Wn/syl/Wikinews:Short description

In the mobile app, descriptions appear below the article title.

The short description of a Wikipedia article or of another namespace page is a concise explanation of the scope of the page. These descriptions appear in Wikipedia mobile and some desktop searches, and help users identify the desired article. When viewing an article, some mobile Wikipedia apps also display the description below the page title.

Short descriptions do not appear by default when viewing an article in desktop view, but logged-in users who wish to see and edit them can do so easily by enabling the Shortdesc helper in their Preferences "gadgets".

Purposes

Shortcut:
WP:SDPURPOSE

Short descriptions provide:

• a very brief indication of the field covered by the article
• a short descriptive annotation
• a disambiguation in searches, especially to distinguish the subject from similarly titled subjects in different fields

Short descriptions are also used as annotations in lists of links, such as "See also" sections and Index list articles, where they provide some context for the link when a local annotation is not provided. The template {{Annotated link}} is available for this purpose.

Pages that should have a short description

All mainspace articles should have a short description (including those that are intentionally blank; see below). Redirects and most pages outside the mainspace do not normally need a description, although one may be added in the rare cases it would be useful.