Fanlore:Categories
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The Fanlore Category structure
The category structure for Fanlore was developed to provide a reliable structure within which articles could be easily stored and located. At the same time, we're keen to provide foundations for Fanlore that will allow room for expansion, as we hope for the wiki to grow organically as fandom places demands upon it through use.
The core structure is based around four top-level categories:
Within those categories are a number of sub-categories, the map of which can be found on Fanlore:Sitemap. Some categories, such as Category:Glossary and Category:Fanworks are "floating" categories, that exist more for ease of use than to fit with the sitemap.
A sitemap has been developed from the beginning, however, to ensure that usability through order is maintained for both contributors and users. The software Fanlores is based on includes many different inter-linking features that promote both both controlled and organic browsing, allowing users to find articles that form collections or are related to each other with ease.
For example, Wikilinks construct an interconnected network of articles on the wiki. Every time you use a [[Wikilink]] that link is registered on the "Related pages" feature of the page in question. For example, on the Slash article, going to "What links here" (under the "Toolbox" heading on the list) will provide a list of Fanlore articles that wikilink back to the slash article.
Cross-categorisation
With MediaWiki (the software Fanlore is built on), categories function more as tags rather than strict enforcement of classification. This means that pages can (and should, where appropriate!) be cross-categorized. For example:
- The Organization for Transformative Works could be categorised under Category:People > Category:Organizations & Corporations and Category:Fan Activities > Category:Activism
- Archive of Our Own could be categorised in Category:Fan Activities > Category:Fiction Writing and also Category:Fan Communities > Category:Websites
Cross-categorization means that classification of articles is not a restrictive practice, rather something that allows readers to locate articles through various paths and interpretations.
How and what to Categorise a page (or category)
This wiki allows you to categorize pages by adding one or more category tags to the text. Adding these tags creates links at the bottom of an article. These links take you to the list of all pages in that category, making it easier to browse related articles.
How to Add a Page to the Categories
To add an article to a category, type the following at the end of the page you are editing:
[[Category:NAME]]
where NAME is the name of the category you want to add. Any number of category tags may be added to the page; the page will be listed in all of them.
Many Templates include categories automatically.
Protocol for categorizing articles
If you're not sure where an article belongs, see Fanlore:Categories.
In addition to the category you want to add, include every parent category in the hierarchy above it. For example, a page on fanfiction would be categorised under Category:Fan Activities as well as Category:Fiction Writing.
Be sure to list the categories in order from general to specific, e.g.:
[[:Category:Fan Activities]][[:Category:Fiction Writing]]
This will be displayed as: Categories: Fan Activities | Fiction Writing
Articles may be cross-categorized into any categories that are relevant. Follow the above rule of including all parent categories. For example, in the article on An Archive of Our Own the categories code on the page will look like this:
[[Category:Fan Activities]][[Category:Fiction Writing]] [[Category:Fan Communities]][[Category:Websites]]
This will be displayed as: Categories: Fan Activities | Fiction Writing | Fan Communities | Websites
Adjusting the Category Alphabetization
You can also specify an additional SORT parameter that dictates where the page will appear alphabetically within the category. Use the following markup:
[[Category:NAME|SORT]]
For example, to list names in a category by LastName, FirstName; the article Francesca Coppa could be categorised:
[[Category:People|Coppa]]
Note that we used 'Coppa' as the sort parameter. Without this the page would be listed under 'F' for 'Francesca Coppa', instead of under 'C', which is more useful. When listed in the category the article will still appear as Francesca Coppa.
Another way to sort the article under the correct letter without the namespace is
[[Category:Help|{{SUBPAGENAME}}]]
This is extremely helpful when using templates which include a category tag. ...
Note: the SORT parameter does not affect how the page title is displayed within the category listing, just how it is ordered. In the above example, the link to this page will still be 'Help:Categories', and not 'Categories' as you might expect!
Linking to Category Pages
To create a link to a category page, type
[[:Category:NAME]]
If you were linking to the Category Page for Help on MediaWiki, for instance, the link would look like this: Category:Help.
If you want to display alternate text for the link, type
[[:Category:NAME|TEXT]]
Here is an example of the same link to the Category Page for Help on MediaWiki as above, but with alternative text: MediaWiki Help Index.
Categorize Categories
Categories themselves and other uploaded files like pictures can be categorized exactly like normal pages. It is useful to connect the article-categories with categories already in place to establish connections and hierarchies. To this end, after saving the article, follow the category links at the end of the page to see if the category is already in place, and if not, categorize them until you connect them with an existing category.
Protocol for categorizing Categories
Categories should "only" be categorized with the category immediately above it in the hierarchy.
For example, Category:Fiction Writing should "only" be categorized under Category:Fan Activities.
All categories should be categorized, bar the top-level ones (see Fanlore:Sitemap).
Please speak with the Wiki Committee if you'd like to create a new category.
Moving Categories
Categories cannot be easily moved like other pages. For this reason, category names should be chosen carefully.
For those with admin privileges, the easiest way to move categories is to create the new page, delete the old one, and then change the tags in each member of the category (manually or with a bot). However, this loses the page history. This is not a huge problem when categories are used only for navigation, but when a wiki is structured differently and the category pages contain significant amounts of text, this is undesirable.
Moving with revision history
However, with some effort category pages can be moved together with the full revision history by using the Special:Export and Special:Import functions.
How it works
The Fanlore sitemap and subsequent category structure is organised on is more in mind of 'refinement' than the need for the user to 'dig down' when browsing.
The "Articles in this category" and "Sub-categories in this category" sections on each category page can be considered as two different components with different functions.
The "Sub-categories" component reflects the hierarchical nature of the category structure. This means that on a category page, in the "sub-categories" section you will only see sub-categories on the level immediately below the current one listed. To view sub-sub-categories, you must click on the relevant sub-categories.
(This is because MediaWiki software is only able to display one level of sub-categories, not sub-sub categories.)
When it comes to how articles are listed on category pages, the refinement idea comes more into play. Rather than have users 'dig' to find articles in subcategories, all articles that occur in a category are listed on each category page within its hierarchy. For example, all articles that are categorised under Category:Fiction Writing will appear not only on the Writing category page, but within the Category:Fan Activities page, as it is within that broader category.
In other words, all articles that exist within a category, even if they do so within other sub-categories, appear on that category's page. Users can refine the listing of all those articles by clicking on the subcategories.
