User blog:Waterwecna/CATEGORIES

Hello, fellow users of Merlin wiki! I did some category cleaning up sometime ago and noticed that there still are quite a number unnecessary categories and more keep on coming as the days pass! I know that some of you have already heard of this topic like a million times, but since it is still a problem, I decided to write a post about it.

But before I start giving you some guidelines on what a good category is, let's talk about why categories can be a problem. As many of you know, categories make navigating through a wiki a lot easier, and link the pages to one another. Still, if there are a lot of categories, they start to take a lot of room in the page and chances are many of those categories are unnecessary anyway. But the useless categories that users create in just less than five minutes, take hours for an admin to delete if there are a lot of them! Believe me, deleting categories isn't something we would like to do, but since category pages such as Catrina HUMAN and Knight Actor keep on coming, we really don't have a choice either.

So to make editing in this wiki easier for all of us, here are a few guidelines to you:

About creating categories

 * Make sure that the category you create is really needed. For example, since we already have the category for Sorcerers, we don't really need the category Peaceful Sorcerers. If you are wondering if the sorcerer whose page you are on is good or bad, you can find that information in the categories anyway (whether they have been put into the category of Enemies and Villains or not).
 * Make sure that the category you create applies to at least five pages! There really is no use for a category if it just links together a few pages. It is not like the small pages for example need as much categories as the bigger ones. Categories that apply to less than five pages will be deleted.
 * Make sure that the category you create is in plural! Otherwise, it might get a bit confusing for others since categories are usually put on more than one page. So be sure to name your category Enchantresses instead of Enchantress.
 * Make sure that the name of the category is not too long! For example, you definitely shouldn't make any categories that start with the words "People who..." since they take a lot of room in the category plate and are in general really annoying. Also, if a category is too long, it takes more time to post and there is also a higher chance that the user who posts it makes a typo which results in the creation of yet another unnecessary category.
 * Make sure you notify an admin if you spot an unnecessary category or have accidentally made one yourself. Since regular users can't delete the pages they make, it is important to notify an admin should something like that happen. I know from experience that sometimes the creation of an unnecessary category can happen quite easily (for example, if you didn't notice that you left one word out of the category name, but it has already been posted which means that the category itself has been created).
 * Make sure you also check the Community page. It has all the guidelines and rules you could possibly need! Also, it talks a lot about how to create good categories.

About using categories
I hope that this post has explained to you why categories can be a problem and how to handle them. If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to post them here or write them on my wall!
 * Make sure that the category you post on a page really applies to it! For example, just sometime ago I found the category Royalty posted on Elyan's page. Although he is now a knight and his sister is the Queen, does not mean that he himself is royalty too! Especially since one usually becomes royal by marriage or by birth.
 * Make sure that the category you post contains confirmed information. For example, although it is pretty certain some characters, objects etc will appear in Series 5, you still shouldn't post the Series 5 category on their pages if it has not been officially confirmed they actually will appear! So don't post this category on Bayard's page for example since although he might appear, it is not been confirmed that he actually will.

Have a nice day,

ฬคtєгฬєςภค 07:14, June 5, 2012 (UTC)