Difference between revisions of "Help:Categorization"

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Here is an attempt in codifying the Coppermind's categorization structure.
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Here is a guide on how to categorize pages on the Coppermind, and the full hierarchy of categories.
   
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==Categorization Basics==
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Before getting into the nitty-gritty details, '''categories''' are listed at the bottom of a page. Every article, template, and file should be categorized. It is important to categorize everything correctly, as categories are one of two ways that an article can be found (the other way, of course, is through wiki-links). Articles should be able to be found from the main series categories (as listed on the main page), or through the main content categories on the sidebar on the left. To categorize something, go to the page you want to categories and insert <tt>Category: Whatever</tt> with [[ ]] around it. However, many infoboxes and navigation boxes will often categorize content appropriately.
  
   
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'''Categories''' are listed at the bottom of a page. Every article, template, and file should be categorized. It is important to categorize everything correctly, as categories are one of two ways that an article can be found (the other way, of course, is through wiki-links). Articles should be able to be found from the main series categories (as listed on the main page), or through the main content categories on the sidebar on the left. To categorize something, go to the page you want to categories and insert:
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Every article should be a member of at least three categories:
  
   
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<nowiki>
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*It must be in one of the main series categories (Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, etc). These categories will always be inserted for you by the series navigation box (those are the big boxes at the bottom of each article that have particularly noteworthy articles). For example, to insert the Stormlight Archive navbox, use {{t|Stormlight}}. And when you insert that, not only does that give the navbox into your article, but the category is taken care of too. Nice.
  
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[[Category: Whatever]]
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*It must be in one of the main content categories, like Character, Places, Magic, Flora and Fauna. A complete list of these will be below. Usually this category will also be automatically inserted by a template, like {{t|Character}}, which is the infobox for characters.
 
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</nowiki>
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*It must be in one of the four "quality" categories: Stub, Complete, Good, Exemplary. Also, if the article is about an especially important subject, it should go in the Notable category.
  
   
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Many infoboxes and navigation boxes will often categorize content appropriately. (For on those templates, see [[Help: Templates]], and also [[Help:Article structure]].)
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That's at minimum. As you can see, with the correct templates, categorization gets a lot easier. But feel free to categorize away. The Coppermind's categories are like tags, not folders. In a folder system (like your computer's file system), a file is a member of exactly one folder. Wiki articles are not like that. Articles can be in a lot of categories. The more categories, the better. Maybe the list of all [[:Category:Viewpoint characters|Viewpoint Characters]] will be useful to someone at some point. Who knows. The more the merrier. (Oh, and a random note: talk pages should never be categorized)
  
   
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The Coppermind's categories are like tags, not folders. In a folder system (like your computer's file system), a file is a member of exactly one folder. Wiki articles are not like that. Articles can be in a lot of categories. The more categories, the better. Maybe the list of all [[:Category:Viewpoint characters|Viewpoint Characters]] will be useful to someone at some point. Who knows. The more the merrier.
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Now, into the nitty gritty specifics, for those who care. If you're a novice editor, you probably don't. Hell, Windy doesn't care, so this is only for the hardest-core people who actually want to know if there is some hierarchy to categories. There is, unfortunately. It's complicated.
 
   
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Make sure you reserve categories for articles, and avoid them on talk pages.
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__TOC__
  
   
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==Required Categories==
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There is a hidden Category called Root, which is essentially the "highest" level of category. It is merely a placeholder for the three types of pages that we have on the wiki: Content, Administration, and Silly. Each of these three have slightly different categorization policies. We will focus most on Content, as that's the most important. Administration contains administrative categories like ones that sort templates, and classifications of articles (like the quality categories). Silly is for noncanonical, joke content.
 
   
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Every content page will, with very few exceptions, be a member of at least three required categories:
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==Content==
  
   
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*A series identifier, such as Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, etc., so that the article can be found from its series/book categories
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The Content category should not be directly applied to pages; it is just a category that holds all content. The rationale behind this is that content pages make up about 95% of the wiki, and are pretty obvious when you are looking at it. A list of content related things is not particularly useful (and besides, that sort of thing can be found using AllPages).
 
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*A high-level content category, like Character, Places, Magic, Flora and Fauna
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*A quality tag, such as Stubs or Complete articles. These are administrative tags which are useful for editors to keep track of how good things are on the wiki
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This is of course a minimum of categories. These required categories are automatically inserted through various templates.
   
