two paragraphs. Some readers may take your word for it when you tell them this. For example, screen readers may pause reading when they encounter a line break, including a line break you quickly inserted into a column header in a table—or that you inserted into every column header across an entire article. Always use another method to control the width of text if you don't intend to break up that text.
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. |
Wikipedia articles are HTML documents. While this is potentially an underwhelming declaration, it's worth it to keep in mind that HTML defines the meaning of its elements, not simply their appearance.
The best way to create lists on Wikipedia is to create lists—and not to use line breaks, which instead communicate that you are sequencing sufficiently unrelated items, like independent paragraphs. By default, Wikipedia lists using asterisks (<ul>...</ul>
) are
bulleted, which is often unacceptable in infoboxes or other claustrophobic places. Instead, you can:
{{
unbulleted list}}
or {{
plainlist}}
.{{
hlist}}
, {{
flatlist}}
, or {{
cslist}}
is preferable in a given situation. These are also structured semantically as lists, but they flow like body text.Usually, line breaks are used in tables because one cell being too wide elongates the entire column it's in, which is not ideal in many situations when column headers or entries more than few words longer than usual may be required.