Categories are broad categorizations a character or article can fit into. Unlike "tags," very specific keywords that may be associated with an article, categories are the sort of broad "buckets" into which you could sort an article, depending the standard of comparison you were using.

Category markup

Categories are created by placing a special non-rendering link in an article, example:

[[Category:Autobots]]

...places the article inCategory:Autobots. A link to this category will appear at the very bottom of the article.

By convention, category links are placed at the very bottom of an article, and sorted into alphabetical order so they can be easily found and edited. (TheStarscream (G1) article currently^(Feb-24-10) has 31 categories, so organization is important.)

Technical notes

Category order

Categories are listed at the bottom of article in the order which they appear in the article. This means that if a template such as {{picsneeded}} (which includes a category) is used,Category:Articles in need of images will be listed first.

While this can screw up the alphabetical order of the category list, on-balance it is considered a good thing, since it communicates that this category 'comes from' higher up in the article (such as tracking down a spoiler template in a long article.)

Except those which are included as part of a template, categories shouldalways be placed at the bottom of an article.

Overriding default sorting

Sunstreaker is listed under "S," on his category page—-a perfectly rational arrangement. However,Simon Furman wouldalso be listed under S, which isbad.

You can override the sort-order of an article within a category by adding a pipe (|) character, followed by the way you'd prefer it to list!

[[Category:Writers|Furman, Simon]]

The article "Simon Furman" is now listed under the F's!

Another seldom-seem application of this trick comes up with theDreamwave Armada comic, which neglected to give titles to its stories, whose articles are thereforeDreamwave Armada issue 1,Dreamwave Armada issue 2, etc. In order to prevent these articles from listing as 1, 10, 11, 12, 13, 2... they have a sort-order declared.

[[Category:Dreamwave Armada issues|01]]

Lastly, forcing an article to appear at the very top of a category (the franchise/toyline/fiction/etc. pages for a franchise category, for instance), can be achieved by placing an empty space:

[[Category:Generation 1| ]]

Adding these suffixes can be a pain, especially if there are alot of categories, so you can use the magic word "DEFAULTSORT," which will override the sorting for all categories in the article that lack a suffix.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Furman, Simon}}

Linking to categories

To create an in-article link to a category instead of placing the articlein that category, add a colon (:) at the beginning of the link.

[[:Category: Autobots]]

New categories

Not-previously-existing categories can be created simply by linking to them. Such links will be red (indicating the category does not exist,) but the link will still show a list of all articles that have this category. To make the link blue rather than red, you must create anarticle for that category. Some articles are simply a blank page- those whose use or meaning is obvious. Other times a short statement clarifying the purpose, reasoning or usage of that category is appropriate.

When creating a new category, it is generally better to create a link to the category and leave it red, then begin a discussion on an article's talk page, proposing that category before you create an article for it to poll other users reactions. Red-link categories are generally considered 'less official' than those with articles, and a 'probationary period' of several days or weeks allows other users a fair chance to notice the link and voice objections to the category if they have any.

This is to prevent category overlap, or the proliferation of frivolous categories. For example, after considerable debate a consensus was reached that team members such as theThrottlebots did not require a "Category: Throttlebots" for themselves.

Categories within categories

New Categories should, themselves, be placed within other categories. (Except for a handful ofTop-level categories.) A parent category should be the 'finest' or smallest category for which is it true and accurate to sort all members into that category. For example; while it may at first be tempting to put The category "Junkions" within the category "Autobots," there has been asingle Junkion who was also Decepticon, so the category Junkion would instead have to go under "Factions," just like Autobots.

As with anything, when in doubt try to find a similar article or category and follow the exampleit sets, and you shall not go far wrong!

Bad categories

Sometimes you make a category that sounds like a good idea at the time, but somewhere along the way something just goeswrong. You tag a dozen articles with it, and suddenly you've got a bunch of users on your talkpage scolding you. Nobody likes it when this happens. You're not happy, we're not happy, and the saddest thing is it'savoidable. Just a few simple considerations can help your thought process on whether you're creating a category that is useful.

Is this something people using the wiki will be looking for?

The main purpose of categories is to put all the articles for a given concept in one place, for ease of finding them. As a result, categories should generally be something that you think your fellow users would like a simple way of hunting down.

Does this category overlap with an existing one?

Often categories are a subset of existing ones. That's why subcategories exist. However sometimes you can create a category that overlapscompletely with another. If all or nearly all members of one category are also members of the category you want to create, it's probably not needed. A subcategory of "Transmetals" that is "Transmetals with a third mode" would be largely redundant, for example.

Can the category be described easily in just a few words?

The best categories are the ones that can be summed up in the fewest words. One word is ideal, or if one won't suffice two or three are preferred over more. The more words that are needed to name the category, the more likely it is that you're describing something overly specific that probably wouldn't make a good category. It's a good litmus test to see if the category you're creating is going to be a useful one.

Subgroup =/= Category

This is mostly an issue with the many many subgroups found withinGeneration 1, though it ties in with the above "overly specific" somewhat. It was decided long ago that just because some characters belong to named subgroups, that it was unnecessary to create categories for every last one of them, especially considering how small some of those subgroups are.

While there are no set "rules" as to how many characters should fall under a category to justify its creation, there are some "common sense" guidelines. There is currently no category for theThrottlebots, as the only "Throttlebots" (so far) are six guys from a single era. Thereis aProtectobots category, as at the time of the Category's creation, there weretwo different set of Protectobots, a grand total of eleven individuals with two combined modes (plus a page for each team as a whole), from different areas of the brand to boot. This is about the "bottom end" of what makes an acceptable character-based subgroup. (Since then, multiple other franchises have gained their own Protectobots.) "Dinobots" is a definite must-have category, as there are so farseven (possiblyeight) different groups that go by that name with almost no overlap in membership.

So, what's the big deal, anyway?

One might be tempted to wonder why some categories are "bad." After all, you've already done the work, right, why not let it stand? The problem with a proliferation of categories is that categories are part of the underlying infrastructure of the site. Every time you add a category, you're making the entire site just that much more complicated to maintain. Let's take a fake example so as not to offend anyone - characters whose names have no vowels. You find seven examples, tag them all, and sit back and bask in a job well done. Sure, no one may ever want to look this up, and yea, it's a 6 word category, but what's done is done, right?

Wrong. Having an incomplete category is worse than having no category at all. The very act of making the category is burdening your future editors to know that it exists, and be vigilant for future instances of that category. So when Furman's new miniseries comes out featuring an alien overlord named T'Xrtv, and you're off doing something else, that category is now conveying incorrect information.

You are also adding to the noise around categories. It's not uncommon for popular characters like Unicron or BW Megatron to have well over 20 categories. Adding one more sapling to that grove makes it that much harder to separate the trees from the forest.

This wiki has reached the point where virtually ANY new category should be suspect. It's possible that you've come up with a way of looking at things that is both obviously useful to our readers and easy to maintain, but it's more likely that your category will add to the noise and make the truly useful things harder to find. When in doubt, err on the side of caution and don't do it. Even if you're 90% sure, start up a talk page and get some outside opinions. You'll save us and you time in the long run if you do.