Wikipedia:Categories for discussion

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"WP:CFD" redirects here. For other uses, see WP:Criteria for deletion.

Categories for discussion (CfD) is where the renaming, merging or deletion of categories – i.e. pages in the Category namespace – is discussed and action decided. Stub types templates are also discussed here.

Categories are used to organize pages and aid the browsing of related articles. For instructions as to how to use this page, perform cleanup maintenance or request speedy deletions or renamings, see "How to use CfD" below. The policies meant to guide category renaming may be found at Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories).

Unless a change to a category is non-controversial – e.g. prompted by vandalism or duplication – please do not amend or remove the category from pages before a decision has been made.

Categories that have been listed for more than seven days are eligible for deletion, renaming or merging when a rough consensus to do so has been reached or no objections to the nomination have been raised.

When a category is renamed or merged with another category, it is usually helpful to leave an instance of the {{Category redirect|...}} template on the category's former page. See "Redirecting categories" below for more information.

Scope[edit]

CfD is only intended for discussions where an editor already has a clear action proposal in mind. For general brainstorming on how to improve the category system, good places for discussion include Wikipedia talk:Categorization, Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Categories, and the talk pages of any WikiProjects relevant to the content covered by the categories in question.

Current discussions[edit]

Add a new entry


Discussions awaiting closure[edit]

List of individual discussions awaiting closure see here.


How to use CfD[edit]

Shortcut:

Nomination procedure[edit]

Twinkle[edit]

The use of Wikipedia:Twinkle greatly facilitates CfD nominations. To install Twinkle, go to "my preferences", the "Gadgets" tab, the "Browsing" section and check "Twinkle ...". Use the now-installed "XfD" (Nominate for deletion) tab while viewing the page to be deleted or renamed.

Twinkle only allows nominations of a single category. For batch nominations or if you don't want to use Twinkle, follow the manual steps below.

Manual nominations[edit]

To list a category manually for deletion, merging or renaming, follow this process:

I
Preliminary steps.

Determine whether the category needs deleting, merging, or renaming.

  1. If it is a red link and has no subcategories, then it is already deleted (more likely, it was never really created in the first place), and does not need to be listed here.
  2. Read and understand Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories) and Wikipedia:Overcategorization.
  3. Nominate categories here which violate policies or guidelines, are misspelled, mis-capitalized, redundant to other categories (not redundant to stand-alone lists), small without potential for growth, or generally bad ideas.
  4. When nominating or commenting on people-related categories, please read the Wikipedia:Categorization of people policy.
  5. When nominating or commenting on Wikipedian categories, please read Wikipedia:User categories and Wikipedia:Overcategorization/User categories.
  6. In the following special cases:
    • If the category is empty for more than seven days, use {{db-catempty}} for a speedy deletion.
    • If the category is only populated by a template and both the category and template are being proposed for deletion, follow the instructions at templates for discussion.
II
Edit the category.

Add one of the following tags at the beginning of the category text of every category to be discussed. (The tags belong on the categories' main pages rather than their talk/discussion pages.)

If the category is a candidate for speedy renaming or merging, use:
and follow the instructions at the Speedy page.
Otherwise, if a single category:
If a group of similar categories or a category and its subcategories, use an umbrella nomination (each category must be tagged, and for nominations involving large numbers of categories, tagging help can be requested at the talk page):
  • For deletion, {{subst:cfd|Cfd section name}}
  • For a merger, {{subst:cfm|Other category|Cfd section name}}
  • For renaming, {{subst:cfr|Proposed name|Cfd section name}}
  • For splitting, {{subst:cfs|Proposed name 1|Proposed name 2|Cfd section name}}
  • For converting the category contents into a list, {{subst:cfl|Proposed name|Cfd section name}}
  • For other options (containerization, etc.), {{subst:cfd|type=nature of proposed discussion|Cfd section name}} (see Template:Cfd/doc#Optional parameter)
  • Please include "CFD", "CFM", "CFR", "CFS" or "CFL" in the edit summary, and don't mark the edit as minor.
  • Preview before saving. The display will give more precise instructions about the next step.
  • See the documentation pages at {{cfd}}, {{cfm}}, {{cfr}}, {{cfs}} and {{cfl}} for more specific information.
  • Similarly, consider adding {{subst:cfd-notify|Category name|2017 July 20|CfD section name}} ~~~~ to the talk page of the category's creator or a related WikiProject.
  • You can add the template for previous nomination days using the full template versions. For this simply append "full" to the template name - e.g. {{Cfm full}}. By this you can use the day=, month= and year= parameters to make the banner link to the right CfD-page.
III
Create the CFD section.

