Wikipedia:Categories for discussion
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On this page, deletion, merging, and renaming of categories (pages in the Category namespace) is discussed. Categories are used to organize other pages and aid browsing of related articles. See How to use this page for the official rules of this page, guidelines for Speedy Deletion and Speedy Renaming, and how to do cleanup. See Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories) for the policies guiding many renaming decisions, and Wikipedia:Category deletion policy for the policy governing this page.
Unless the change is non-controversial (such as vandalism or a duplicate), please do not remove the category from pages before the community has made a decision.
Categories that have been listed for more than seven days are eligible for deletion, renaming or merging when a rough consensus to do so has been reached or no objections to the nomination have been raised.
Deletion of a category may mean that the pages belonging to it (articles, images, etc) are transferred to its parent category, or to another category (newly-made or already existing).
When a category is renamed or merged with another category, it may be helpful to use the {{category redirect}} template at the old category title.
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[edit] Current discussions
[edit] Discussions awaiting closure
[edit] Discussions awaiting closure
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 28 (3 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 27 (1 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 26 (5 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 25 (5 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 24 (1 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 22 (2 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 21 (1 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 18 (2 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 17 (2 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 14 (3 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 11 (2 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 10 (1 left)
- Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2009 June 7 (1 left)
[edit] How to use this page
[edit] Procedure
To list a category for deletion, merging or renaming, follow this process:
| I. |
Preliminary steps.
Determine whether the category needs deleting, merging, or renaming.
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| II. |
Edit the category.
Add one of the following tags at the top of the category text of every category to be discussed. (The tags belong on the categories' main pages rather than their talk/discussion pages.)
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| III. |
Create the Cfd subsection.
Click on THIS LINK to edit the section of CFD for today's entries. Follow the instructions in the comments (visible during edit), to copy and paste the template shown. All categories are specified without the Category: prefix.
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Once you have previewed your entry, please make sure to add your signature after your proposal. If nominating a list of entries as a batch below your rationale, it is somewhat neater to place these after the signature (rather than leave the signature dangling at the end of the list, apparently unrelated to your reasons).
Once you have submitted a category here, no further action is necessary on your part. If the nomination is supported, helpful administrators and editors will log the result and ensure that the change is implemented to all affected pages.
Also, consider adding to your watchlist any categories you nominate. This will help ensure that your nomination tag is not mistakenly or deliberately removed.
[edit] Users without accounts and users with new accounts
Users without accounts (anonymous users) may nominate and comment on proceedings, just as in Articles for Deletion (AfD).
[edit] Redirecting categories
It is our general policy to delete categories that do not have articles in them. Unlike articles, categories are mostly for internal use only. If they don't have any articles, they shouldn't have any links from any articles or any other categories, because they are not useful for navigation and classification.
However, some categories frequently have articles assigned to them accidentally, or are otherwise re-created over and over again. In these cases, we use a form of "soft" redirection.
Categories cannot be redirected using "hard" redirects (#REDIRECT [[target]]) due to limitations in the MediaWiki software. Instead, use {{Category redirect|target}}. Helpful bots patrol these categories and move articles into the redirect targets.
You can see a list of redirected categories in Category:Wikipedia category redirects.
[edit] Special notes
Categories relating to stub articles should not be nominated here, but should be taken to Wikipedia:Stub types for deletion. If a group nomination of several similarly-named categories includes one or more stub categories, it is usual for non-stub categories to be nominated here first, with stub categories nominated separately at Wikipedia:Stub types for deletion only once a decision has been reached on the non-stub types. As stub category names usually - though not always - follow permanent category naming, resulting changes to stub categories would frequently be considered as speediable.
When nominating a category, it's helpful to add a notice on the talk page of the most-closely related article. Doing so would not only extend an additional courtesy, but possibly also bring in editors who know more about the subject at hand. You can use {{cfd-article}} for this.
[edit] Categories possibly emptied out of process
[edit] Speedy renaming and speedy merging
Categories may be listed here if they fall under the criteria specified below. Deletion and de-listing may occur after 48 hours if there are no objections. They must be tagged with {{subst:cfr-speedy|new name}} so that users of the categories are aware of the proposal. This delay is to allow for objections over correct spelling, etc. to be made and to ensure that items are not listed here that do not meet the criteria.
Categories that qualify for speedy deletion (per Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion, e.g. "patent nonsense", "recreation", empty categories (that have been empty for four days) can be tagged with the regular speedy tags, such as {{db|reason}}, and no delay is required for these.
Contested requests can be removed from this list after 48 hours. If the nominator wants to continue the process they need to submit the request as a regular CfD using the instructions above.
[edit] Speedy criteria
Criteria for speedy renaming or speedy merging are strictly limited to:
- Typographical errors (such as, Brdiges → Bridges).
- Note that differences between British and American spelling (for example, Harbours → Harbors) are not considered errors, but if both exist as otherwise-identical category names, they should be merged.
- This includes grammatical corrections that have been approved for similar cases in a full CfD.
- Capitalization fixes (such as, Characters In harry Potter → Characters in Harry Potter)
- Conversions from singular to plural, or back (such as, Steamship → Steamships)
- Non-conformance with "x by y", "x of y", or "x in y" categorization conventions specified at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories).
