Help:Whitespace: Difference between revisions

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{{about|the appearance of blank space on an article|the Manual of Style section on using line breaks in an article|MOS:LINEBREAKS}}

[[File:WhiteSpace.jpg|right|thumb|350px|TheThis Wikipedia article shown here is a stub. It has a minimal amount of body text along with an infobox on the right and a navbox at the bottom. The remainder of the page is blank, known as whitespace.]]

{{shortcut|WP:WHITE}}

'''Whitespace''' refers to any [[Blank space (punctuation)|blank space]] that appears on the published version of a Wikipedia page across all [[Wikipedia:Namespaces|namespaces]] that is free of [[special characters]], [[Wikipedia:Templates|templates]], [[Wikipedia:Multimedia|media]], or other [[HTML elements]]. In other words, it appears as empty, ''white'' space.

People in New Zealand refer to this penguin as the "Blue Penguin" or "Little Blue Penguin." It is known as the Fairy Penguin in Australia. Their distinctive slate- or indigo-blue coloration on the top of their bodies and their diminutive size—they are the smallest penguins in the world—give rise to these common names. Eudyptula, the scientific name of their genus, means "good little diver," which they are. These penguins never move. They live on their island and the mainland in the Southern Hemisphere year-round. They leave the land in groups at dawn under cover of darkness to forage in shallow inshore waters, spend the day at sea, and return to land at dusk. Flocks are shielded from predators by their behavior from dawn to dusk.

Whitespace is not always desirable. It can give the page an untidy appearance and make the article look incomplete. But it cannot always be avoided, and there are times, when used sparingly, whitespace can enhance readability and visual balance, helping readers to better navigate and absorb the content on the page.

==Background==

==Causes of whitespace==

===Table of contents===

On pages with multiple headings, a [[WP:TOC|table of contents]] listing the headings is automatically generated. When this occurs, the table of contents box will appear on the left side of the page between the lead section and the first heading. There will be no text to the right of the table of contents, though an image or a vertical template, such as an [[WP:INFOBOX|infobox]], will appear in the space to the right if formatting causes it to require that space. Still, no text will appear in the space in between; it'll be white (as you notice, there is some white space between the TOC box and the image above).

There are various ways to modify the appearing of the table of contents. Entering the templates {{Tlx|TOC left}} or {{Tlx|TOC right}} at the top of the page will produce a table of contents to the left or right that does share its lines with some text. The [[Help:Magic words|magic word]] <nowiki>__NOTOC__</nowiki> will cause the table of contents to be altogether absent, which for some pages may be necessary.

It is also possible to produce your own table of contents as follows:<br />

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<syntaxhighlight lang="wikitext">

{| id="toc" class="toc" summary="Contents"

! {{MediaWiki:Toc}}

|-

|[[#Heading 1|Heading 1]] {{·}} [[#Heading 2|Heading 2]] {{·}} [[#Heading 3|Heading 3]]

[[#Heading 4|Heading 4]] {{·}} [[#Heading 5|Heading 5]] {{·}} [[#Heading 6|Heading 6]]

__NOTOC__

|}

</syntaxhighlight>

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In an automatically generated table of contents, there will be one listing per line. But in a self-produced table of contents, multiple listings can be condensed into one line, as much as space allows, using the line break (<nowiki><br /></nowiki>) text to mark the end of a line. The drawback to this is that you will have to manually add, remove, or modify headings as they are edited on the page. Still, it'll reduce the amount of whitespace on the page.

===Templates===

Whitespace cannot easily be avoided when a page with little text, often a [[WP:STUB|stub]], contains an [[WP:INFOBOX|infobox]] or similar vertical template that is quite tall along with a [[WP:NAVBOX|navbox]] or similar horizontal template at the bottom, and the amount of text on the page takes up far less space than the template to the left. Even without a horizontal template, there may still be a lot of whitespace to the left of the template between the final line of text and the category box at the bottom.

