Template:Lead too short
 | This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. (December 2025) |
 | Any breaking changes to this template, including moving it or nominating it for deletion, must be communicated in advance to Twinkle's users and maintainers at Wikipedia talk:Twinkle. The standard installation of Twinkle relies on this template. Thank you. |
 | This template is used on approximately 10,000 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. |
Usage
Place {{Lead too short|date=December 2025}} at the top of articles where the lead section is much shorter than what is recommended, relative to the length of the article. The appropriate length of the lead section depends on the total length of the article. If the lead fails to provide an adequate summary of the article's key points, without necessarily being too short, use the template {{lead rewrite}} instead.
You can use the |reason= parameter to specify the reason why the lead is too short, as in the following example:
{{Lead too short|date=December 2025|reason=Your critique here.}}
- Do not use this template on stub articles. Stub articles are by definition underdeveloped articles - it is not yet appropriate to tag them as having a lead too short.
Notes
- This template will categorize tagged articles into Category:Wikipedia introduction cleanup and Category:Articles covered by WikiProject Wikify.
Tracking category
- Category:All pages needing cleanup (34,101)
TemplateData
TemplateData for Lead too short
Use this cleanup template to indicate that the lead section of an article is too short relative to the length of the article and should be expanded.
| 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.
| Line | required |
| Reason | reason | The reason why the lead is too short (e.g., what it is missing) | String | optional |
| Talk page section | talk | Section name on the talk page for further discussion | Line | optional |
Redirects
- {{build lead}}
- {{expand lead}}
- {{intro too short}}
- {{intro-expand}}
- {{intro-tooshort}}
- {{lead-too-short}}
- {{lede too short}}
- {{short intro}}
- {{short lead}}
- {{too short}}
- This template contains a self-reference (it refers to Wikipedia in its contents).
- This template should not be substituted. Bots rely on the transcluded form for dating and categorisation.
