WikiQueer:Portal/Categorizing

This page gives guidelines for the proper categorization of portals under Category:Portals and its subcategories.

Top level portal categories
No new top-level portal categories should be created without broadly-achieved consensus, e.g. as the result of a thorough Village pump discussion.

Categories of portals
When a Category:Portals subcategory (or a subsubcategory thereof, etc.) accumulates a significant number of portals, they should be, where reasonable, sorted into subcategories of portals. This keeps the latter easier to read, navigate and maintain, and such subcategorization also makes it easier to find topical portals and to see how they may related to other portals.

For a subcategory of portals, use as simple and clear a name as possible, and make it plural.

Do not create a subcategory of portals for a topic area with fewer than two portals (or topical portal categories, see below) to be added to it, unless there is a clear convention to do so (e.g. a category for each major subnational division of a country's portal category that already has several such divisions).

Topical portal categories
For simple portals consisting of a page with sections for editing, no category is needed. Portals that consist of a "shell" portal page that transcludes content in from separate subpages can be given its own category to help portal editors manage the components that come together to form the portal. Such a category is not mandatory, but recommended.

Naming conventions
A category for a portal page and its subpages should generally be named in the form, where the portal itself is named. Do not use the format, as this is easily confused with.

Proper categorization
For any portal, the portal page (if it does not have its own category) or the portal category should always be categorized under a subcategory of Category:Portals, and usually under a subsubcategory of that subcategory, often even deeper. Do not simply add a new portal or portal category to Category:Portals unless you cannot figure out where to put it more specifically (other editors at WikiProject Portals can help you).

For a portal with its own category, put the portal in that category only, and put the category in other categories. Definitely do not put both the portal page itself and its category into the same containing portal or article category! This leads to a bloated, messy category of portals.

Portals for geographic locations
The top category for portals tied to geographic locations is Category:Geography portals. This category is very hierarchically organized. There are several top-level categories for broadly defined regions of geographic portal organization.

Included in this geographic portal hierarchy are more specific portal types that are within - sometimes quite deep within - the top-level geographic portal categories (which are not all arranged the same):


 * Countries, states/provinces/regions, cities and towns
 * Places of interest (including universities, landmarks, tourism destinations, cathedrals, etc.)
 * Government agencies
 * Various others.

The structure will generally be at least similar to that of the corresponding non-portal geographical categories.

Portals under construction
Portals that are not complete and ready for casual public browsing are categorized in Category:Portals under construction. These portals should not also be included in the Portals category or any of its subcategories.

Portals needing attention
Portals that are complete, but which still (or, due to decline in maintenance, suddenly) need some attention should be placed in the appropriate Category:Portals subcategory and into Category:Portals needing attention, unless they have fallen into such a state of disrepair that they are of little if any use to readers, in which case they should not be in either location, but be relegated back to Category:Portals under construction.