Click on THIS LINK to edit the section of CFD for today's entries.

Follow the instructions in the comments (visible during edit), to copy and paste the template shown. All categories are specified without the Category: prefix.

For {{Cfd}}, use:
{{subst:cfd2|Obsolete category|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed deletion. ~~~~}}
For {{Cfm}}, use:
{{subst:cfm2|Origin category|Destination category|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed merge. ~~~~}}
For {{Cfr}}, use:
{{subst:cfr2|Current category|Proposed name|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}
For {{Cfs}}, use:
{{subst:cfs2|Current category|Proposed category 1|Proposed category 2|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed split. ~~~~}}
For {{Cfl}}, use:
{{subst:cfc2|Current category|Proposed article|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed conversion. ~~~~}}
For {{Cfd|type=other type}}, use:
{{subst:cfd2|Current category|type=other type|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed conversion. ~~~~}}
When using these templates, the old and new categories you specify are automatically converted to links; do not use square brackets to specify them as links yourself.
For umbrella nominations, use one of the standard templates to build the "Cfd section name" for the first nominated category. After saving that, the second and subsequent nominations must be inserted manually, like this:
==== Cfd section name ====
  • 1st category
  • 2nd category [Make clear whether you propose deletion, merging or renaming]
  • Your reason for nominating the categories, and signature.
  • If an umbrella nomination is too long, consider using {{hidden}} to hide the bulk of nominated categories.
  • In your reason, please link appropriate articles or categories to help other editors.
  • In your reason, when linking to a category, always add a colon (:) to the beginning of the link, like [[:Category:Foo]]. This makes a category link that can be seen on the page, and avoids putting this page into the category you are nominating.
  • Preview before saving to ensure all the fields have been properly listed.

Once you have previewed your entry, please make sure to add your signature after your proposal.

After nominating: Notify interested projects and editors[edit]

While it is sufficient to list a category for discussion at CfD (see above), nominators and others sometimes want to attract more attention from and participation by informed editors. All such efforts must comply with Wikipedia's guideline against biased canvassing.

To encourage participation by less experienced editors, please avoid Wikipedia-specific abbreviations in the messages you leave about the discussion, link to any relevant policies or guidelines, and link to the CfD discussion page itself. If you are recommending that an category be speedily deleted, please give the criterion that it meets, such as "C1" for unpopulated categories C2C "Bringing a category into line with established naming conventions for that category tree".

Notifying related WikiProjects

WikiProjects are groups of editors that are interested in a particular subject or type of editing. If the article is within the scope of one or more WikiProjects, they may welcome a brief, neutral note on their project's talk page(s) about the CfD.

It may also be helpful to post a message on the talkpage of a related article, like Protein family for Category:Protein families. You can use {{Cfdnotice}} for this.

Notifying substantial contributors to the category

While not required, it is generally considered courteous to notify the good-faith creator and any main contributors of the category and its talkpage that you are nominating for discussion. To find the creator and main contributors, look in the page history or talk page. You can use {{Cfd-notify}} to inform the creator of the category, and {{Cfdnotice2}} for all other editors.

At this point, you've done all you need to do as nominator. Sometime after seven days have passed, someone will either close the discussion or, where needed, "relist" it for another seven days of discussion. (That "someone" may not be you, the nominator.)

