Editing SpongeBob Wiki:Categories

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There are a lot of pages on the SpongeBob Wiki, and the most fundamental way of organizing them all is with '''categories'''. These appear as links in a box at the bottom of a page and can be created by typing <code><nowiki>[[Category:Name]]</nowiki></code>, which should go at the bottom of a page, after all the text, tables and any [[SpongeBob Wiki:Navigation templates|navigation templates]] that are used on the article. Most pages have multiple categories, which are entered one after another, with line breaks between them to make it easy to tell them all apart.

There are maintenance categories, known as '''[[MediaWiki:Gadget-MetaCategories|meta-categories]]''', which are categories that aid in maintaining the SpongeBob Wiki. This page does not cover them in depth; see the [[Project:Maintenance|maintenance]] page for more information.

Part of this policy page was adapted from the [[mariowiki:Project:Categories|Super Mario Wiki]].

==Overview==
What sets categories apart from the aforementioned navigation templates is how they are used.

For example, while a game has one template that is put on every in-game subject's page, with the characters, items, places, enemies, etc. being separated into different sections within the template, different categories for each subject can be used for the different pages. All these categories are grouped together in a category for the overall game, which also houses any pages that don't fit into a more specific category, such as the episode or game's gallery, and its staff, media, glitch, beta or quotes pages. Subjects with very few entries should also go into the overall game category in order to streamline navigation, as game-specific categories with ''three or less'' pages are of limited usage. Which subjects do not qualify for categories differs from game to game - i.e. if one game only has three minigames, they would simply go in the game's category, whereas a different game with many minigames would have a Minigames category.

Both the template and the categories ensure that the different subjects are separated and easily navigable, but the categories can be placed on articles that don't fit into the navigation template (in most cases, these pages are ones that only get the overall game category). Categories also lead to more general categories beyond the overall game category, since they themselves can be categorized, unlike templates. Basically, the game category would be in a series category, while the subject category for the game would be in a subject category for the series, which would, in turn be in a category for the subject in general (i.e. a game's Characters -> a series' Characters -> all Characters).

Navigation goes both ways with categories. Just as a specific subject in a specific game can be followed back to the basic subject category, so too can readers go from the basic subject to a specific game by going down through the increasingly focused categories. This stratified organization separates the categories from the large list pages that can be found on the sidebar (i.e. [[List of characters|Characters]], [[List of species|Species]], etc.). While the lists have everything in one place, they only show the games (or other media) the entries originated from, whereas the categories break the subject up into smaller chunks, which are easier to sift through, but require more movement around the wiki.

==Levels of categorization==
There are different levels to categorization, which is when categories have increasingly specialized subcategories (such as going from [[:Category:Real world]] to [[:Category:People]] to [[:Category:Voice actors]]). In some cases, a level 3 category may be shared with a level 2 one (see the [[#Category webs|category webs]] section for more info).

===Level 1===
The '''base category''', or level 1 category, consists solely of [[:Category:Content]], which is the base category for all wiki coverage on the SpongeBob Wiki.

===Level 2===
The second-level category is for the most general topics, from which several subjects fall under. There are 15 categories on this level, listed below:

{|style="vertical-align:top"
| style="text-align:left"|
*[[:Category:Characters‎|Characters‎]] - The main category for all characters
*[[:Category:Episodes|Episodes]] - The main category for ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants (television show)|SpongeBob SquarePants]]'' episodes and its spinoffs
*[[:Category:Galleries|Galleries]] - Image galleries on the SpongeBob Wiki
*[[:Category:Games|Games]] - The main category for all ''SpongeBob'' video games
*[[:Category:Merchandise|Merchandise‎]] - A category for ''SpongeBob''-related merchandise
*[[:Category:Music|Music]] - All music from the ''SpongeBob'' franchise
*[[:Category:Objects|Objects‎]] - All objects within the ''SpongeBob'' franchise
| style="padding-left:5px;text-align:left;vertical-align:top"|
*[[:Category:People|People]] - Real world people who have been involved or worked on
*[[:Category:Places|Places‎]] - The main category for places, especially in [[Bikini Bottom]]
*[[:Category:Real world|Real world]] - All real world content
*[[:Category:Seasons|Seasons‎]] - All seasons of the ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' television show and its spinoffs
*[[:Category:Series|Series]] - Lists the main ''SpongeBob'' franchise and its related series
*[[:Category:Shorts|Shorts‎]] - All ''SpongeBob''-related shorts
*[[:Category:Web|Web‎]] - Official SpongeBob content found on the Internet
|}

==Placement on articles==
The following points may be used as a summary as to which categories an article should use. Please refer to the subsequent sections of the policy for further reading.

