Wikipedia:Categorization dos and don'ts

This is aninformation page.

It is not anencyclopedic article,nor one ofWikipedia's policies or guidelines;rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects ofWikipedia:Categorization.It may reflect differing levels ofconsensusandvetting.

Categoriesare a vital tool for navigating Wikipedia.

When categorizing pages:

DO:
Use themost specificcategories possible.
Categorize based ondefining characteristics.
Add pages to multiple categories inoverlapping trees.
Providesort keysor a{{DEFAULTSORT:}}key.
Addcleanup templateswhere needed.

DON'T:
Don'tadd pages tonon-existentcategories.
Don'tcategorize based ontrivial characteristics.
Don'tadd pages tonon-neutralorunverifiablecategories.
Don'tcategorizefictional subjectstogether with real ones.
Don'tapplymaintenance categoriesdirectly: use templates.

v t e Wikipedia dos and don'ts
Encyclopedia content	Accessibility Biographies Living Categorization Disambiguation Long dabs Images Leads Links Lists References Tables Titles of articles
Collaboration	Consensus Talk
Simple rule set-Simple style manual-Style tips-Wikitext cheatsheet

See also