Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Lead section
The lead section is the section before the first headline. It is shown above the table of contents (for pages with more than three headlines).
The lead should briefly summarize the article. It is even more important here than for the rest of the article that the text is accessible, and some consideration should be given to creating interest in reading the whole article (see Wikipedia:News style).
The appropriate length of the lead section depends on the total length of the article. As a general guideline, the lead should be no longer than one or two paragraphs. The following specific rules have been proposed:
| < 15,000 characters | 15,000 characters - 30,000 characters | > 30,000 characters |
|---|---|---|
| one paragraph | two paragraphs | three paragraphs (consider splitting up the article) |
The length of the individual paragraphs again depends on the article length.