The example on the template's page is

but on the article Coma, the article name is capitalized

Which on should I use? On the one hand not capitalizing when the template generates a complete sentence makes sense to me "bats: not to be confused with cats" or "not to be confused with the comma". On the other hand if it's just a link to the the article then it should be capitalized. Whatever the consensus, the example and the page should use the same style. Akeosnhaoe (talk) 05:50, 29 September 2021 (UTC)

Nihiltres, I just noticed a case of this where the article was the same as the article specified as the template parameter. Obviously, the editor that added the template didn't understand what it is used for. I have no idea how many more of these there could be. It's fairly obvious that something is wrong because the hatnote reads "Not to be confused with Foo" - bold text instead of blue link, so they may be readily fixed. Not sure if you want to add error checking for this one. MB 17:58, 16 November 2021 (UTC)

"Not to be confused with" may not be the best introductory phrase.

Possibly "Not to be mistaken for" or "Sometimes mistaken for" might be better in that allows auditory misperception as well as mistaken term association, as well as avoiding a term implying confusion. Thoughts? Facts707 (talk) 10:25, 4 December 2021 (UTC)

"is distinct from" is distinctly better.

The template displays a hatnote saying that an article is "not to be confused with" another article. This is not always the best wording - perhaps never the best? - and can be said to violate the guideline against giving advice. A widely used template should obviously not be changed, but I would propose an optional parameter [added 14 Jul 21: or indeed an additional template] selecting a different wording; in particular "is distinct from" simply states a fact, with no advice or instruction to the reader. Best wishes, Pol098 (talk) 14:17, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Pol098's suggestion also has the advantage of being positive – or, for the naysayers among us: ... of avoiding the negation. ◅ Sebastian 16:09, 11 December 2020 (UTC)

In the absence of anything better, I have been adding hatnotes laid out and indented like this (example is for The Right Honourable article):
[struck out later; {{hatnote}} should be used, see below]

Code:
:''The Right Honourable'' is distinct from ''[[The Honourable]]'' and ''[[The Most Honourable]]''.
Renders as:

The Right Honourable is distinct from The Honourable and The Most Honourable.

Best wishes, Pol098 (talk) 20:38, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

At least wrap that with {{hatnote}}: that way the hatnote won't get treated as article text when printing or exporting, and you'd also avoid the accessibility issues of using a leading colon (MOS:INDENTGAP). – Uanfala (talk) 21:45, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Agreed, thanks, this was incorrect and should be something like
{{Hatnote|The Honourable is distinct from [[The Right Honourable]] and [[The Most Honourable]].}}
rendering as

The Honourable is distinct from The Right Honourable and The Most Honourable.

Pol098 (talk) 15:26, 16 July 2021 (UTC)

I don't see a reason to have such a parameter: there's no scope for deciding between the two wordings on an article-by-article basis. If the current wording is problematic, then it should be changed across the board. – Uanfala (talk) 21:45, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

"it should be changed across the board." I totally agree with that, but I should think it's problematical to change a template that significantly changes the wording used in thousands of articles, which is why I suggested an option. From the interest shown in this discussion I don't think anything is going to happen anyway. Best wishes, Pol098 (talk) 21:53, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

This template talk page doesn't have many watchers. Maybe this will generate more interest if brought up on the village pump or on one of the MOS talk pages. – Uanfala (talk) 22:40, 14 July 2021 (UTC)

Keep current wording, and no need for an optional parameter. "Not to be confused with" is perfectly fine; everyone understands what it means. It is a common and helpful phrase in the English language. It acknowledges in a healthy manner that there is a potential for confusion with other entities that have the same or similar name. To acknowledge potential confusion is to help avoid potential confusion. 2601:281:D880:7880:470:6516:462B:A17A (talk) 23:23, 20 January 2023 (UTC)

Is there a way to use this template to distinguish between articles in different languages?

I want to use this template to say that Isla de Providencia should not be confused with https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isla_de_Providencia_(Venezuela) (Spanish Wikipedia; there is no English article for the Venezuelan island).

But I haven't found a way to do that. 2601:281:D880:7880:470:6516:462B:A17A (talk) 00:06, 21 January 2023 (UTC)

The redirect Not to be confused has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2023 October 10 § Not to be confused until a consensus is reached. Utopes _{(talk / cont)} 08:27, 10 October 2023 (UTC)

• You can't use the parameter text with another argument.
•• In that case use the template about.
Though I'd say many cases would benefit from the text Not to be confused with + an explanation.
– Ponken (talk) 18:25, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

You can put whatever explanation you like in the text= parameter. Only you will also need to include the links within that text as the template is unable do automatic linking when text= parameter is used. older ≠ wiser 18:32, 1 December 2023 (UTC)

I was editing Vickers Vulcan as I'd mistakenly ended up there: three V-bombers were manufactured, each by a different manufacturer, one of the three bombers was the Vulcan, and one of the three manufacturers was Vickers, but the V-bomber they made was the Vickers Valiant... The Vickers Vulcan was a very funny-looking early commercial double-decker biplane thing. I used the "insert template" tool since I'm still a noob, tried to search for the template which adds the "not to be confused with..." text to an article by typing the word "confused", and got several results - the second was for Template:Confused? and for whatever reason that's the one I clicked.

As it turns out, Template:Confused? is a distinct template, regularly used, and discretely useful, so it can't become a redirect to this template - adding to the confusion, unfortunately, *this* template makes use of several redirects and shortcuts: {{Misspelling}}, {{Nottobeconfusedwith}}, {{Ntbcw}}, {{dist}}, {{ntbcw}}, {{Confused}}, {{Confuse}}, {{confuse}}, and {{confused}} all get you Template:Distinguish, but {{Confused?}} gets you something else.

Template:Confused? was unprotected, I was able to edit it to add <noinclude>{{Template:Distinguish|Template:Distinguish}}</noinclude> to the top of the source - this feels like farcical high-concept meta-humour, but if I fell into this minor trap, others will have too. And it definitely is funny, but also it did result in time clicking things and googling "wikipedia not to be confused with" for me to find definitive clarity.

As such, I suggest an edit putting <noinclude>{{Template:Distinguish|Template:Confused?}}</noinclude> above this template's article's source.

(Also - I see here, and in the archives for this talk page, that the "not to be confused with" text is contested - I'd be on the disagreeing side of this, I understand why it might grate on editors but think it's perfect for what Wikipedia actually is for 99.99...% of users)

One cookie (talk) 14:32, 5 February 2024 (UTC)

For some reason, this template does not appear at all in mobile view. I do not know any technical details, but I do know the following circumstances:

• On my current account, I have enabled dark mode using the following scripts:

  • window.wpDarkModeAutoToggle = true;
    

• • importScript('User:Volker E. (WMF)/dark-mode.js'); // Backlink: [[User:Volker E. (WMF)/dark-mode.js]]
    

• I have installed many user scripts which may be interfering with template visibility or transclusion
• I'm using Google Chrome version 117.0.5938.153 on Android 12

— CrafterNova ^{[ TALK ] [ CONT ]} 08:38, 16 October 2023 (UTC)

Works fine with me. I use the same Chrome version as you, with Android 13. - Manifestation (talk) 12:33, 16 October 2023 (UTC)

Have you checked that it correctly makes it red when there was a mistake in editing it in? Orisphera2 (talk) 19:32, 21 July 2024 (UTC)