Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Superscripts and subscripts: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 00:48, 10 August 2018

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A '''[[subscript and superscript|Superscript]]''' or a '''[[subscript and superscript|Subscript]]''' is text that is positioned slightly above or below the normal line of type and is sometimes rendered in a smaller font. This part of the [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|Manual of Style]] aims to achieve consistency in the use and formatting of superscripts and subscripts in Wikipedia articles.

==General guidelines==

Subscripts and superscripts should be wrapped in <code><nowiki><sub></nowiki></code> and <code><nowiki><sup></nowiki></code> [[HTML]] tags, respectively, with no other formatting info. The {{tlx|sup}} and {{tlx|sub}} templates are useful shortcuts to the HTML markup. Do not use the [[Unicode subscripts and superscripts]] {{!xt|²}} and {{!xt|³}}, or [[List of XML and HTML character entity references|XML/HTML character entity references]] ({{!xt|<code>&amp;sup2;</code>}} etc). Rather, write {{xt|<code><nowiki>²</nowiki></code>}} and {{xt|<code><nowiki>³</nowiki></code>}} to produce the superscripts {{xt|{{sup|2}}}} and {{xt|{{sup|3}}}}. The superscripted 2 and 3 are easier to read, especially on small displays, and ensure that exponents are properly aligned. Compare:

: {{!xt|wⁱx²z⁽ⁿ⁺⁶⁾}} (Unicode superscripts) to

Line 12 ⟶ 13:

: {{xt|1 + ''x''{{sup|2}} + ''y''{{sup|3}}}} (<code><nowiki>{{sup|2}}</nowiki></code>)

==Titles==

Except under extraordinary circumstances, font sizes, color, etc. should be controlled with Wikipedia's stylesheets.

One exception where Unicode superscripts and subscripts are used is in the ''title'' of articles, though this is only rarely necessary. See {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual_of_StyleManual of Style/Titles|Typographic_effectsTypographic effects}}.

One exception where Unicode superscripts and subscripts are used is in the ''title'' of articles, though this is only rarely necessary. See {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style/Titles|Typographic_effects}}.

==Dates and numbers==