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===Series Identifier===
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As the Coppermind deals with many different series, it is critical that every article related to a particular book or series is in its respective category, called '''series identifiers'''. These categories--Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, Elantris, Warbreaker, The Emperor's Soul, Alcatraz, and Rithmatist--are always inserted from a series' navbox.
 
   
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Series tags are generated from the navigation boxes--the large boxes at the bottom of articles. Here is a list of them:
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Content is split up into fourteen high level categories: Books, Characters, Cosmere, Culture, Ethniticities and Nationalities, Events and Eras, Flora and Fauna, Groups, Items, Magic, Out of Universe, Magic, Places, Sources. Every content article should be in one of these categories.
 
   
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*[[:Category: Stormlight Archive|Stormlight Archive]], use {{t|Stormlight}}
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You might wonder, well, there's a category for Stormlight Archive and one for Characters, but what if I want to find all characters in Stormlight Archive? Unfortunately, the wiki software can't search two categories at once easily. But never fear, we have you covered! The Characters, Culture, Events and Eras, Flora and Fauna, Groups, Items, Magic, and Places categories will all have subcategories (that each article will ''also'' be in) corresponding to each series. For example, Stormlight Archive happens on Roshar, so search Category:Roshar for all places on Roshar. Or Rosharan for every Rosharan character, and so on. Usually, this subcategory will be inserted automatically from the infobox at the top of the article.
  
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*[[:Category: Mistborn|Mistborn]], use {{t|Mistborn}}. In addition, for Mistborn articles, you can add a parameter for {{t|Mistborn}}, such as {{t|Mistborn|adventures}} for the correct Mistborn era.
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*[[:Category: Elantris|Elantris]], use {{t|Elantris}}
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*[[:Category: Warbreaker|Warbreaker]], use {{t|Warbreaker}}
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*[[:Category: The Reckoners|The Reckoners]], use {{t|Reckoners}}
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*[[:Category: The Rithmatist|The Rithmatist]], use {{t|Rithmatist}}
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*[[:Category: The Emperor's Soul|The Emperor's Soul]], use {{t|The Emperor's Soul}}
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*[[:Category: Shadows for Silence|Shadows for Silence]], use {{t|Shadows for Silence}}
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*[[:Category: Sixth of the Dusk|Sixth of the Dusk]], use {{t|Sixth of the Dusk}}
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*[[:Category: Alcatraz|Alcatraz]], use {{t|Alcatraz}}
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*[[:Category: Infinity Blade|Infinity Blade]], use {{t|Infinity Blade}}
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*[[:Category: Legion|Legion]], use {{t|Legion}}
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*[[:Category: Defending Elysium|Defending Elysium]], use {{t|Defending Elysium}}
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*[[:Category: Firstborn|Firstborn]], use {{t|Firstborn}}
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*[[:Category: Perfect State|Perfect State]], use {{t|Perfect State}}
   
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Sometimes Cosmere articles have no associated series yet, so use {{t|Cosmere}} in place of the relevant series article.
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(Why don't the other high level content categories get series subcategories? Well, Books are obviously important enough to be on every series' navbox. Cosmere topics are related to the connected stuff between series, so those make little sense to belong to an individual series usually. Ethnicities and Nationalities is mostly a category which holds categories of people's ethnicities, so isn't important enough for that. Out of Universe stuff is not related to any series.)
  
   
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===High Level Content Categories===
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==Administration==
  
   
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There are nine high level content categories, which classify different articles on the Coppermind. They are:
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===Article Quality Statuses===
  
   
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*[[:Category: Books|Books]]
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There are four different statuses an article can have: Stub, Complete, Good, or Exemplary.
  
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*[[:Category: Characters|Characters]]
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*[[:Category: Culture|Culture]]
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*[[:Category: Events and Eras|Events and Eras]]
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*[[:Category: Items|Items]]
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*[[:Category: Magic|Magic]]
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*[[:Category: Out of Universe|Out of Universe]]
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*[[:Category: Places|Places]]
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*[[:Category: Sources|Sources]]
   
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Articles should never be in multiple ones of these. These categories are generated from infoboxes (the box on the upper right of an article). There are some specific exceptions to the usage of these categories, which you can read about below.
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Stubs are for short, terrible articles that need expanding. Stubs are bad. These can either graduate to Complete status--which indicates that though the article is short, it has all the possible knowledge on the subject--or Good status.
  