Once you have submitted a category here, no further action is necessary on your part. If the nomination is supported, helpful administrators and editors will log the result and ensure that the change is implemented to all affected pages.

Also, consider adding any categories you nominate to your watchlist. This will help ensure that your nomination tag is not mistakenly or deliberately removed.

Users without accounts and users with new accounts[edit]

Users without accounts (unregistered users) may comment on proceedings, just as in Articles for Deletion (AfD). Unlike AfD, they may also directly nominate categories for discussion.

Redirecting categories[edit]

Shortcut:
"WP:CAT-R" redirects here. For the guideline on categorizing redirects, see Wikipedia:Categorizing redirects.

It is our general policy to delete categories that do not have articles in them. (Rationale: Unlike articles, categories are mostly for internal use only. If they don't have any articles, they shouldn't have any links from any articles or any other categories, because they are not useful for navigation and sorting.)

However, some categories frequently have articles assigned to them accidentally, or are otherwise re-created over and over. But categories cannot be redirected using "hard" redirects: #REDIRECT[[target]]. (See Wikipedia:Redirect#category for the technical details.)

Instead, we use a form of "soft redirects" to solve the issue. You can "create" a category redirect by adding {{Category redirect|target}} to the category page. Bots patrol these categories and move articles into the "redirect" targets. Notice that it's not a redirect at all as a wiki page; it's bots that virtually make them redirects.

In particular, we set up category redirects at the former category name when we convert hyphens into en dashes or vice versa (e.g. Category:Canada-Russia relations → Category:Canada–Russia relations). It is also helpful to set up redirects from forms with plain letters (i.e. characters on a standard keyboard) where the category names include diacritics.

You can see a list of redirected categories in Category:Wikipedia soft redirected categories.

Closing[edit]

When closing CfDs, document their results (e.g. with links to CfD page history) on the talk pages of the affected categories, if not deleted. If deleted, document the deletion decision in the deletion edit summary. See {{cfd top}}.

Special notes[edit]

When nominating a category, it's helpful to add a notice on the talk page of the most-closely related article. Doing so would not only extend an additional courtesy, but possibly also bring in editors who know more about the subject at hand. You can use {{Cfdnotice}} for this.

If a category is only used as generated by a template (e.g. Category:Foo Stubs to correspond with Template:Foo-stub), and that template is deleted by a regular WP:TFD process, then the category can be deleted as well as long as it was nominated along with the template, or mentioned early in the discussion.

Speedy renaming and merging

Shortcut:

Categories may be listed for speedy renaming or speedy merging if they meet one or more of the criteria specified below. They must be tagged with {{subst:cfr-speedy|New name}} so that users of the categories are aware of the proposal. A request may be processed 48 hours after it was listed if there are no objections. This delay allows other editors to review the request to ensure that it meets the criteria for speedy renaming or merging, and to raise objections to the proposed change.

Categories that qualify for speedy deletion (per Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion, e.g. "patent nonsense", "recreation", categories that have been empty for seven days) can be tagged with the regular speedy tags, such as {{db|reason}}, and no delay is required to process these. Renaming under C2E can also be processed instantly as it is a variation on G7.

Contested requests become stale, and can be un-tagged and de-listed, after 7 days of inactivity. Optionally, if the discussion may be useful for future reference, it may be copied to the category talk page, with a section heading and {{moved discussion from|[[WP:CFDS]]|2=~~~~}}. If the nominator wants to continue the process, they need to submit the request as a regular CfD in accordance with the instructions here.

Speedy criteria[edit]

The category-specific criteria for speedy renaming, or merging are strictly limited to:

C2A: Typographic and spelling fixes[edit]

Shortcut:
  • Correction of spelling errors and capitalization fixes. Differences between British and American spelling (e.g. Harbours → Harbors) are not considered errors; however if the convention of the relevant category tree is to use one form over the other then a rename may be appropriate under C2C. If both spellings exist as otherwise-identical category names, they should be merged.
  • Appropriate conversion of hyphens into en dashes or vice versa (e.g. Category:Canada-Russia relations → Category:Canada–Russia relations).

