This template is intended for articles which should be (but are not) summarized in another article (usually a 'parent' article; i.e. they are a subarticle of the 'parent'). That other article may omit that aspect of the topic entirely or only have it in a 'see also' section. They may also be given a section that consists only of {{main}}, without any actual summary being provided (i.e. just the link). Using this template raises awareness of the problem on both the specific and general level. Note that some material may not be summarized because authors feel that doing so would not improve the quality of the article, e.g. popular culture sections.

Usage notes

For an article which should have a summary of it added to another article, use the |to (a.k.a. |at, a.k.a. |in) parameter and give the title of the other article if you know it:

{{summarize|to|Barack Obama}}

produces:

For a section which should be a summary of another article, use |section=y (or |section=1, |section=yes, |section=true), along with the |from= (a.k.a. |of) parameter, and give the title of the other article if you know it:

{{summarize|from|Barack Obama|section=y}}

produces:

An optional |date= parameter can be added, to date the notice. Add "|date=" to the template with the date of the template's application

{{summarize|to|Barack Obama|date=November 2024}}

produces:

An optional |brevity=y parameter can be added, that will insert a request that the summary be brief. This can be used to request that regular editors of a major article summarize it (or a section of it, with |section=y), in brief, at another article that you specify:

{{summarize|to|Barack Obama|brevity=y}}

produces:

This parameter is mutually exclusive of |better=.

This feature can also be used to flag an existing summary as too long:

{{summarize|from|Barack Obama|section=y|brevity=y}}

produces

This usage (section-specific, and tagged for brevity), which is also provided by the shortcut template {{Summary too long}}, will categorize the articles in Category:Articles containing overly long summaries, a hidden cleanup category; to suppress this categorization, use |nocat=y.

An optional |better=y parameter can be added, that will insert a request that the summary be more complete. This can be used to request that regular editors of a major article summarize a subtopical article (especially after a WP:SPLIT better in the main article, per WP:SUMMARY style; this is usually used in a particular section, with the |section=y parameter:

{{summarize|from|Barack Obama|better=y|section=y}}

produces:

This parameter is mutually exclusive of |brevity=. As with the brevity parameter, this one can also be used with |to=, not just |from=:

{{summarize|to|List of Presidents of the United States#Barack Obama|better=y}}

produces:

Notes

  • The to/from and article title parameters are optional, but it is highly recommend that you fill them out so that people know why the template is there.
  • If the page name you provide in the article title parameter does not exist, the template will display without the article name (it will still make sense, but vaguely suggest only "another article".

See also