- This should only be used where there is no room for any doubt whatsoever that the category in question is being used for the standard purpose instead of being a potential subcategory. It should not be assumed that an incorrectly formatted "radio stations" category was intended to be a "radio" category, or that an incorrectly formatted "archaeological sites" category was intended to be an "archaeology" category.
- Expanding abbreviations for country names: The name of the country should appear as it does in the name of the article about that country (for example, US or U.S. in reference to the United States should be renamed to United States, but this criterion specifically does not apply to renames between the terms "American" and "United States").
- Renames or merges to match a disambiguated parent category such as Category:Georgia (country) or Category:Georgia (U.S. state) from an unqualified name.
When the speedy rename procedure should not be used:
- When proposing that the category name should be reformatted in addition to one of the speedy criteria
- When proposing to change a country name to an adjective, or vice versa, as in United Kingdom to British, American to United States, Germany to German, Argentine to Argentina, etc.
- When proposing a change that is based on a naming convention adopted by a specific WikiProject but does not otherwise meet any of the six speedy criteria listed above
- When proposing a change that does not qualify under any of the six criteria above, regardless of whether or not the proposed change will bring the category into conformity with existing categories
Note: If the nominator decides to change a nomination based on comments, simply delete the old nomination and create a new one as long as it still meets the speedy criteria.
[edit] Add requests for speedy renaming here
If the category and desired change do not match one of the six criteria listed above PRECISELY, do not list it here. Instead, list it in the main CFD section.
If you are in any doubt as to whether it qualifies, do not list it here.
Use the following format:
- * [[:Category:OLD name]] to [[:Category:NEW name]] — ~~~~
Don't forget to tag the category with {{subst:cfr-speedy|new name}}
Please add new entries at the TOP of the list and sign and date stamp your entries with — ~~~~.
A request may be completed if it is more than 48 hours old; that is, the time stamp shown is 19:48, 4 July 2009 (UTC) or earlier.
- Category:People from Kochi,India to Category:People from Kochi — Hekerui (talk) 17:28, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
- Category:Pakistani Computer Scientists to Category:Pakistani computer scientists #2 — Good Ol’factory (talk) 01:08, 6 July 2009 (UTC)
- Category:Songs produced by J.R. Rotem to Category:Songs produced by J. R. Rotem. Uncontroversial change; adding a space between the J and R to match the parent article, J. R. Rotem. — Σxplicit 23:57, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
- Category:Singles by Paul Heaton to Category:Songs by Paul Heaton to match Songs by artist category convention. thisisace (talk) 18:47, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
- Category:Tbilisi: Economy to Category:Economy of Tbilisi. Standard category convention. Beagel (talk) 08:03, 4 July 2009 (UTC)
- Nominations with objections or that don't meet speedy criteria will be dropped from this list if not taken to a full CfD.
- Category:Drought tolerant trees to Category:Drought-tolerant trees /Pzrmd (talk) 05:36, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
- Why? On google, 15 of the top 20 hits for drought-tolerant say "drought tolerant" not "drought-tolerant". Hesperian 06:44, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
- Category:Drought tolerant plants to Category:Drought-tolerant plants /Pzrmd (talk) 05:41, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
- Why? On google, 15 of the top 20 hits for drought-tolerant say "drought tolerant" not "drought-tolerant". Hesperian 06:44, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
- You could call a plant a "drought plant" whatever that would mean. So the category as it is says drought, tolerant plants. But "drought-tolerant" makes it clear. Another example is "formal dance tickets," which is ambiguous; it could mean either "formal-dance tickets" where the the dance is formal, or "formal, dance tickets" where the tickets are formal. Also, good-looking glass and good looking-glass. (I know it's obvious what "drought tolerant plants" was supposed to mean.) Soft-spoken, well-read, good-looking, and stain-resistant are some examples. Google is *not* a good way to determine grammar/punctuation conventions. Pzrmd (talk) 18:19, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
- I agree that the hyphen is correct and resolves the ambiguity. As it stands now, this could mean "tolerant plants" that are "drought"; or "plants" that are "drought tolerant". It's a small detail but one that I think is worthwhile fixing if an editor proposes it. Good Ol’factory (talk) 21:50, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
- You could call a plant a "drought plant" whatever that would mean. So the category as it is says drought, tolerant plants. But "drought-tolerant" makes it clear. Another example is "formal dance tickets," which is ambiguous; it could mean either "formal-dance tickets" where the the dance is formal, or "formal, dance tickets" where the tickets are formal. Also, good-looking glass and good looking-glass. (I know it's obvious what "drought tolerant plants" was supposed to mean.) Soft-spoken, well-read, good-looking, and stain-resistant are some examples. Google is *not* a good way to determine grammar/punctuation conventions. Pzrmd (talk) 18:19, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
- Why? On google, 15 of the top 20 hits for drought-tolerant say "drought tolerant" not "drought-tolerant". Hesperian 06:44, 1 July 2009 (UTC)
[edit] Ready for deletion
Check Category:Empty categories awaiting deletion for out of process deletions. In most cases, these will need to be nominated for discussion and the editor who emptied the category informed that they should follow the WP:CFD process.
Once the renaming has been completed, copy and paste the listing to the Ready for deletion section of Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working/Manual.