*All episode articles should receive [[:Category:Episodes]].
**Similarly, all game articles should receive [[:Category:Games]], as well as any applicable subcategories under the asterisk (*) within that category, such as a game's [[:Category:Games by system|system]] and [[:Category:Games by genre|genre]]. There are two distinct categories, [[:Category:SpongeBob games]] and [[:Category:Nicktoons games]], which are for games that are part of the ''SpongeBob'' franchise and ''Nicktoons'' games with SpongeBob (usually as the primary representative due to being Nickelodeon's flagship show) respectively. In the case of ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants featuring Nicktoons: Globs of Doom]]'', both categories apply. If SpongeBob has a notable role in a video game that is neither a ''SpongeBob'' nor a ''Nicktoons'' title, neither of the series categories should be applied.
*When placing a a season or game category (such as [[:Category:Season 2]] or [[:Category:SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom]]) on their actual article, use an [[SpongeBob Wiki:Categories#Asterisks|asterisk]].
*Video game and movie articles can have subject-specific categories (such as [[:Category:The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie characters]]). In such cases, relevant articles should receive this specific category instead of [[:Category:The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie|the movie category]]. Episodes cannot have subject-specific categories because of how many redundant categories this would create.
**If an article describing a subject (usually from an episode or video game) does not fit into a more specific subject category, then it should use the overall category.
**If a subject-specific category can be split further (for example: "[[:Category:SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom characters|SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom characters]]" extends to the [[:Category:SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom bosses|SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom bosses]] subcategory), use only the most specific category.
*A level 2 category may only be applied if a more specific one cannot be used.

These types of pages should include the indicated category:
*Image gallery pages should use [[:Category:Galleries]].
*[[SpongeBob Wiki:Glitches|Video game glitch]] pages should use [[:Category:Glitches]].
*Pages showing a list of [[Help:Media|media files]] should use [[:Category:Media]].
*Pages which list all [[SpongeBob Wiki:Pre-release and unused content|pre-release and unused content]] of a video game should use [[:Category:Pre-release and unused content]].
*Quotes pages should use [[:Category:Quotes]].
*Pages listing staff development and production teams should use [[:Category:Cast and crew]].
*Any [[:Category:Profiles and statistics|profile and statistics pages]] should use a pipelink for the name of that character. For example, the "[[List of Patrick Star profiles and statistics]]" page should use <code><nowiki>[[Category:Profiles and statistics|Patrick Star]]</nowiki></code> so the page isn't listed as beginning with "L", instead showing up under "B".<br>'''Note:''' The same pipelink format is used for other pages where the title begins with "List of", such as the [[:Category:References|references]].

Finally, when pages use two or more categories, they must be placed in the correct order. They should be arranged depending on importance and notability. For example, being a [[:Category:Crabs|crab]] is part of Mr. Krabs's core identity, and is more notable than him being a [[:Category:Parents|parent]], and should therefore appear first. Game/series-specific categories are always placed last (arranged alphabetically, or numerically in cases such as [[:Category:Games by date|games by date]]). See [[#Order on pages|the section]] for further information on ordering categories.

===Size and scope===
Different kinds of categories have different size restrictions:
*Specific subject categories (e.g. [[:Category:The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie characters]], [[:Category:Season 3 episodes]], etc.) should have at least '''four entries'''. If there are three or less entries, they should just go into the overall category.
*Series must have '''three entries''' in order to have series-specific categories. Pairs of related games (such as ''[[Nickelodeon Kart Racers]]'' and ''[[Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix]]'') simply link to each other in the category summaries. For example, [[:Category:Nickelodeon Kart Racers]] would include <code><nowiki>{{see also|:Category:Nickelodeon Kart Racers 2: Grand Prix}}</nowiki></code> under its summary, before its overall [[:Category:Nickelodeon games]] category.
**TV shows, comics and other media follow the same three-entry rule as game series, and so their categories should also have three entries, minimum. Consoles also need three games in order to have a category.

Even if categories have only four subjects ''should'' have many more than that, since small lists can simply be placed on an article that's central to the subject at hand. It should also be noted that '''overly broad categories''' can be even more unhelpful than overly small categories (such as ones listing all males or females), and should not be created. Also, just because there's a good number of possible entries doesn't necessarily mean a category should be made, as they are often tenuous or of little functional use to wiki navigation.