   
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===Quality Tags===
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Good articles are articles which are too long to be considered mere stubs, but could still be improved. These are usually on meaty subjects like main characters, where the info in the article is obviously longer than a stub, but doesn't contain everything that could be said about the character. Good articles can eventually graduate to Exemplary status.
  
   
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Exemplary articles are the best articles on the Coppermind. They contain a wealth of information, and are conceivably totally complete with their treatment at hand.
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Quality tags are massively useful for editors. Quality generally indicates the amount of information on a page, and are judged on how "complete" they are. These are generated with a template that goes right above the main series navigation box.
   
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The four main quality tags are:
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Notable articles are slightly outside of this hierarchy. They are simply a tag which indicates the '''importance''' of an article, instead of its actual quality. These should theoretically be promoted to Exemplary status eventually.
  
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*Stubs, use {{t|stub}}
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*Partially complete articles, use {{t|partial}}
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*Articles nearing completion, use {{t|complete}}
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*Complete articles, use {{t|complete|reviewed=yes}}
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Stubs are articles that have barely any information. Partially completed articles have a wide range, but generally have some or most of the information on a subject.
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Articles nearing completion is for articles that you as an editor believe to be content complete (hence the use of {{t|complete}}). Regular editors should not use the Complete articles category, which should be used when Coppermind staff look at the "nearly complete" article, verify its completeness, then add the reviewed=yes tag to it.
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There are two additional tags of this type that are not required: [[:Category: Notable articles|Notable articles]] and [[:Category: Exemplary articles|Exemplary articles]]. Notable articles are different from other quality tags in that it indicates the importance of the topic, which is generally reserved for important aspects to big series or books. The exemplary tag is for the very best articles on the Coppermind. Exemplary articles must be Complete as well as Notable, and also well written. To tag something as Exemplary, use {{t|exemplary}} near the top of the article.
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Rarely, articles will lack a quality tag. These include Coppermind articles (which are not "Content" articles), verbatim sources like epigraphs, and some summary articles.
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==Full Hierarchy of Categories==
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Below holds the intensely specific information on the structure and hierarchy of Coppermind categories. This is intended as a reference, but should not be needed for almost any editor, since templates like infoboxes will automatically categorize articles. But, if one is interested, here it is!
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===The Root Category===
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In the beginning of the universe, there was the Big Bang, and in the beginning of the Coppermind, there is the [[:Category: Root|Root]] category. This is a hidden category that should never apply to any articles directly. It is only a container for other categories. (A category of this type--that contains other categories, but rarely articles--is called a '''holding category'''.) Root's only articles are the Coppermind home pages.
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In the Root category, there are the five main sections of the wiki:
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*[[:Category: Content|Content]], a holding category containing what one normally think of as "articles"
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*[[:Category: Administration|Administration]], which contains all categories and pages for maintaining the wiki
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*[[:Category: Help|Help]], for all help documentation
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*[[:Category: Images|Images]], for images
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*[[:Category: Silly|Silly]], for silly non-content articles, which should be used sparingly
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===Content===
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Content is a holding category that, through its subsets, contains every topic related to Brandon's works, both in-universe and out-of-universe. Almost all pages in the Coppermind are in this section of the wiki. As a holding category, Content should not be applied to any specific article.
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Content holds nine special, mutually exclusive subcategories, the '''high level content categories''' (HLCCs). Articles should always be in one of these HLCCs and cannot be tagged with more than one of them. The high level content categories are:
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*[[:Category: Books|Books]]
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*[[:Category: Characters|Characters]]
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*[[:Category: Culture|Culture]]
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*[[:Category: Events and Eras|Events and Eras]]
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*[[:Category: Items|Items]]
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*[[:Category: Magic|Magic]]
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*[[:Category: Out of Universe|Out of Universe]]
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*[[:Category: Places|Places]]
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*[[:Category: Sources|Sources]]
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These categories are designed to be mutually exclusive, big bins of pages. Even if there is a more specific subset that applies to the article, keep the HLCC tag. For example, [[Kelsier]] is a [[:Category: Scadrians|Scadrian]] but the [[:Category: Characters|Characters]] category remains.
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The HLCCs have a vast array of subcategories, and it can be difficult which exactly should apply. The Character category has the Groups category, and that category has even '''more''' subcategories! What is one to do?
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For this, there is a simple rule of thumb: with exception of the HLCC tag, do not be redundant! Select the most relevant content category. The category Amaram's army is in Armies, which is a subset of Groups, but for members of Amaram's army, it is silly to include the Armies and Groups tags, since that isn't even relevant! Another example would be how Kelsier is labeled as an Allomancer, but not a Magic user, since Allomancer is automatically a Magic user.
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In some scenarios, subcategories of HLCCs can be members of more than one HLCC, if explicitly necessary. Some pages in one HLCC can have a subcategory of another HLCC if necessary (ex: [[Cult of the Returned]]).
