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Tardis:Disambiguating story titles: Difference between revisions
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{{moss|Story titles always get a [[dab term]].}} | {{moss|Story titles always get a [[dab term]].}} | ||
{{sc|T:DAB STORY}} | {{sc|T:DAB STORY}} | ||
'''Stories are | '''Stories are universally [[T:DAB|disambiguated]] here.''' So if you have a story which occurs on television, it's ''automatically'' a '''(TV story)'''. If you're starting a page on a Big Finish audio, it's an '''(audio story)'''. If writing about a ''[[Doctor Who Adventures]]'' comic, it's a '''(comic story)'''. [[T:DAB TERM|And so on.]] | ||
Why do stories get the dab term and not the in-universe terms? Simple! | Why do stories get the dab term and not the in-universe terms? Simple! | ||
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:'''Out-of-universe things get dab terms; in-universe things generally don't.''' | :'''Out-of-universe things get dab terms; in-universe things generally don't.''' | ||
This means that if you have a choice between the '''city''' Castrovalva and the '''story''' Castrovalva, the city stays at [[Castrovalva]] and the story goes to [[Castrovalva (TV story)]]. This notion was one of the first things decided by our founding editors, and it has gained widespread acceptance by our community. | This means that if you have a choice between the '''city''' Castrovalva and the '''story''' Castrovalva, the city stays at [[Castrovalva]] and the story goes to [[Castrovalva (TV story)]]. This notion was one of the first things decided by our founding editors, and it has gained widespread acceptance by our community. | ||
== A literal problem == | == A literal problem == | ||
If this were {{iw|starwars|Wookieepedia}} or the {{iw|dc|DC Comics Database}} this stance would be unproblematic. We'd only have a few instances of ''literal titles'' — that is, titles that name something from the universe. | If this were {{iw|starwars|Wookieepedia}} or the {{iw|dc|DC Comics Database}} this stance would be unproblematic. We'd only have a few instances of ''literal titles'' — that is, titles that name something from the universe. | ||
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You begin to see the problem. There are ''thousands'' of story titles. How can the average editor possibly know which will require <code>(novel)</code>, <code>(comic story)</code> or <code>(audio story)</code>? The answer is that they can't. | You begin to see the problem. There are ''thousands'' of story titles. How can the average editor possibly know which will require <code>(novel)</code>, <code>(comic story)</code> or <code>(audio story)</code>? The answer is that they can't. | ||
===A simple solution=== | ===A simple solution=== | ||
For years, this | For years, we had this approach: | ||
To make matters worse, we began to | :: '''Leave the page without a dab term ''until you discover the title is literal''. | ||
In other words, it was a "Wikipedia-esque" approach of waiting to add a dab term until a conflict was discovered. But this approach meant a steep learning curve for us. New editors had to figure out on their own which stories ''required'' a dab term and which didn't. As we discovered that the title was literal, story names would be moved — and something which had for years been [[Verdigris]], would suddenly be [[Verdigris (novel)]]. After a while, the sheer number of moves required became so, frankly, ''annoying'', [[Forum:Story names should be automatically disambiguated|it was decided]] that the system was becoming overly complicated. [[Forum:Story names (modified like this)|Users questioned]] why some titles had dab terms and others didn't. | |||
To make matters worse, we began to discover that titles of classic [[serial]]s sometimes were repurposed by later stories as in universe items. The best example? ''[[The Five Doctors]]'' is actually an in-universe video game! | |||
So, rather than asking editors to memorise a changing chart of which titles got dab terms and which didn't, we simply decided to '''require ''all'' story names to have a disambiguation term attached.''' | So, rather than asking editors to memorise a changing chart of which titles got dab terms and which didn't, we simply decided to '''require ''all'' story names to have a disambiguation term attached.''' | ||
The exception to this is [[Tardis:Valid sources|invalid stories]]: it was decided that to highlight their special, "second-class citizen" status, stories which are covered as invalid sources do not get automatically dabbed. They only get a dab term only if there is a risk of confusing them with something else (whether it be another story or something in-universe). | |||
For example, [[Dr. Who and the Daleks (theatrical film)|''Dr. Who and the Daleks'' (theatrical film)]] starring [[Peter Cushing]] shares a title with [[Doctor Who and the Daleks|many, many other things]], so it does get disambiguated. But [[Search Out Space]] is hard to get confused with anything else; we don't need to specify that it's a "(TV story)". | |||
== What are the dab terms that apply to stories? == | == What are the dab terms that apply to stories? == | ||
A more complete list [[T:DAB TERM|exists elsewhere]], but the | A more complete list of dab terms (including things like documentaries) [[T:DAB TERM|exists elsewhere]], but the terms used for ''stories'' are these: | ||
* (audio story) | * (audio story) | ||
* (comic story) | * (comic story) | ||
* (game) | |||
* (novel) | * (novel) | ||
* (short story) | * (short story) | ||
* (theatrical film) | |||
* (TV story) | * (TV story) | ||
* (video game) | |||
* (webcast) | |||
* (video game) | |||
You'll note that this is more elaborate than our [[Tardis:Prefixes|citation prefixes]]: for example, [[PROSE]] covers both "(short story)" and "(novel)". | |||
