How to Join

Are you interested in the Categorization Project?

• Project Leaders: Team support fromSteve Harris
• Answer ourG2G welcome post to join the Categorization project and get a badge.
• AddCategorization toyour followed tags.
• We useGoogle Groups for communication.

• After answering ourg2g post and joining ourGoogle group and one of ourteams, you will be awarded with the Categorization project badge by one of the leaders.
• The only requirements for membership in the Categorization Project are that youjoin a team and work with your Team Leader, and that yourespond to the six monthly check-in from the Project Leaders (or Volunteer Coordinators). We recognize that people lead busy lives and are grateful for any and all contributions you make towards the project's goals.
• Look at ourTo-Do section to see what discussions are currently happening, what categories can use your help being moved or built, and other areas in which you can help.Maintenance Categories always need work.

For a full list of all project members, seethe badge report.

Goals

The Categorization Project is a functional project that exists to bring together WikiTreers who want to help manage thecategory hierarchy and encourage the use ofcategorization throughteams that are aligned with the project's goals:

• Category maintenance:
  • AssistingProjects with correcting errors in category names and structures;
  • Addingwanted categories to the hierarchy;
  • Addinguncategorized categories to the hierarchy; and
  • CorrectingDBE Categories Suggestions.
• Category planning, oversight and collaboration:
  • Facilitating category oversight and collaboration betweenProjects and interested Wikitree users; and
  • Ensuring that the whole category structure from top to bottom is coherent, easily accessible, and that guidelines are published, documented, updated and accessible.

Start here to learn more about Categorization!

Categorization Help Links

• If you're not sure what categories are or why to use them, seeHelp:Categorization.
• It is very important — and often very difficult! — to follow the naming conventions that have been established by the community.Help:Category Names provides a style guide on naming conventions for categories, as well as the procedures fordeveloping and publishing category name rules.
• Help:Category Creation and Removal contains instructions on how to create, rename, merge and remove categories.
• To learn how to create your own personal category structure, seeHelp:Personal_Categories.
• For an informative series of lessons on categories and the use of our category hierarchy, see theCategory School Page, run by our resident expertNatalie Trott.
• If you would like to use a category but can't find it bysearching orbrowsing ask in G2G using the '"categorization" tag to alert the members of the Categorization Project about it.

Other Useful Pages and Links

• Category:Categories: Top-level categories.
• Location Fields: Style guide on naming locations, including basic principles that apply to geographic categories.
• Personal Categories
• Most Linked Categories
• Maintenance Categories: There are multiple subcategories here for categories.
• History_of_the_Categorization_Project
• DBE Categories Suggestions

Frequently Asked Questions

• Should project and category pages adhere to style guidelines? Yes! Advanced styling is troublesome for all the reasons listed atHelp:HTML and Inline CSS. If it's allowed on categories and high-level projects, people will assume that it's OK or even proper. Then it will end up on lots of categories and project pages. The basic style rule on HTML and inline CSS is:It's not recommended unless it's specifically recommended. For a quick reference on which tags are recommended, seeHelp:Recommended Tags.
• Should there be content on Category pages? Yes; however, the only content that should be on the category page is a brief description (no more than a paragraph or two) on the intent and purpose of the category. For example, if a category groups people buried in a particular cemetery, you would add a brief description of the cemetery, such as where it is located, to the category page. Any other general information about the cemetery, including the history, detailed cemetery information and notable interments, should go on a free-space profile and the category page should link to it.