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There are also special subcategories of the HLCCs called '''overriding categories''' that, instead of keeping the HLCC tag, override it. This can be because this subcategory is distinct enough within its HLCC that it does not make sense to tag the article with both. For example, [[Bridge Four]] is in the [[:Category: Groups|Groups]] category. Groups are groups of characters, and thus are a member of the Character Category, but Bridge Four is not a character itself. Another reason an article could use a subset of a HLCC is because this subset is a member of multiple HLCCs, such as [[:Category: Magical entities|Magical entities]], which is a member of both [[:Category: Magic|Magic]] and [[:Category: Characters|Characters]].
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The overriding categories are: Sapient beings, Ethnicities and Nationalities, and Groups, which are all subcategories of Characters, the largest high level content category.
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Moving on from the HLCCs, there are some subcategories of Content that are not mutually exclusive with any of those high level categories. They are:
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*[[:Category: Cosmere|Cosmere]], the category that contains pages related to the Cosmere universe as a whole, and can act like an HLCC
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*[[:Category: Deleted material|Deleted material]], which has articles about a subject that was part of the development of a story, but later deleted before the final release
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*[[:Category: Unpublished|Unpublished]], which has articles relating to unpublished works.
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Now we go in-depth to all of the Content categories, as well as their subsets.
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====Books====
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The [[:Category: Books|Books]] category contains articles that are books or works of Brandon Sanderson. It can also contain pages about related works based off of Brandon's writing, such as pages on the [[Mistborn Adventure Game]] and its supplements.
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Principal subcategories are:
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*[[:Category: Media|Media]], for works that are non-text media based off of Brandon's works
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*[[:Category: Series|Series]], which contains pages on specific series
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In the Books category (or in Series), there are the '''series tags''', which must be on all pages in the Content section. These series tags are generated by the navigation boxes on the bottom of pages. The series tags are:
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*[[:Category: Stormlight Archive|Stormlight Archive]]
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*[[:Category: Mistborn|Mistborn]], with [[:Category: Mistborn Era 1|Mistborn Era 1]], [[:Category: Mistborn Era 2|Mistborn Era 2]], etc.
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*[[:Category: Elantris|Elantris]]
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*[[:Category: Warbreaker|Warbreaker]]
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*[[:Category: The Reckoners|The Reckoners]]
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*[[:Category: The Rithmatist|The Rithmatist]]
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*[[:Category: Dragonsteel|Dragonsteel]]
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And, for shorter works, there are:
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*[[:Category: The Emperor's Soul|The Emperor's Soul]]
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*[[:Category: Shadows for Silence|Shadows for Silence]]
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*[[:Category: Sixth of the Dusk|Sixth of the Dusk]]
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*[[:Category: Alcatraz|Alcatraz]]
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*[[:Category: Infinity Blade|Infinity Blade]]
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*[[:Category: Legion|Legion]]
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*[[:Category: Defending Elysium|Defending Elysium]]
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*[[:Category: Firstborn|Firstborn]]
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*[[:Category: Perfect State|Perfect State]]
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====Characters====
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[[:Category: Characters|Characters]] is the single largest category on the Coppermind, which contains every characters. A character is a sapient being, such as a human. In other words, to be a character, it needs to be something that could have a viewpoint in a story. For named things that are not sapient, see [[:Category: Flora and Fauna|Flora and Fauna]].
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It contains subcategories for characters by book. For [[Cosmere]] works, these use demonyms (when known) like [[:Category: Scadrians|Scadrians]], [[:Category: Nalthians|Nalthians]], or [[:Category: Rosharans|Rosharans]]; otherwise, they are titled as [[:Category:Reckoners characters|Reckoners characters]] or [[:Category: Legion characters|Legion characters]].
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Subcategories include:
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*[[:Category: Dead characters|Dead characters]]
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*[[:Category: Unnamed characters|Unnamed characters]]
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*[[:Category: Viewpoint characters|Viewpoint characters]]
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*[[:Category: Professions|Professions]], a holding category for subsets of characters by profession, like [[:Category: Scholars]]
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Other principal subcategories are specific sets of characters:
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*[[:Category: Sapient beings|Sapient beings]], an overriding category
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*[[:Category: Ethnicities and Nationalities|Ethnicities and Nationalities]], an overriding category
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*[[:Category: Magic users|Magic users]], a holding category
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*[[:Category: Magical entities|Magical entities]], see Magic
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*[[:Category: Groups|Groups]], an overriding category
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=====Sapient beings=====
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This category--which overrides the Characters tag--contains articles on particular species of sapient beings. For nonsapient beings, see [[:Category: Flora and Fauna|Flora and Fauna]]. Species that are sapient can also be magical in origin, and so, pages in this category can also be in [[:Category: Magical entities|Magical entities]] (see the Magic category).
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=====Ethnicities and Nationalities=====
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This category--which overrides the Characters tag--contains categories of characters by their ethnicity or nationality, rather than species, such as [[:Category: Skaa|skaa]] or [[:Category: Alethi|Alethi]]. It also contains articles on specific ethnicities or nationalities (like [[Grand]] or [[Incarna]]), if the information on the ethnicity are not, for example, in a relevant article in Places. Pages on sapient species should not be in this category, instead use sapient beings.
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Subcategories here should be members of their particular planet, such as a Scadrian race being marked as Scadrian, or a race of people in Alcatraz be marked with [[:Category: Alcatraz characters|Alcatraz characters]].
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=====Magic users=====
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This holding category--which is also a member of the Magic HLCC--contains sets of characters who utilize magic, such as [[:Category: Allomancers|Allomancers]], [[:Category: Surgebinders|Surgebinders]], [[:Category: Oculators|Oculators]], and [[:Category: Epics|Epics]]. Do not apply Magic users directly to an article, instead use the relevant subcategory. As in: [[Kelsier]] is an Allomancer, and that is implicitly a magic user, so the magic user category is redundant and should not be used.
