Wikipedia:Categorization dos and don'ts

This is an information page.

It describes the editing community's established practice on some aspect or aspects of Wikipedia:Categorization. It is not one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community.

Categories are a vital tool for navigating Wikipedia.

When categorizing pages:

DO:
Use the most specific categories possible.
Categorize based on defining characteristics.
Add pages to multiple categories in overlapping trees.
Provide sort keys or a {{DEFAULTSORT:}} key.
Add cleanup templates where needed.

DON'T:
Don't add pages to non-existent categories.
Don't categorize based on trivial characteristics.
Don't add pages to non-neutral or unverifiable categories.
Don't categorize fictional subjects together with real ones.
Don't add articles directly to maintenance categories.

v t e Wikipedia dos and don'ts
Encyclopedia content	Accessibility Biographies Biographies (living) Categorization Disambiguation Images Leads Links Lists References Tables Titles (of articles)
Collaboration	Consensus Talk
Simple rule set - Simple style manual - Style tips - Wikitext cheatsheet

See also[edit]