Bhamwiki:Categories

This is a policy of the Bhamwiki.

Categories provide a "top-down" means for people to find subjects that interest them. The ancestor of all Bhamwiki categories should be Category:Root and all categories and subcategories should connect, eventually, to the Root Category

Category contents are generated indirectly. Articles are put into categories by adding links at the end, such as [[Category:Musicians]]. When categorizing articles (and placing categories into larger categories), we should keep in mind how people will use this method to find information.

Articles may need to be manually sorted into categories so that the categories are more easily navigated. This is done using "{{DEFAULTSORT:Scrushy, Richard}}" above all the category links (or by individually "piping" the links like this: "[[Category:Alabama Sports Hall of Fame|Bennett, Cornelius]]".

Categorization by physical location

• Businesses and institutions with physical locations should be categorized by that location.
• Current locations are more important than old locations, unless they are clearly associated with the institution or business.
• Multi-location businesses are harder to deal with. Ultimately, individual locations may merit individual articles (BTNB Eastwood branch).
• The closer to the heart of Birmingham, the more detail is relevant, with categories recommended for specific multi-tenant buildings (Category:Roden Block) which are then subcategories of streets (and, ideally, Category:Block 441).
• Streets that run primarily through one (or a couple) of Birmingham neighborhoods, should be made a subcategory of that neighborhood. Outside of Birmingham, only well-defined subdivisions lend themselves to that level of detail.
• Streets that outlet only onto one larger street should be made a subcategory of that street.

Notes

• If you just want to see the extent of Bhamwiki's coverage, then Category:Root is the place to start. The categories listed there are about as basic as we've been able to get.
• Categories tend to branch over time. Whereas Carl Lewis might once have fit nicely in Category:Athletes, it later becomes clear that the subcategory Category:Track and field athletes better places him with his fellow track stars.
• Look at similar articles and explore the branches of general categories to see if there's another good fit. A good typical article will probably fit in a few categories. More than a handful might be cause for concern. Some article types (like, say, those in Category:Jazz bands), really don't have a lot of places to go - and that's ok. Where else would someone logically start looking for a jazz band?
• Use your best judgement when deciding if an article belongs in a category as well as one of its parents. For example, even though most Emmy winners are actors, Nell Carter is categorized both in Category:Emmy award winners and Category:Actors, so that she can be grouped with colleagues in her profession and her fellow honorees. In other cases, such as Category:Pianists and Category:Musicians, they both describe a profession, so using both would be more redundant (and the musicians category would quickly become unwieldy). There are no strict lines here, so just use your own judgment.
• If you enter a category link that comes up red, search around to see if it has already been created under a variant name. The first place to look would be the logical parent(s) of the category you're looking for. If you don't find one and you're sure it's a needed category, then click on the red link and add your new subcategory to its parents.
• Especially with people, it is vitally important to stick to hard, uncontroversial and unchanging facts when categorizing. We shouldn't ever be categorizing people as "Klan operatives", "Hippies", "People with learning disabilities" or anything of the sort. It's better, even, to explain (where there is a reference) that someone is an active member of such-and-such Methodist church than to use categories for religious identification.
• Making blanket corrections or changes to categories isn't as easy as revising a single article, so proceed with caution. Feel free to discuss categorization on article talk pages, on the Bhamwiki talk:Messageboard or, more generally, at Bhamwiki talk:Categories.