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=====Groups=====
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This category--which overrides the Characters tag--is for other sets of characters that are not in Sapient beings, Ethnicities and Nationalities, Magic users, or Magical entities. Generally, this means that Groups are organizations (created by characters), or named families (often nobility).
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Groups contain various subcategories for specific members of such groups, such as [[:Category: Armies]], [[:Category: Businesses|Businesses]], or [[:Category: Noble Houses|Noble Houses]].
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====Culture====
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The [[:Category: Culture|Culture]] category contains elements that are relevant to a particular culture, but are not in other HLCCs, like Characters, Events, Places, or Magic.
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*[[:Category: Currencies|Currencies]]
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*[[:Category: Food|Food]], sometimes in Flora and Fauna when relevant and edible. If in Flora and Fauna, does not need to be in Culture. Can contain restaurants
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*[[:Category: Games|Games]]
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*[[:Category: Language|Language]]
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*[[:Category: Myths and Legends|Myths and Legends]]
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*[[:Category: Religion|Religion]]
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*[[:Category: Symbols|Symbols]]
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Elements in the subcategories of Culture can, if more relevant, be labeled with a different HLCC entirely, which is unique to this HLCC.
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====Events and Eras====
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[[:Category: Events and Eras|Events and Eras]] is the category for particular events, like battles, or periods of time.
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There are currently no subcategories for this HLCC.
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====Flora and Fauna====
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[[:Category: Flora and Fauna|Flora and Fauna]] contains pages of nonsapient species, like plants, animals, but also other organisms. These should be primarily biological in nature. For nonbiological beings, use [[:Category: Magical entities|Magical entities]], and for sapient beings, use [[:Category: Sapient beings|Sapient beings]].
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Subcategories are:
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*[[:Category: Diseases|Diseases]]
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*[[:Category: Food|Food]] (see Culture)
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*Specific sets of a particular species
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This category can also contain particular elements of a named creature, such as pets, as they are not considered Characters.
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====Items====
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[[:Category: Items|Items]] contains specific objects or materials. Elements of this category are nouns that are not people or places, and are in the vaguer realm of "things". Keep this to physical things.
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Subcategories are:
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*[[:Category: Literature|Literature]], for specific works of literature or art (move to culture?)
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*[[:Category: Railcraft|Railcraft]]
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*[[:Category: Watercraft|Watercraft]]
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*[[:Category: Weapons|Weapons]]
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Other future categories will be vehicles, aircraft, and spacecraft.
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====Magic====
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Magic contains all magical things. In the [[Cosmere]], this refers to [[Investiture]].
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Principal subcategories are:
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*[[:Category: Magic systems|Magic systems]]
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*[[:Category: Magic users|Magic users]] (see Characters)
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*[[:Category: Magical entities|Magical entities]]
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It contains subcategories of a particular type of magic, like the [[:Category: Allomancy|Allomancy]] category, and contains subcats of [[:Category: Magic users|Magic users]], like [[:Category: Allomancers|Allomancers]].
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=====Magical entities=====
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[[:Category: Magical entities|Magical entities]] is for beings that come from a magical source, or are magical constructs. Examples include [[spren]], [[Lifeless]], or [[koloss]]. This is not a mutually exclusive category with [[:Category: Sapient beings|Sapient beings]], as some beings of this type may also be thinking beings.
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Magical entities should not be included in Magic users, as some magical aptitude may be inherent to something being a magical entity.
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This category contains subcategories of specific magical beings, such as [[:Category: Kandra|kandra]].
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====Out of Universe====
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This category contains articles people, terms, companies, or other important--but out of universe--things related to Brandon's works. This category is unique among HLCCs in that pages in this category will rarely have a series identifier. Only include a series identifier if the article's subject is extremely intimately related to only the series, like a cover artist who only worked on one series.
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Principal subcategories:
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*[[:Category: People|People]]
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*[[:Category: Fandom|Fandom]]
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Fandom is reserved for websites, and should be used sparingly. Do not mark User pages in either People or Fandom.
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====Places====
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'''Under construction.'''
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====Sources====
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Pages in this category are direct sources for Brandon's books, or are indices for terms.
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Principal subcategories are:
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*[[:Category: Epigraphs|Epigraphs]]
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*[[:Category: Indices|Indices]]
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*[[:Category: Summaries|Summaries]]
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It also contains subcategories for other sources, like [[:Category: Navani's notebook|Navani's notebook]].
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===Administration===
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===Help===
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The Help category is for documentation on the wiki. There are currently no subcategories for the Help section.
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===Images ===
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[[Category: Help|{{PAGENAME}}]]