==Asterisks==
To set important or central subjects or subcategories apart from the rest of the entries, asterisks can be used using <code><nowiki>[[Category:Name|*]]</nowiki></code>. This is generally only used under three different circumstances:

#To elevate the Game category from the subject-specific game categories at lv. 3 of the primary tree. For example, [[:Category:SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab]] is categorized with <nowiki>[[Category:SpongeBob games|*]]</nowiki>, which should also be done on the game's article itself (in this case, ''[[SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab]]''.) Specific categories such as [[:Category:SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab enemies]] get no asterisks.
#Asterisks within an overall game category are also given to pages which aren't strictly writing on a specific in-game subject, but rather used as a point of reference for a subject of that game. This covers any game-focused pages within [[:Category:Lists]] (including its subcategory), as well as all game [[:Category:Galleries|galleries]].

==Templates==
Templates have their own set of categories. The basic groupings can be found [[:Category:Templates|here]], although a couple are further divided into subcategories of their own. The templates found on articles are either [[SpongeBob Wiki:Navigation templates|navigation templates]] or [[SpongeBob Wiki:Notice templates|notice templates]]. Template categories are applied to templates using <code><nowiki><noinclude>[[Category:Name]]</noinclude></nowiki></code>, which ensures that only the template, and not the pages it is placed on, are categorized.

:''Navigation templates should '''not''' contain categories meant for the pages they are placed on.''

So, for example, [[Template:SBSPLOTLS]] should not contain [[:Category:SpongeBob SquarePants: Legend of the Lost Spatula]]. This defeats the purpose of having subject-specific categories for a game. Even templates for which a single category is applicable to all their articles (i.e. [[:Category:Sponges]] for [[Template:Sponges]]) should not have that category, as this is inconsistent with the game templates, can interfere with category order on the articles, and can result in redundancy if users add the categories directly to the pages as well, since you can't tell that the templates provide the categories when you're editing until you Preview or Save.

Notice templates, on the other hand, ''can'' contain categories, as these do not pertain to the article's subject matter, but to the quality of the page itself and are only applicable when the template is applicable. Other types of templates used outside of the mainspace can also have categories. These categories are added using <code><nowiki><includeonly>[[Category:Name]]</includeonly></nowiki></code>, which means the pages the template is put on are categorized, but the template itself is not.

==Category webs==
While category trees branch out from the most basic categories to the most specific categories, '''category webs''' are formed when following every specific category applicable to an episode or game back through every level to the basic categories. Webs are basically single branches of many different trees that connect to each other at various levels. This includes tertiary branches extending back from subcategories reconnecting with the parent category's branch, the convergence of the primary tree with the secondary trees at the subject-specific game categories (and subcategories), and subcategorization between categories in the same level.

The purpose of extensive category webs is to give readers as much freedom as possible when looking up series, subjects or games. While trees just let them go up and down through the levels of a certain subject, webs let them cross between different branches and investigate different subjects.

Unlike the complete web and the primary tree example in [[#Category trees|the above category trees section]], the partial tree shows the overlap of the primary and secondary trees at lv. 5. It also shows the same-level subcategorization at lv. 3 more clearly than the complete tree, and shows that even subcategories can have subcategories, in the case of [[:Category:SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom objects]] and [[:Category:SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom items]]. However, this is not a usual occurrence and having a seventh level would bury the categories too much, which is why the more specialized subcategory is part of lv. 4 and linked to by the lv. 3 parent subcategory as well as [[:Category:Items]], which is the root of a single tertiary tree containing both the Items and Objects categories (their names can simply be used to tell the two groups of pages apart within the category). This is similar to why the subcategory tertiary trees still link to lv. 1 even though their roots are in lv. 3: that way, users can easily find the trees without having to go through the related secondary tree first, although that is also an option. Both the complete and partial webs show this aspect on tertiary trees, but only the complete web shows their flexibility regarding skipping steps and stopping short, which was discussed in [[#Tertiary trees|the previous section]].

The complete web also contains three categories that do not have trees. [[:Category:Quotes]] is used for all "List of quotes in..." pages and [[:Category:Cast and crew]] and [[:Category:Glitches]] are both used for the pages of the same name, making them more like "topic" categories than regular subject categories, and as such, they are handled differently as well. Namely, no other levels need to be made to divide the categories into series-based chunks. As mentioned in [[#Overview|the Overview]], any pages attached to a game (i.e. "List of [game] quotes") are given the lv. 3 Game categories as well as their topic categories.

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