Help:Categories

A category is a group of pages with a similar theme, such as characters, books, or places. You can add a category link to any page, and it will automatically be listed on a category page with other similarly linked pages. Categories perform as navigational tools both in the article header and at the bottom of the page.



Categories help organize the community and make it easier for readers to find related content. They also allow you to put together a mobile main page for visitors on phones or tablets. Ideally, every wiki page should be in at least one category. A category page itself can be in another category. So, for example, a wiki might have a category called "Characters" with sub-categories for "Minor characters", "Dead characters", and "Main characters".

At the bottom of each page, there is a set of "Related Pages" images to help guide visitors from one page to another. These are chosen based on category tags on each page. The more specific the category tags are, the better these suggestions will be.

How to add a page to a category
A page appears in a category when a category link is added to that individual page. You cannot add pages to a category from the category's listing page.

From the page
At the bottom of the page where categories are listed, you are presented with the ability to add a category without hitting the edit button.
 * Click on the "Add category" button, and start typing in a category name.
 * You can use an already established category (suggestions will appear as you type) or add a new one.
 * Once you are done, hit save and the category will appear on the article.

If you would prefer not to use this ability, you can disable it by going to your personal preferences. Once there, click on the editing tab, check the box next to "Disable Category module" and then save your preferences.

While editing
On the right hand side of the editor is a Categories module. Click to expand this and you will see a list of the categories already present.
 * To add a category, type the category name in the input area above the existing categories. As you type, you will see suggestions appear.
 * Click the pencil next to each category to edit that category's settings.
 * Click the trash can to remove the category.

While in source mode, you can add the category name as a link to the bottom of the page itself (e.g. ), or use the category module. Existing categories will not appear at the bottom of the page in source mode, so you must check the category module at the right for existing categories.

Sort parameters

 * When clicking the edit icon next to category names, you can define a "sortkey" for that category. This sortkey defines at what point the article appears in a category page's listings, e.g., sort a first last name page under last name.
 * If an article example is the introduction for category example, a blank (space) or  *  (asterisk) sortkey puts it near the begin of the category.
 * If the article is in many categories, you can add  in the article while editing in source mode to sort the article in all the categories the same way. This will save you from having to edit each category's parameters individually.

How to create category pages
Adding a category to a page—say, "Transylvanian vampires"—begins the process of creating a category, but it doesn't create the page called "Category:Transylvanian vampires". You can view the category by clicking the category name at the bottom of the regular page.

If you wish to add text or other categories to the category page itself (such as an explanation of the types of pages included), then go to the category page and click the "Create" button to create it. Edit it as you would a normal wiki page, and click "Publish". Your text will appear at the top of the page, followed by the list of pages in that category.

How to delete category pages
To delete a category, first remove the category tag from all pages in the category as described above.

An admin can then delete any content on the category page itself by using the "Delete" option in the Edit menu dropdown, the same way a regular page is deleted.

A category page that has not been created will display the "Create" button in the top right corner of the page. In this case, the category listing can be deleted simply by removing it from all pages it was on. The category will then no longer appear in the list of categories (Special:Categories) and is fully deleted.

Category presentation

 * Category Gallery
 * By default, all categories on FANDOM have a Category Gallery at the top of the category page itself. This shows a small image and link for each of the 8 most popular pages in that category. The image shown is usually the first image on each page.
 * If a page has no suitable graphics, then the first few lines of text will appear. Suitable images must be:
 * Larger than 130px by 115px
 * Used ten or fewer times on the wiki in content namespaces
 * Not an SVG


 * If you have a community where this display does not work well, you can add the magic word  to the top of the page to remove it. You can also request that it be disabled on all pages through Special:Contact.


 *  Category Exhibition
 * This is an optional display method for category pages. It can be turned on in your account preferences.
 * In the exhibition image mode, every page in the category is displayed as an image with a link. Images can be displayed in alphabetical or most visited order.
 * A small toggle option on the upper right of the page allows users to choose a "list" (lines) or image (squares) view.
 * In list mode, the category gallery appears above an alphabetical listing of all pages in the category.

Where to go next

 * Learn how to create Templates
 * Learn how to create Infoboxes
 * Learn how to create Tables
 * Ask other users on the Support Forums

Further help and feedback
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