===Images===

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Sometimes, images can contribute to whitespace. But the size of images can be controlled, so if an image is causing there to be a lot of whitespace, it may be worth reducing the size of the image, even just a little, in order to fill more of that space with text (depending on display width). Beware, though, of making one image significantly narrower than all others.

The Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor) has a place with the family Spheniscidae, an unmistakable

gathering of flightless, pelagic seabirds that possess the Southern side of the equator. The Blue Penguin, the smallest of the penguin species, is found naturally in cooler waters off Australia and New Zealand's southern coast. It weighs about one kilogram and stands about 40 centimeters tall. As a form of counteractive camouflage, Blue Penguins have dense, waterproof plumage that is pale power-blue to dark slaty blue-grey on the dorsal side and white on the ventral side.

The number of subspecies that inhabit E. minor's extents is the subject of ongoing debate. The White-flippered penguin, E. minor ablosignata, is thought by some experts to be a distinct species rather than a subspecies.

On a short page, a single image may be to blame for whitespace. If the height of the image is greater than that of the text, there will be some whitespace at the bottom.

These penguins are described by the presence of a white edge on both the front and

back sides of the flippers and paler plumage on their backs.

There are about 350 000 to 600 000 breeding pairs of Blue Penguins in Australia and New Zealand as a whole, according to estimates. Even though it is thought that the number is stable, there are concerns that there are fewer breeding pairs in some places.

Dangers to the Blue Penguin incorporate predation by presented species (dominatingly

foxes and canines yet additionally felines and stoats in New Zealand) and, locally, human

aggravation through private and cultivating improvements (. Natural oceanic shifts, on the other hand, are probably the most harmful influences. Fish populations will change in response to large-scale oceanic changes, which we cannot prevent, particularly if commercial fisheries continue to target Blue Penguins' primary prey species and exploit foraging areas.

On a longer page divided by multiple headings, it may be desirable to provide a small amount of whitespace by using the {{Tlx|Clear}} family of templates so the image does not protrude into the next paragraph or section. Using several blank lines, {{tag|br|s}} tags or {{Tlx|Break}} will not work correctly for all display widths, and surplus blank lines are removed by a number of processes.

===Foraging and Behaviors===

It is necessary to examine the Blue Penguin's breeding biology and foraging behaviors in order to accurately determine the species' long-term viability. We can also make precise decisions about how to manage the Blue Penguin in captivity by looking into these aspects of the species.

The breeding biology and foraging habits of Eyduptula minor in Australia and New Zealand, as well as the subspecies E. minor albosignata, are the focus of this study. When housing and breeding the Blue Penguin in a captive setting, the highlighted information will be used to create some guidelines.

As if to compensate for their small size, Little Blue Penguins make a lot of noise. Calls are used for bonding, courtship, territorial defense, aggressive behavior, and to identify one another. They are unique for each adult and chick. Males use a variety of brays to call for help with nest chores and bonding displays. When in an aggressive mood, grunts, roars, brays, and various beeps are used. In territorial disputes, they use a specific call. The colony experiences a lot of noise at night, particularly during the breeding season, when calls can reach fever pitch. A high-pitched beep that develops into adult vocalization shortly after fledging occurs in chicks.

Many infoboxes take an image, so if an image is placed there, it'll add more height that may benefit from balancing with text and other left-justified content.

===Anti-Predation===

Penguins face several threats due to human activity. Rising temperatures due to global warming will reduce emperor penguin breeding grounds and overfishing will limit their source of food. They face wind chills as cold as -60°C and blizzards of 200 km/h .Despite such harsh conditions, emperor penguins spend their entire lives on the ice or in the surrounding waters of Antarctica.

Penguins employ physiological adaptations and cooperative behaviors to deal with an incredibly harsh environment, where wind chills can reach -76°F. They huddle together to escape wind and conserve warmth. Individuals take turns moving to the group's protected and relatively toasty interior. Behavioral adaptations are the things organisms do to survive. Huddles allow them to share body warmth, and shelters many of the penguins from the wind. The huddle constantly moves so that all the penguins have a turn in the middle. Huddling can reduce heat loss by up to 50%.

===Invisible comments===