Template:POV/doc

This is a documentation subpage for Template:POV.
It may contain usage information, categories and other content that is not part of the original template page.

This template is used on approximately 7,200 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's /sandbox or /testcases subpages, or in your own user subpage. Consider discussing changes on the talk page before implementing them.

Template usage notes

Use this template when you have identified a serious issue regarding WP:Neutral point of view.

Drive-by tagging is strongly discouraged. The editor who adds the tag should discuss concerns on the talk page, pointing to specific issues that are actionable within the content policies. In the absence of such a discussion, or where it remains unclear what the NPOV violation is, the tag may be removed by any editor.
The purpose of this group of templates is to attract editors with different viewpoints to edit articles that need additional insight. This template should not be used as a badge of shame. Do not use this template to "warn" readers about the article.
This template should only be applied to articles that are reasonably believed to lack a neutral point of view. The neutral point of view is determined by the prevalence of a perspective in high-quality, independent, reliable secondary sources, not by its prevalence among Wikipedia editors or the public.

If you plan to make breaking changes to this template, move it, or nominate it for deletion, please notify Twinkle's users and maintainers at Wikipedia talk:Twinkle as a courtesy, as the standard installation of Twinkle adds and removes this template. Thank you!

When to use

Place this template on an article when you have identified a serious issue of balance and the lack of a WP:Neutral point of view, and you wish to attract editors with different viewpoints to the article. Please also explain on the article's talk page why you are adding this tag, identifying specific issues that are actionable within Wikipedia's content policies.

An unbalanced or non-neutral article is one that does not fairly represent the balance of perspectives of high-quality, reliable secondary sources. A balanced article presents mainstream views as being mainstream, and minority views as being minority views. The personal views of Wikipedia editors or the public are irrelevant.

When to remove

This template is not meant to be a permanent resident on any article. You may remove this template whenever any one of the following is true:

There is consensus on the talkpage or the NPOV Noticeboard that the issue has been resolved.
It is not clear what the neutrality issue is, and no satisfactory explanation has been given.
In the absence of any discussion, or if the discussion has become dormant.

How to use

Place {{POV|date=November 2024}} at the top of the disputed article, then explain your reasons on the article's talk page. To specify the section of the talk page, use {{POV|talk=talk page section name|date=November 2024}}. If the date is not included it will likely be added later by a bot.

This template will categorize tagged articles in Category:Wikipedia neutral point of view disputes or a dated subcategory thereof.

This template should only be used in the main (article) namespace. Do not place this template on talk pages, user pages, policies and guidelines, or other pages.

This template is a self-reference.
Please do not subst: this template.

Redirects

{{Npov}}
{{Pov}}
{{NPOV}}
{{Neutrality}}
{{Point Of View}}
{{PoV}}
{{Neutral}}

TemplateData

This is the TemplateData for this template used by TemplateWizard, VisualEditor and other tools. See a monthly parameter usage report for Template:POV in articles based on its TemplateData.

TemplateData for POV

Use this template to indicate that the neutrality of an article is disputed. Follow this up with an explanation on the talk page.

Template parameters
This template prefers inline formatting of parameters.
Parameter		Description	Type	Status
Month and year	`date`	The month and year that the template was placed (in full). "{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}" inserts the current month and year automatically. Example January 2013 Auto value `{{subst:CURRENTMONTHNAME}} {{subst:CURRENTYEAR}}`	Line	suggested
Talk page section	`talk`	Section name on the talk page for further discussion	Line	optional
Affected area	`what`	Text to replace the word "article", usually "section". This is a legacy feature that has been replaced by the separate {{POV section}} template. Example section Auto value `section`	Line	deprecated
Make template small	`small`	Enter "left" here to make the template box small and aligned to the left. Example left Auto value `left`	Line	optional
CSS	`style`	For custom CSS properties (without quotations) that affect the whole template. Example border-radius:8px;	String	optional

Alternatives

To mark only a section as disputed, rather than a whole article, use {{POV section}}. See below for a list of other similar templates.

For issues relating to article balance due to insufficient coverage of the subject rather than editorial bias, use {{Cleanup weighted}}.

Wikipedia project pages

Templates

Disputed factual accuracy

Boxes:
- {{Disputed}} For disputing entire article
- {{Dispute about|what}} For disputing part of an article
- {{Disputed section}} For disputing a section in an article
- {{Disputed tag}} For disputing recent promotions or amendments of policies and guidelines
- {{Under discussion}} For use on project pages (e.g., policies and guidelines), not on articles

Inline:
- {{Dubious}}, and {{Disputed inline}} Statement
- {{Under discussion inline}} Statements on project pages

Both accuracy and POV

Boxes:
- {{Controversial}} Talk page

Disputed neutrality (POV)

Boxes:
- {{POV}} Article, {{POV section}} Section, {{POV lead}} Lead section
- {{POV map}} Map

Inline:
- {{Unbalanced opinion}} Statement
- {{POV statement}} Statement

Wiki

v t e Citation and verifiability article maintenance templates
Sourcing	{{Circular}} {{Dubious}} {{Excessive citations}} {{Further reading cleanup}} {{More citations needed}} {{More citations needed section}} {{More footnotes needed}} {{No footnotes}} {{No significant coverage}} {{One source}} {{One source section}} {{Only primary sources}} {{NRIS only}} {{Primary sources}} {{Primary sources section}} {{Religious text primary}} {{Self-published}} {{Self-reference cleanup}} {{Self-sourcing examples}} {{Refexample section}} {{Sources exist}} {{Text-source}} {{Third-party}} {{Unreferenced}} {{Unreferenced section}} {{Unreferenced category}} {{Unreliable sources}} {{Unreliable sources section}} {{User-generated}}
BLP-specific	{{BLP unreferenced}} {{BLP unreferenced section}} {{BLP primary sources}} {{BLP self-published}} {{BLP sources}} {{BLP sources section}} {{BLP IMDb-only refimprove}} {{BLP IMDb refimprove}} {{BLP no footnotes}} {{BLP more footnotes needed}} {{BLP one source}}
Topic specific	{{Localist}} {{Media IMDb refimprove}} {{More medical citations needed}} {{More science citations needed}} {{Neologism}} {{Science review}} {{Unreferenced law}} {{Unreferenced-law section}} {{Unreferenced medical section}}
Dispute-related	{{Cite check}} {{Cite check section}} {{Content}} {{Disputed}} {{Dispute about}} {{Disputed section}} {{Disputed chem}} {{Disputed list}} {{Disputed map}} {{Expert needed}} {{Hoax}} {{Original research}} {{Original research section}} {{Speculation}} {{Speculation section}} {{Synthesis}} {{Verifiability}} {{Verify sources}}
Citation improvements	{{Citation style}} {{Citations broken}} {{Cleanup bare URLs}} {{Format footnotes}} {{Full citations needed}} {{Ibid}} {{Page numbers improve}} {{Page numbers needed}} {{Shallow references}}
General advice	Citing sources Reliable sources Maintenance template removal Citation needed Find sources Combining sources Referencing styles