Help:Disambiguation

Disambiguation pages on All The Tropes are used as a process of resolving conflicts in article titles that occur when a single term can be associated with more than one work (or, less commonly, trope), making that term likely to be the natural title for more than one article. In other words, disambiguations are paths leading to different articles which could, in principle, have the same title.

For example, the title Outsourced can refer to several different works, including a novel, a film, and a short-lived TV series based on the film. Since only one page at All The Tropes can have the generic name "Outsourced", unambiguous titles are used for each of these works: Outsourced (novel), Outsourced (film), Outsourced (TV series). There must then be a way to direct the reader to the correct specific article when an ambiguous term is referenced by linking, browsing or searching; this is what is known as disambiguation. In this case it is achieved using Outsourced (TV series) as a disambiguation page.

Unlike Wikipedia, whose disambiguation model we follow, All The Tropes does not (currently) identify a particular work as a "primary topic" in any case of disambiguation; all contentious titles are treated equally. We do not use hatnotes, even when there are only two works and one is an obvious derivative of the other (such as a film adaptation of a novel).

That said, if a trope has the same title as a work, the trope always gets the main spot. We try for original trope titles, and then people keep naming works after our trope titles. It's a vicious cycle.

Occasionally readers may follow a link which ends up at a disambiguation page rather than at one of the links shown on that page. The original page can be edited to ensure the link goes directly to its intended destination. Feel free to do such edits; everyone is welcome to improve All The Tropes, including you. It could be you who makes the overall experience of All The Tropes that much better.