Wikipedia:Categorization dos and don'ts

Wikipedia information page

This is an information page.

It is neither an encyclopedia article nor one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines; rather, its purpose is to explain certain aspects of Wikipedia:Categorization . It may reflect differing levels of consensus and vetting.

Categories are a vital tool for navigating Wikipedia.

When categorizing pages:

DO:
Use the most specific categories possible.
Categorize based on defining characteristics .
Add pages to multiple categories in overlapping trees .
Provide sort keys or a {{DEFAULTSORT:}} key.
Add cleanup templates where needed.

DON'T:
Don't add pages to non-existent categories.
Don't categorize based on trivial characteristics .
Don't add pages to non-neutral or unverifiable categories.
Don't categorize fictional subjects together with real ones.
Don't apply maintenance categories directly: 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