C2B: Enforcing established Wikipedia naming conventions and practices[edit]

Shortcut:

C2C: Bringing a category into line with established naming conventions for that category tree, or into line with the various "x by y", "x of y", or "x in y" categorization conventions specified at Wikipedia:Category names[edit]

Shortcut:
  • This should be used only where there is no room for doubt that the category in question is being used for the standard purpose instead of being a potential subcategory.
  • This criterion should be applied only when there is no ambiguity or doubt over the existence of a category naming convention. Such a convention must be well defined and must be overwhelmingly used within the tree. If this is not the case then the category in question must be brought forward to a full Cfd nomination.
  • This criterion will not apply in cases where the category tree observes distinctions in local usage (e.g. Category:Transportation in the United States and Category:Transport in the United Kingdom).

C2D: Facilitating concordance between a particular category's name and a related page's name[edit]

Shortcut:
  • Renaming a topic category to match its eponymous page (e.g. Category:The Beatles and The Beatles).
  • This applies only if the related page's current name (and by extension, the proposed name for the category) is unambiguous, and uncontroversial – either because of longstanding stability at that particular name or because the page was just moved after a page move discussion resulted in explicit consensus to rename. If the page names are controversial or ambiguous in any way, then this criterion does not apply.
  • This criterion also does not apply if there is any ongoing discussion about the name of the page or category, or if there has been a recent discussion concerning any of the pages that resulted in a no consensus result.

C2E: Author request[edit]

Shortcut:
  • This criterion applies only if the author of a category requests or agrees to renaming within six months of creating the category.
  • The criterion does not apply if other editors have populated or changed the category since it was created. "Other editors" includes bots that populated the category, but excludes an editor working with the author on the renaming.

Applying C2 in full CfD discussions[edit]

  • A nomination to merge or rename, brought forward as a full CfD, may be speedily closed if the closing administrator is satisfied that:
    • The nomination clearly falls within the scope of one of the criteria listed here, and
    • No objections have been made within 48 hours of the initial nomination.
  • If both these conditions are satisfied, the closure will be regarded as having been as a result of a speedy nomination. If any objections have been raised then the CfD nomination will remain in place for the usual 7-day discussion period, to be decided in accordance with expressed consensus.

Add requests for speedy renaming and merging here[edit]

If the category and desired change do not match one of the criteria mentioned in C2, do not list it here. Instead, list it in the main CFD section.

If you are in any doubt as to whether it qualifies, do not list it here.

Use the following format on a new line at the beginning of the list:

* [[:Category:old name]] to [[:Category:new name]] – Reason ~~~~

This will sign and datestamp an entry automatically.

Remember to tag the category with: {{subst:Cfr-speedy|New name}}

A request may be completed if it is more than 48 hours old; that is, if the time stamp shown is earlier than 10:18, 18 July 2017 (UTC). Currently, there are 163 open requests (refresh).

Current nominations[edit]

