Wookieepedia's category policy defines how and when to use categories, which are a type of navigational tool. On Wookieepedia, they are implemented via the MediaWiki software and serve group pages together and help structure the site, making it easier to use and explore. In cases of disagreement, the Trash compactor may be used to propose restoration, deletion, and merging of categories. While categories for posts on Discussions also exist, this policy only pertains to categories used on the wiki part of Wookieepedia.
General rules
- Every article must have all applicable categories.
- Categories should be listed in alphabetical order.
- Categories should be placed at the very bottom of articles, as mandated by the Layout Guide.
- Moving a category will only move the category page, meaning that any pages in the old category will still need to be recategorized into the new one.
- It is advised to seek input on the Senate Hall or in the Discord before renaming or otherwise altering a highly used category to ensure no unintentional adverse effects occur and to gather opinions on the matter.
- MediaWiki allows use of the DEFAULTSORT magic word to eliminate unnecessary coding while still achieving the desired result of categorizing articles by last name (ie, one need not use [[Category:Humans|Ley, Jenneh]]; see example under "How to insert categories").
- DEFAULTSORT is not needed for Real-world people articles, as it is embedded in {{Top}} instead. The
|sortkey=parameter can be used to define unique cases outside of the Top template's logic.
- DEFAULTSORT is not needed for Real-world people articles, as it is embedded in {{Top}} instead. The
- Articles beginning with an article ("a," "an," or "the") should be categorized by the first significant word; for example, [[Category:Reference books|New Essential Guide to Vehicles and Vessels, The]].
- Articles placed in categories should not also be placed in that category's parent category; for example, articles in Category:Aquatic sentient species should not also be placed in Category:Sentient species, and articles in Category:Star Wars television actors should not also be placed in Category:Star Wars actors.
- {{RelatedCategories}} is used to include a category in the category listing at the bottom of an article without actually including the article in that category. For example,
{{RelatedCategories
|[[Category:Toprawa locations]]
|[[Category:Toprawans]]
}}
can be included at the bottom of Toprawa. The planet is neither a location on itself nor a person, but including links to the two categories helps readers find related content. {{RelatedCategories}} should be placed below the actual categories.
- When one image and/or sound file on Wookieepedia originated from or features an article's subject, a corresponding category may be created, allowing for the implementation of {{Mediacat}} as mandated by the Layout Guides.
How to insert categories
Wookieepedia uses the built-in MediaWiki handling system for categories. We recommend you use the Source editor rather than VisualEditor (VE) while managing categories. This guide explains how to manage categories using Source editor.
Inserting a category
Insert the following code, replacing CATEGORYNAME with the name of the category you wish to add:
[[Category:CATEGORYNAME]]
Examples:
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ley, Jenneh}} [[Category:Females]] [[Category:Humans]] [[Category:Individuals with she/her pronouns]] [[Category:Jedi Masters during the High Republic Era]]
[[Category:Outer Rim Territories planets]] [[Category:Rocky planets]]
Automatically generated categories
Certain types of categories are automatically generated by site features such as the {{Top}} template, maintenance and tracking categories, and header templates. The following list defines category groups that should not be added manually to an article under any circumstance; instead, they should be added onto the page by implementing the respective template or template parameter:
- Header template categories
- Example: Instead of adding Category:Articles with conjectural titles, add {{Conjecture}} to generate the relevant category. Other common header templates that automatically generate categories include {{Spoiler}} and its variants, {{Nickname}} for marking articles identified by a nickname, and {{Conflicting}} and its variants to mark articles with conflicting material—though this is by no means an exhaustive list, and the header template category should be referred to for a full list of applicable templates that generate their own categories upon addition.
- {{Top}} template categories are generated by adding parameters to an article's Top template, as defined on its template documentation. Examples of the types of categories generated by the Top template are provided below, though are by no means an exhaustive list, and the template documentation should be referred for all applicable cases.
- Example: Continuity categories such as Category:Canon articles and Category:Legends articles
- Example: Out-of-universe article type categories such as Category:Real-world people, Category:Real-world media, and Category:Real-world companies
- Example: Status article categories such as Category:Wookieepedia Comprehensive articles, Category:Wookieepedia Good articles, and Category:Wookieepedia Featured articles, as well as the associated former status article and probation categories
- Stub template categories
- Example: Category:Artist stubs or Category:Author stubs should be added via using {{Artist-stub}} and {{Author-stub}}, respectively.
- Protection-level categories such as Category:Semi-protected pages and Category:Super-semi-protected pages, which are added or removed via the Top template by administrators after protecting or unprotecting a page
- Any other category automatically generated by a template
Maintenance categories
Maintenance categories should never be added to pages manually, as they are all automatically generated.
- Example: Instead of adding Category:Articles needing illustration, add an {{Image}} template to the page, which will automatically add add the aforementioned category.
- File maintenance categories, which are automatically generated by file maintenance templates, should be added using their respective template. File maintenance templates should never be added onto mainspace pages; instead, the File page in question should host the maintenance template.
- Much of Wookieepedia's maintenance category tree is maintained or supported by bots. It is advised to seek input on the Senate Hall or in the Discord before renaming or otherwise altering a highly used maintenance category to ensure no unintentional adverse effects occur.
Infoboxes
- The following categories are automatically generated by infobox templates and thus should not be added manually to articles:
The above list may be automatically updated as-needed.
File categories
Per the Files policy, all files should be categorized by source, subject, and type within the {{Information}} template. If the relevant information is available, they may also be categorized by artist.
Index categories
Index pages should be categorized by continuity using Category:Canon index pages, Category:Non-canon index pages, Category:Legends index pages, Category:Non-canon Legends index pages. Out-of-universe index pages should have the Category:Real-world index pages added.
User categories
- Per the user page and profile policy, categories outside the Wookieepedians category tree may not be added to user pages or subpages and are subject to bot or administrator removal.
- Per the signature policy, user signatures may not have categories.