Help:Categories
Mozilla Wiki Categories
As part of the Wiki Working Group goal to revitalize the Mozilla Wiki (WikiMo), we have created this guide on Categories.
This guide shows how to:
The guide also describes the WWG's Categories Project, an effort to improve WikiMo information architecture by reviewing existing categories.
Why Categories?
There is a lot of information on WikiMo, much of it admittedly not easy to find. Categories are the prime way to make WikiMo more searchable.
What are Categories?
Categories are essentially tags added to pages. These tags organize information on Mozilla Wiki. Unlike Namespaces, categories can be created by WikiMo users. They look like this in wikitext:
[[Category:Category_Name]]
or
[[Category:Category_Name]]
In read mode, categories are displayed at the bottom of the page:
A red category link indicates that its page has not been created. A blue category link indicates that a page for that category exists.
Categories are most powerful when included within templates. Let's look at the Spam template as an example. When a page is flagged with the spam template {{Template:Spam}}, that page is automatically filed in the Spam category because it is written within the template. When you create a template, include the category within the <includeonly> tags [[Category:Category_name]].
If you want to add another category or a category that doesn't need a template just add </nowiki></nowiki> to the page.
In both instances, a Category page will be generated. Search for it and save it. Describe the category and its function.
How to Create a Category
[Need to troubleshoot this because 1) Categories are not named correctly 2) Most existing categories are unusable] First: do you need to create one? Sometimes a category very similar to the one you are about to create already exists. Search Special:Categories for similar categories. If you do not find a similar category or still want to give a page a more specific label: To create a category just type [[Category:Category_name]] or [[Category:Category_Name]] at the end of the wiki page you are editing.
- Please do not create categories like this
- [[Category:Category/Name]]
- Please do not create categories like this
- [[Category:Category:Name]]
'Category names that are incorrect will be changed to the appropriate format' Under Special:Categories you will be able to find your new category. It will be in red text, meaning a path to that link exists but a page has not been saved. Go to the link and write a brief summary defining the category.
How to Add an Existing Category
To add an existing page, just go to Edit at the top of the wiki page, and add [Category:Category_name] to the end of the page within the wikiText editor.
Subcategories
Categories themselves can also be specified to belong to another category. When displaying the page of a category to which other categories belong, a separate automatically generated, alphabetical list of subcategories is also produced. For example you could edit [[Category:Soccer]] and add the link [[</nowiwki>Category:Sports<nowiki>]]. The Soccer category is now a subcategory of the Sports category.
How to Use Categories
It seems obvious: add as many categories to a page as the content allows. However, sometimes it is not clear if a project is still being documented on WikiMo or [something else].
What a Category Should Not Be
Categories are not personal pages.
- Please, do not add any user information to a category.
- Please, do not add user pages to any category.
- The Verified Users category that lists all WikiMo users is controlled by admins.
- Categories that are date specific should be subcategories.
- For a category about an event, for example [[<nowiki>Category:Opensource_conference<nowiki>]], if you want to separate the event years, create a subcategory. We are deprecating/merging categories that include a specific date. For example, Fosdem 2008 and Fosdem 2009 will become Fosdem.
What to Do if a Page has been Miscategorized
If a page has been miscategorized, tag the page with the {{ Miscategorized }} template. With this template, the category will be filed within the Miscategorized category for designated admins or bureaucrats to review.