 | This is adocumentation subpage forTemplate:Cleanup. It may contain usage information,categories and other content that is not part of the original template page. |
 | This templateshould besubstituted only if you want to automatically add the "date=" parameter. |
 | This template is used onapproximately 8,900 pages and changes may be widely noticed. Test changes in the template's/sandbox or/testcases subpages, or in your ownuser subpage. Consider discussing changes on thetalk page before implementing them. |
 | Anybreaking changes to this template, including moving it or nominating it for deletion,must be communicated in advance toTwinkle's users and maintainers atWikipedia talk:Twinkle. The standard installation of Twinkle relies on this template. Thank you. |
 | This template usesLua: |
This tag is intended to identify pages that need wikification or the correction of spelling, grammar, typographical errors, tone, and other similar, non-content-focused changes.
Articles that violate policy need more direct action. Other templates, such as{{POV}}, are better suited to content disputes.
If the problem is correctable with the skills you already possess, consider beingbold and fixing it yourself, rather than applying this template and leaving it for someone else to clean up.
If you feel that an article needs a significant amount of cleanup, you can post it toWikiProject Cleanup. It is more effective than using{{Cleanup}} as there is a backlog for the tags. Editors will give your submitted article a cleanup and fix any problems associated with it.
{{Cleanup}} should be used with the following two parameters:
|date=: the month and year (e.g. February 2026) when the Cleanup template was added to the article; this helps to figure out how long an article has been tagged for cleanup.|reason=: the reason for requesting cleanup. This is useful for editors in case the reason for requesting a cleanup is not immediately obvious.Optional parameters include:
|talk= or|talksection=: the section of the talk page explaining what needs to be done. Add a new section to the talk page explaining the type and extent of clean-up required, so editors will know what to address and when to remove this template. This parameter's value is not used when{{Cleanup}} appears inside{{Multiple issues}}.|1= (or an empty parameter): changes the default descriptor (i.e., "article"). For example,{{Cleanup|section}} changes it to "section".|small=: enter 'left' here to turn the template into a small box on the left side of the screen.|nocat=: enter 'true' here to prevent the template from adding cleanup categories to the article.The template should be placed at the top of the article requiring a cleanup. If practicable, please use amore specific cleanup template. Because{{Cleanup}} is vague, specific problems should be identified in thereason field; a more detailed explanation of what needs to be done can be provided on the article's talk page. An article's{{Cleanup}} template may be removed without the problems being fixed if it is not possible to identify what needs to be cleaned up.
If this template issubstituted, the end result consists of an unsubstituted form including an automatically filleddate= parameter with the current date.
For example,{{Cleanup|reason=The article is full of incorrect capitalization.|date=February 2026}} would display as:
 | This article mayrequirecleanup to meet Wikipedia'squality standards. The specific problem is:The article is full of incorrect capitalization. Relevant discussion may be found on thetalk page. Please helpimprove this article if you can.(February 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
(although{{copyedit}} would be the more appropriate tag to use in that specific case)
| Article |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Category | This categorymay requirecleanup to meet Wikipedia'squality standards. The specific problem is:lorem ipsum dolor sit amet! Please helpimprove this category if you can; thetalk page may contain suggestions. | ||
| Template |
|
The descriptor (on the preceding example "template") can be changed from its default using the first parameter, for instance{{Cleanup|section}} or{{Cleanup|disambiguation page}}.
TemplateData for Cleanup
This tag is intended to identify pages that need wikification or the correction of spelling, grammar, typographical errors, tone, and other similar, non-content-focused changes. Use this tag when the article needs improvement per WP:BETTER.
| 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 | suggested |
| Reason | reason | Reason for requesting cleanup
| String | required |
| Talk page section | talktalksection | The section of the talk page explaining what needs to be done | String | optional |
| Make template small | small | Enter "left" here to make the template box small and aligned to the left.
| Line | optional |
| Affected area | 1 | Text to replace the word "article", usually "section"
| Line | optional |
| No category | nocat | Suppress categorization
| String | optional |
This template will add pages on which it is used to a specific categoryCategory:Articles needing cleanup containing pages needing cleanup or a dated subcategory thereof.
For tracking purposes it also categorises the page according to whether a reason code has been given.