  • Suggestion: Apart from Category:New York (state) which should follow the renamed article, I would rather use WP:NATURALDIS for the categories "X in New York", so for example use Category:Lists of buildings and structures in New York state, not Category:Lists of buildings and structures in New York (state). — JFG talk 14:38, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
    • @JFG: exactly the same issues apply to the subcats of Category:Washington (state) & Category:Georgia (U.S. state), but so far all such cats follow the same convention as undisambiguated states.
      What you are proposing is a new convention, which would not meet any speedy criterion. To ensure consistency of naming and proper scrutiny of any new naming conventions, please may I plead with you to let these simple changes as a speedy? Once they are done, they you or anyone else will of course be free to open a full CFD discussion to propose any changes to the existing conventions. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 14:54, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
      • Sure, a proper discussion would be necessary. Until then, I'd rather not touch the cats listed by the OP except the base state name cat. @Od Mishehu:, your thoughts? — JFG talk 15:00, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
        • @JFG: it seems to me that you may have misunderstood what's happening here. This is a speedy' nomination, not a consensus-building discussion. If the nomination meets some strictly-defined speedy criteria, it can proceed; if not, it is blocked, and a full discussion is needed.
In this case, criterion WP:C2D is being applied, which you can read in full above, but in summary is "facilitating concordance between a particular category's name and a related page's name".
The related page is New York (state). If you want to use some other name, then that won't be C2D, and cannot proceed here. It would need a full discussion. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 15:13, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
@BrownHairedGirl: Sorry for being daft. I think the speedy should only apply to renaming Category:New York, the rest should go through discussion. Does that clarify my stance? — JFG talk 15:18, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
@JFG: tks, it does clarify.
However, may I plead and beg with with you not to block the speedy moves. It you block the speedies, then we are left with a set of undisambiguated titles, which are clearly wrong. If you let the speedy go through, then you can promptly open a full discussion on your preference for something else; but please don't let the best be the enemy of the good. I see no way in which achieving your goals is an any way assisted by blocking the speedy. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 15:23, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
@JFG:My proposed renames follow the same rules as the Washington categories do. We have Category:Lists of buildings and structures in Washington (state)‎, not Category:Lists of buildings and structures in Washington state; the same convention should be used for New York. עוד מישהו Od Mishehu 18:11, 19 July 2017 (UTC)
OK, thx. Again, I'm totally inexperienced with category conventions, sorry. — JFG talk 18:43, 19 July 2017 (UTC)

Opposed nominations[edit]

  • Oppose - Category:Tributaries of the Yangtze River is a valid category and is not the same thing as the Yangtze River or Tributaries of the Yangtze. Undoubtedly there are other entities named Yangtze. All three categories mean different things and should remain and not be merged to facilitate the use of the categories and finding aids for readers. In addition, the use of all three categories in an article is justified. Barbara (WVS) ✐ ✉ 11:11, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
@Barbara (WVS):, you are mistaken. The proposal is not to merge the categories, but a simple rename from Category:Tributaries of the Yangtze River to Category:Tributaries of the Yangtze, to match the article title Yangtze. -Zanhe (talk) 18:46, 9 July 2017 (UTC)
Is there such a thing as a redirect for categories? All of these issues could be solved. Barbara (WVS) ✐ ✉ 18:14, 10 July 2017 (UTC)
@Barbara (WVS): Yes. {{Category redirect}}. --BrownHairedGirl (talk) • (contribs) 18:35, 10 July 2017 (UTC)
On hold pending other discussion[edit]
  • None currently
Moved to full discussion[edit]

Ready for deletion[edit]

Check Category:Empty categories awaiting deletion for out of process deletions. In some cases, these will need to be nominated for discussion and the editor who emptied the category informed that they should follow the WP:CFD process.

Once the renaming has been completed, copy and paste the listing to the Ready for deletion section of Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working/Manual.

Categories possibly emptied out of process[edit]

Note. Categories listed here will be automatically moved to Category:Candidates for speedy deletion after 96 hours.
Note. Due to limits of the software, all contents of the category may not be displayed. View the category directly to see all contents.

