Tardis:Category naming conventions

Categorisation Category page descriptions → What categories are not → "Real world" versus "from the real world" → Category tree → Beware recursion → Don't over-categorise → Rule of three → Even good categories can be removed → HotCat → Category naming conventions

Like article names, category names should follow certain patterns. Unless categorisation is performed to a common standard, it will be much harder to navigate and maintain the Data Core. Above all else, category names must not be open to multiple interpretation, and must be free of any bias or value judgements.

Shortcut:

T:CAT NAME
T:CAT NAMES

When starting a new category, don't just pick any old name. Take some time to think about how discoverable your name will be. If people can't find your category, they won't use it. If your category goes unused, then it's pointless.

Broad goals

Your category should unambiguously name its contents, and its contents should be about a single topic. The words and and or should probably be avoided, except when you are providing synonyms. Cats and dogs would be a bad name, because those are materially different things. Jargon, slang and colloquialisms is acceptable because those are all just synonyms, and including them all gives users a greater chance of finding the category through Wikia's auto-suggest feature.

Your name should not include adjectives or adverbs or any other words that require a value judgment. Community discussion has conclusively resolved that categories like "allies of the Third Doctor" or "enemies of Sarah Jane Smith" require too much of a value judgement, and are disallowed. Equally, things like Bad episodes of Doctor Who, or Torchwood comedic episodes are far too subjective to make for good category names.

Details

• Most category names should be plural: Cybermen, Quark stories, Religious orders. Top-level categories — that is, those which principally house other categories, rather than individual pages — should usually be singular: Science, Philosophy, Chemistry. Note that this means that we sometimes have very similar category names that mean different things. Sport is a top-level category that houses all the other sporting categories. Sports houses individual sports.
• Be as brief as possible, with the understanding that brevity is not always possible. Both dogs and people who appeared in documentaries about classic Doctor Who that weren't part of the production team are as short as they can be, while still being accurate.