Revision as of 01:43, 25 May 2015

Here is a guide on how to categorize pages on the Coppermind, and the full hierarchy of categories.

Categorization Basics

Categories are listed at the bottom of a page. Every article, template, and file should be categorized. It is important to categorize everything correctly, as categories are one of two ways that an article can be found (the other way, of course, is through wiki-links). Articles should be able to be found from the main series categories (as listed on the main page), or through the main content categories on the sidebar on the left. To categorize something, go to the page you want to categories and insert:

[[Category: Whatever]]

Many infoboxes and navigation boxes will often categorize content appropriately. (For on those templates, see Help: Templates, and also Help:Article structure.)

The Coppermind's categories are like tags, not folders. In a folder system (like your computer's file system), a file is a member of exactly one folder. Wiki articles are not like that. Articles can be in a lot of categories. The more categories, the better. Maybe the list of all Viewpoint Characters will be useful to someone at some point. Who knows. The more the merrier.

Make sure you reserve categories for articles, and avoid them on talk pages.

Required Categories

Every content page will, with very few exceptions, be a member of at least three required categories:

  • A series identifier, such as Stormlight Archive, Mistborn, etc., so that the article can be found from its series/book categories
  • A high-level content category, like Character, Places, Magic, Flora and Fauna
  • A quality tag, such as Stubs or Complete articles. These are administrative tags which are useful for editors to keep track of how good things are on the wiki

This is of course a minimum of categories. These required categories are automatically inserted through various templates.

Series Identifier

Series tags are generated from the navigation boxes--the large boxes at the bottom of articles. Here is a list of them:

Sometimes Cosmere articles have no associated series yet, so use {{Cosmere}} in place of the relevant series article.

High Level Content Categories

There are nine high level content categories, which classify different articles on the Coppermind. They are:

Articles should never be in multiple ones of these. These categories are generated from infoboxes (the box on the upper right of an article). There are some specific exceptions to the usage of these categories, which you can read about below.

Quality Tags

Quality tags are massively useful for editors. Quality generally indicates the amount of information on a page, and are judged on how "complete" they are. These are generated with a template that goes right above the main series navigation box.