Empty categories awaiting deletion
► 1st-century BC establishments in Serbia
► 2nd-century BC years by country
► 6 in Asia
► 10 in Asia
► 10th century by city
► 15 in Asia
15th-century disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire
► 16 in Asia
► 23 by country
► 27 BC by country
► 33 BC by country
► 38 in Asia
► 40s in Italy
► 45 in Asia
► 46 in Asia
► 47 in Asia
► 48 in Asia
► 49 in Asia
► 50s in Italy
► 52 in Asia
► 58 in Asia
► 59 in Asia
► 60 in Asia
► 61 in Asia
► 62 in Asia
► 64 in Asia
► 65 in Asia
► 69 in Asia
► 70 in Asia
► 71 in Asia
► 79 in Asia
► 89 by country
► 90 by country
90s in Asia
► 92 in Asia
► 95 in Asia
► 98 in Asia
► 130s BC by country
► 140s BC by country
► 169 by country
► 172 by country
► 184 by country
► 190 by country
► 190s establishments in Vietnam
► 191 by country
► 199 by country
► 200 by country
► 201 by country
► 202 by country
► 203 by country
► 204 by country
► 205 by country
► 207 by country
► 211 by country
► 213 by country
► 214 by country
► 215 by country
► 221 by country
► 222 BC by country
► 223 by country
► 224 by country
► 225 by country
► 227 BC by country
► 227 by country
► 228 by country
► 229 by country
► 231 by country
► 233 by country
► 234 by country
► 245 by country
► 249 by country
► 256 BC by country
260s establishments by country
► 263 by country
► 264 by country
► 265 establishments by country
► 271 by country
► 279 by country
► 280 by country
► 291 by country
300s establishments by country
► 304 establishments by country
► 320 establishments by country
► 326 establishments
► 329 disestablishments by country
330s BC in Europe
330s establishments by country
► 330s establishments in the Byzantine Empire
► 334 BC by country
► 338 BC by country
► 338 BC in Europe
► 340s BC in Asia
► 347 disestablishments by country
► 349 BC by country
370s disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire
► 375 BC by country
► 376 disestablishments by country
378 disestablishments by country
► 378 disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire
378 in the Byzantine Empire
► 400s BC by country
► 410 disestablishments by continent
► 420 disestablishments by country
► 420 establishments by country
420s disestablishments by country
450s establishments by country
450s establishments in Africa
450s establishments in the Byzantine Empire
457 by country
457 establishments by country
► 457 establishments in the Byzantine Empire
457 in the Byzantine Empire
► 470s establishments by country
► 479 disestablishments by country
► 509 BC by country
► 509 BC in Europe
510s BC by continent
► 510s BC in Asia
510s disestablishments
510s disestablishments by continent
510s disestablishments by country
510s disestablishments in Africa
510s disestablishments in Asia
510s disestablishments in Europe
510s disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire
► 512 BC by country
518 disestablishments
► 518 disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire
518 in the Byzantine Empire
► 538 disestablishments in Japan
► 541 in Africa
► 542 in Africa
► 842 in the Byzantine Empire
1260s establishments in Africa
1260s establishments in the Byzantine Empire
► 1261 establishments in the Byzantine Empire
► 1450s disestablishments in the Byzantine Empire
► 1850 disestablishments in Massachusetts
► 1895 establishments in New Hampshire
► 1906–07 in American college basketball
► 1923 establishments in Lebanon
► 1944 establishments in New Mexico
► 1971 Swedish films
► 1972 American films
► 1974 American films
► 1975 American films
► 1975 NCAA University Division football season
► 1975 Swedish films
► 1976 American films
► 1977 American films
► 1977 Swedish films
► 1978 American films
► 1978 Swedish films
► 1979 American films
► 1979 British films
► 1979 Swedish films
► 1980 American films
► 1980 Swedish films
► 1981 American films
► 1981 Swedish films
► 1982 American films
► 1982 Swedish films
► 1983 American films
► 1983 Swedish films
► 1984 American films
► 1984 Swedish films
► 1985 American films
► 1985 disestablishments in Arizona
► 1985 Swedish films
► 1986 American films
► 1986 NCAA University Division football season
► 1986 Swedish films
► 1987 American films
► 1987 Swedish films
► 1988 American films
► 1988 Swedish films
► 1989 American films
► 1989 Swedish films
► 1990 American films
► 1990 Swedish films
► 1991 American films
► 1991 Swedish films
► 1992 American films
► 1992 Swedish films
► 1993 American films
► 1993 Swedish films
► 1993-94 in Italian rugby union
► 1994 American films
► 1994 Swedish films
► 1995 American films
► 1995 Swedish films
► 1996 American films
► 1996 Danish films
► 1996 Norwegian films
► 1996 Swedish films
► 1997 American films
► 1997 Danish films
► 1997 Swedish films
► 1998 American films
► 1998 Swedish films
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