Help:Creating new categories
| Wiki help |
|---|
| Reading |
| Editing |
| Advanced editing |
| Writing about specific topics |
You can create new categories the same ways as other pages, in essence through searches or red links.
This help page discusses how to do that and what you should think of before and when you do that.
Category names
Category names should generally be in English, to the point and unambiguous. Categories containing pages about individual subjects, for example aircraft, should be in plural form. In general a shorter name is preferable, but sometimes being more specific is necessary. It is also often preferable to not mix articles, images or templates, which can be avoided by through the category name specifying what a category is for.
As other page names category names are, except for the initial character, case sensitive. It is therefore often preferable that only the initial character in the category name should be capital, as using the category might be less easy, not to mention searching for it. When the category is related to a certain subject that have more capitals than only the initial character, for example FGCom, it probably is preferable to use the more common spelling.
Creating a new category page
| Tip Search and Create is the golden rule when creating new categories. |
Always begin by searching for an existing category before creating a new one either using category tree tool, Special:CategoryTree, and/or the search box at the top right corner. Also, after having searched for a category in the search box, you can create a new category page by clicking the red link on top of the search results page.
To create a new category:
- By searching for a page:
- First search for variants of the intended category name.
- Click the red link with the page name you searched for to open up an editing window.
- By first editing a page:
- But first, search for variants of the intended category name to be sure there isn't an existing category that will serve the purpose.
- Find pages or images which should be put in the new category. Edit one of those pages, and at the end, but before the language links, insert the new category reference, for example
[[Category:Title]]. Save the edited page. The new category appears as a red link at the bottom of the page. - Click on that red link. The new, empty, category page appears for editing. You can now edit the category like any other wiki page.
Category page contents
A category page should contain the following information (in order of importance):
- Category links that put it into one or more parent categories at the bottom of the new page.
- A short description text that explains what should be in the category, if the title is not clear or unambiguous enough on its own. Preferably use a language template.
- If the category should be sorted according to a different string than the category name, use category sorting either with sort keys or a default sort key.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Default sort key}}
{{en|Category description.}}
[[Category:Category name|Sort key]]