STOWiki:Policy/Category

See Help:Category on information on how to use categories.

Category usage

 * Large categories (over 200 pages) should be marked with bigcat.
 * Small categories are allowed even if there are currently only a few members - it is good to have a place holder ready for expansion, and for consistency within the wiki structure. Some categories will have very few or no articles but will serve as parents to other categories, for instance Category:Starships holds only 20 articles, but is parent to many categories - in this case it need not have many or even any articles in it.
 * Categories that will never contain more than one or two articles should not be created. If those pages need to be linked among one another, you should add a 'See also' section at the bottom of them with links to each other.
 * Categories should not be members of categories which also have the first category's parents as member categories. The category tree should be as simple as possible; categories should not curve back in on themselves:
 * Yes:
 * Category:Grandparent > Category:Parent > Category:Child
 * No:
 * Category:Grandparent > Category:Child

Category naming
When adding a category, please use the following formatting:


 * Put category names in sentence case (i.e. capitalize words as you would in a sentence).
 * Right: Category:Rubber duckies
 * Wrong: Category:Rubber Duckies


 * Categories should usually be plural:
 * Right: Category:Boxes
 * Wrong: Category:Box

Category page content

 * Substantive content should not be included on a category page, but placed on a separate article page.
 * e.g., Category:Legendary Starships and Legendary starship


 * The category page should contain only a precise description of what sort of articles belong in that category.
 * If applicable, describe what sort of articles do not belong, as well as the sort that do belong.

Old categories and redirects
When a category is deprecated, either by being renamed or otherwise, never make it a redirect to anywhere else. The reason is that the category then remains as a usable category, and articles can be filed under it, but it is impossible to view its contents for the average wiki visitor.

Just by having the category, we run the risk of articles ending up in it, from habit or mistakes, and there's nothing to tell the author that it's wrong, since the category link is blue like it should be.


 * Deprecating a category
 * Add the c2c ("correct to category") template - this categorizes the category into Category:Incorrect categories.
 * If there is substantive content on the page that is still relevant, it can simply be moved to a new category page, or, preferably, to a regular page (see earlier sections).
 * When it is empty and unlinked, mark it for speedy deletion and explain that it is deprecated.


 * If you find an existing category page that is a redirect:
 * Move any articles that have been added to the category after it being made a redirect (not uncommon) to the new category that was being pointed to.
 * Mark the category for speedy deletion.