The four main quality tags are:

  • Stubs, use {{stub}}
  • Partially complete articles, use {{partial}}
  • Articles nearing completion, use {{complete}}
  • Complete articles, use {{complete}}

Stubs are articles that have barely any information. Partially completed articles have a wide range, but generally have some or most of the information on a subject.

Articles nearing completion is for articles that you as an editor believe to be content complete (hence the use of {{complete}}). Regular editors should not use the Complete articles category, which should be used when Coppermind staff look at the "nearly complete" article, verify its completeness, then add the reviewed=yes tag to it.

There are two additional tags of this type that are not required: Notable articles and Exemplary articles. Notable articles are different from other quality tags in that it indicates the importance of the topic, which is generally reserved for important aspects to big series or books. The exemplary tag is for the very best articles on the Coppermind. Exemplary articles must be Complete as well as Notable, and also well written. To tag something as Exemplary, use {{exemplary}} near the top of the article.

Rarely, articles will lack a quality tag. These include Coppermind articles (which are not "Content" articles), verbatim sources like epigraphs, and some summary articles.

Full Hierarchy of Categories

Below holds the intensely specific information on the structure and hierarchy of Coppermind categories. This is intended as a reference, but should not be needed for almost any editor, since templates like infoboxes will automatically categorize articles. But, if one is interested, here it is!

The Root Category

In the beginning of the universe, there was the Big Bang, and in the beginning of the Coppermind, there is the Root category. This is a hidden category that should never apply to any articles directly. It is only a container for other categories. (A category of this type--that contains other categories, but rarely articles--is called a holding category.) Root's only articles are the Coppermind home pages.

In the Root category, there are the five main sections of the wiki:

  • Content, a holding category containing what one normally think of as "articles"
  • Administration, which contains all categories and pages for maintaining the wiki
  • Help, for all help documentation
  • Images, for images
  • Silly, for silly non-content articles, which should be used sparingly

Content

Content is a holding category that, through its subsets, contains every topic related to Brandon's works, both in-universe and out-of-universe. Almost all pages in the Coppermind are in this section of the wiki. As a holding category, Content should not be applied to any specific article.

Content holds nine special, mutually exclusive subcategories, the high level content categories (HLCCs). Articles should always be in one of these HLCCs and cannot be tagged with more than one of them. The high level content categories are:

These categories are designed to be mutually exclusive, big bins of pages. Even if there is a more specific subset that applies to the article, keep the HLCC tag. For example, Kelsier is a Scadrian but the Characters category remains.

The HLCCs have a vast array of subcategories, and it can be difficult which exactly should apply. The Character category has the Groups category, and that category has even more subcategories! What is one to do?

For this, there is a simple rule of thumb: with exception of the HLCC tag, do not be redundant! Select the most relevant content category. The category Amaram's army is in Armies, which is a subset of Groups, but for members of Amaram's army, it is silly to include the Armies and Groups tags, since that isn't even relevant! Another example would be how Kelsier is labeled as an Allomancer, but not a Magic user, since Allomancer is automatically a Magic user.

In some scenarios, subcategories of HLCCs can be members of more than one HLCC, if explicitly necessary. Some pages in one HLCC can have a subcategory of another HLCC if necessary (ex: Cult of the Returned).

There are also special subcategories of the HLCCs called overriding categories that, instead of keeping the HLCC tag, override it. This can be because this subcategory is distinct enough within its HLCC that it does not make sense to tag the article with both. For example, Bridge Four is in the Groups category. Groups are groups of characters, and thus are a member of the Character Category, but Bridge Four is not a character itself. Another reason an article could use a subset of a HLCC is because this subset is a member of multiple HLCCs, such as Magical entities, which is a member of both Magic and Characters.

The overriding categories are: Sapient beings, Ethnicities and Nationalities, and Groups, which are all subcategories of Characters, the largest high level content category.

Moving on from the HLCCs, there are some subcategories of Content that are not mutually exclusive with any of those high level categories. They are:

  • Cosmere, the category that contains pages related to the Cosmere universe as a whole, and can act like an HLCC
  • Deleted material, which has articles about a subject that was part of the development of a story, but later deleted before the final release
  • Unpublished, which has articles relating to unpublished works.

Now we go in-depth to all of the Content categories, as well as their subsets.

Books

The Books category contains articles that are books or works of Brandon Sanderson. It can also contain pages about related works based off of Brandon's writing, such as pages on the Mistborn Adventure Game and its supplements.

