Forum:CT Archive/Species and subspecies

I've been working on a few articles on subspecies, and I've run into a problem: namely, how to treat subspecies in both infobox fields for characters, and in "Appearance" and "Sources" sections for articles on the parent species. The purpose of this CT is thus to decide how to display species and subspecies information on character and "species" articles. I've divided it into a section on each. Articles affected by these votes would be the main species articles for the Trandoshan (which have the Saurin subspecies), Stennes (species) (with its Stennes Shifter subspecies), Arkanian (with the Arkanian Offshoot subspecies), Nikto (with several subspecies), Horansi (with several subspecies), and probably a bunch of others I'm forgetting. ~ Savage  12:10, October 2, 2012 (UTC)

Vote 1: Character infoboxes
The Character infobox and its derivatives currently only includes a |species= field. Thus, the question of how to display a subspecies identification has been unclear. Below are some options.

Option A
Add a |subspecies= field to all character infoboxes. Characters who belong to a subspecies will have information in both the |species= and |subspecies= fields.

Option B
Display the subspecies as a bullet below the main species identification in the |species= field. See sidebar for an example.


 * 1) I think I prefer this option as the least work while still displaying all relevant information. I could go for a new field as well, as long as a bot-makers help with the infobox updating. ~ Savage BOB sig.png 12:10, October 2, 2012 (UTC)

Option C
For characters with a subspecies, display only the subspecies in the |species= field. This option is technically (and biologically) inaccurate, but it is simpler. See sidebar for an example.

Vote 2: Species Appearances and Sources
Currently, we are inconsistent in how we handle the "Appearances" and "Sources" sections of articles on species that have known subspecies. In some cases, we include the appearances of subspecies in the main species article (as with Horansi), while in others, we treat the main article as the "generic" article on the species and only include appearances of the "mainline" version of the species and not the subspecies (as with Trandoshan). This vote will clear up how to treat these cases. Regardless of which of these options is chosen, the article on the species as a whole will still discuss the subspecies; this vote only concerns "Appearances" and "Sources." Also, the specific page for the subspecies will list only those subspecies' appearances and sources regardless of what we decide here.

Option A
List all appearances and sources of members of the species, regardless of subspecies, on the main species' page. Make no indication of which appearances and sources refer to which version of the species. Example: All appearances of the Saurin would be included on the Trandoshan page and not distinguished in any way, so the "Appearances" list on the Trandoshan page would include:
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Option B
List all appearances and sources of members of the species, regardless of subspecies, on the main species' page. Indicate which pertain only to a subspecies using the C template. For example, the Trandoshan page might list
 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
 * 1) Because members of the subspecies are still full-fledged members of the "mainline" or base species, I think it's important that the main species page list all those appearances and sources. However, I think distinguishing them in some way is helpful. This is the most elegant way to do it, I think. ~ Savage BOB sig.png 12:10, October 2, 2012 (UTC)

Option C
List all appearances and sources of members of the species, regardless of subspecies, on the main species' page, but put the subspecies' appearances and sources in separate subsections of "Appearances" and "Sources." For example, the Trandoshan page might list:

Appearances

 * Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Saurin

 * Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope

Option D
List only the appearances and sources of the most common or baseline version of the species on the main species page. In essence, this option treats all subspecies as full-fledged species in their own rights. If this were chosen, the Trandoshan page would include no appearances of the Saurin subspecies.