Principal subcategories are:

  • Media, for works that are non-text media based off of Brandon's works
  • Series, which contains pages on specific series

In the Books category (or in Series), there are the series tags, which must be on all pages in the Content section. These series tags are generated by the navigation boxes on the bottom of pages. The series tags are:

And, for shorter works, there are:

Characters

Characters is the single largest category on the Coppermind, which contains every characters. A character is a sapient being, such as a human. In other words, to be a character, it needs to be something that could have a viewpoint in a story. For named things that are not sapient, see Flora and Fauna.

It contains subcategories for characters by book. For Cosmere works, these use demonyms (when known) like Scadrians, Nalthians, or Rosharans; otherwise, they are titled as Reckoners characters or Legion characters.

Subcategories include:

Other principal subcategories are specific sets of characters:

Sapient beings

This category--which overrides the Characters tag--contains articles on particular species of sapient beings. For nonsapient beings, see Flora and Fauna. Species that are sapient can also be magical in origin, and so, pages in this category can also be in Magical entities (see the Magic category).

Ethnicities and Nationalities

This category--which overrides the Characters tag--contains categories of characters by their ethnicity or nationality, rather than species, such as skaa or Alethi. It also contains articles on specific ethnicities or nationalities (like Grand or Incarna), if the information on the ethnicity are not, for example, in a relevant article in Places. Pages on sapient species should not be in this category, instead use sapient beings.

Subcategories here should be members of their particular planet, such as a Scadrian race being marked as Scadrian, or a race of people in Alcatraz be marked with Alcatraz characters.

Magic users

This holding category--which is also a member of the Magic HLCC--contains sets of characters who utilize magic, such as Allomancers, Surgebinders, Oculators, and Epics. Do not apply Magic users directly to an article, instead use the relevant subcategory. As in: Kelsier is an Allomancer, and that is implicitly a magic user, so the magic user category is redundant and should not be used.

Groups

This category--which overrides the Characters tag--is for other sets of characters that are not in Sapient beings, Ethnicities and Nationalities, Magic users, or Magical entities. Generally, this means that Groups are organizations (created by characters), or named families (often nobility).

Groups contain various subcategories for specific members of such groups, such as Category: Armies, Businesses, or Noble Houses.

Culture

The Culture category contains elements that are relevant to a particular culture, but are not in other HLCCs, like Characters, Events, Places, or Magic.

Elements in the subcategories of Culture can, if more relevant, be labeled with a different HLCC entirely, which is unique to this HLCC.

Events and Eras

Events and Eras is the category for particular events, like battles, or periods of time.

There are currently no subcategories for this HLCC.

Flora and Fauna

Flora and Fauna contains pages of nonsapient species, like plants, animals, but also other organisms. These should be primarily biological in nature. For nonbiological beings, use Magical entities, and for sapient beings, use Sapient beings.

Subcategories are:

  • Diseases
  • Food (see Culture)
  • Specific sets of a particular species

This category can also contain particular elements of a named creature, such as pets, as they are not considered Characters.

Items

Items contains specific objects or materials. Elements of this category are nouns that are not people or places, and are in the vaguer realm of "things". Keep this to physical things.

Subcategories are:

Other future categories will be vehicles, aircraft, and spacecraft.

Magic

Magic contains all magical things. In the Cosmere, this refers to Investiture.

Principal subcategories are:

It contains subcategories of a particular type of magic, like the Allomancy category, and contains subcats of Magic users, like Allomancers.

Magical entities

Magical entities is for beings that come from a magical source, or are magical constructs. Examples include spren, Lifeless, or koloss. This is not a mutually exclusive category with Sapient beings, as some beings of this type may also be thinking beings.

Magical entities should not be included in Magic users, as some magical aptitude may be inherent to something being a magical entity.

This category contains subcategories of specific magical beings, such as kandra.

Out of Universe

This category contains articles people, terms, companies, or other important--but out of universe--things related to Brandon's works. This category is unique among HLCCs in that pages in this category will rarely have a series identifier. Only include a series identifier if the article's subject is extremely intimately related to only the series, like a cover artist who only worked on one series.

Principal subcategories:

Fandom is reserved for websites, and should be used sparingly. Do not mark User pages in either People or Fandom.

Places

Under construction.

Sources

Pages in this category are direct sources for Brandon's books, or are indices for terms.

Principal subcategories are:

It also contains subcategories for other sources, like Navani's notebook.

Administration

Help

The Help category is for documentation on the wiki. There are currently no subcategories for the Help section.

Images

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