| Revision as of 08:29, 23 July 2007 editFather Goose (talk | contribs)Administrators10,523 edits reverting to Father Goose's version from 02:31, 22 July 2007, but will re-apply and attempt to refine several of edgarde's ideas over the next few days← Previous edit | Revision as of 13:31, 27 July 2007 edit undoLen Raymond (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users2,477 edits Reverting to pre-proposal version and ending support for "dancing forks" — see talkNext edit → | ||
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| {{IncGuide}} | |||
| {{Proposed|]<br />]}} | |||
| {{Nutshell|Material in an article should be directly relevant to its subject.}} | |||
| '''Relevance''' in Misplaced Pages is the umbrella term for: | |||
| This guideline pertains to the '''relevance''' of content within articles. For guidelines regarding the relevance of articles or subjects as a whole, see ]. For guidance on the relevance of links to outside websites, see ]. For guidance on certain types of content in general, see ]. | |||
| * being ''important'', see ] | |||
| * being ''interesting'', see ] | |||
| That ''importance'' and ''being interesting'' are treated as separate characteristics of Misplaced Pages articles follows from the ], which states that Misplaced Pages topics need to be ''important'' and '''also''' ''interesting''. | |||
| == Keep articles focused == | |||
| At times just because information is true and citable does not necessarily mean it meets the threshold for notability within a given article. | |||
| Although ], the depth of Misplaced Pages's coverage must be balanced against the readability of its articles. An article that is dense with information only tenuously connected to the subject does little to inform the reader about the subject. | |||
| See also other ''notability'' related topics in the list on the right. | |||
| Misplaced Pages articles should be written in ], providing an ''overview'' of their subject. This overview may touch upon several related topics or subtopics, but any details not directly relevant to the primary topic should be moved into other articles, linking to them if appropriate. If coverage of a subtopic grows to the point where it overshadows the main subject (or digresses too far from it), it may be appropriate to ] into its own article. | |||
| == The subject of an article == | |||
| The subject of an article should match the article's title. An article titled ] should be about the global computer network, not about networking, software, or computers in general. When several concepts share the same name, such as "]", ] pages or templates should be used. The ] of an article should further specify the subject through a concise description. | |||
| == Establishing relevance == | |||
| Ordinarily, material is relevant if it is simply "about the subject of the article". However, even when information is ] and specific to an article's subject, it may still fail to offer a broader understanding of the subject. | |||
| When adding material to an article, consider the following questions: | |||
| * What impact has this had on the subject of the article? | |||
| * Is it a fundamental property? | |||
| * Is it a distinguishing trait? | |||
| Try to phrase the material in a way that answers one of these questions. If needed, provide additional context; even some highly-relevant information can seem irrelevant when it is not clear how it has affected the subject. This is especially true when disparate facts are grouped together, such as in "Trivia" lists, which ]. | |||
| === Impact === | |||
| Impact can take many forms — including, but not limited to: | |||
| * Causing the subject to come to public attention (i.e., increasing its ]). | |||
| * Changing the subject's ''form'' or ''history'' (in particular, any of its ''fundamental'' or ''distinguishing'' traits). | |||
| * Changing how the public perceives the subject. | |||
| === Fundamental information === | |||
| Facts that are needed to provide a fundamental description of the subject are always relevant. These facts explain what the subject ''is'', what it ''does'' (or did), and what it is ''notable'' for. Such facts should be placed in the lead paragraphs (or in an ]), or in the first lines of the section to which they are most relevant. | |||
| === Distinguishing traits === | |||
| Some traits are not necessarily part of a basic description of the subject, but serve to distinguish it from other, similar subjects. These traits should be unusual for that type of subject, along the lines of "first", "most common", "one of the few", or similar distinctive claims. | |||
| == Connections between subjects == | |||
| In many cases, a fact that connects two subjects may be important to one of the subjects, but not the other. This is commonly the case with creative works that make use of other subjects: while the original subject often has importance to the referring work, only very famous references will register an impact on the original subject. Incidental connections between subjects — with no demonstrable impact on either — do not need to be documented anywhere on Misplaced Pages. | |||
| Sometimes, when an article contains a large section listing connections between its subject and others, an editor may choose to split that section off into a new article. The acceptance of such articles on Misplaced Pages is uncertain; see ]. | |||
| == Relevance of biographical details == | |||
| Biographical subjects warrant special attention. Some people are famous due to their connection to ] events, without having any fame beyond the event. As such, they are not ]s, and details of their personal lives may be relevant to them as ''individuals'', but not to what has made them of encyclopedic interest. The amount of ] coverage of personal details an individual has received is a good indication of what Misplaced Pages should include on that individual. ] specifies additional limitations that should be followed when writing about living indviduals. | |||
| == See also == | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| * ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 13:31, 27 July 2007
| Notability |
|---|
| General notability guideline |
| Subject-specific guidelines |
| See also |
Relevance in Misplaced Pages is the umbrella term for:
- being important, see Misplaced Pages:Importance
- being interesting, see Misplaced Pages:Trivia
That importance and being interesting are treated as separate characteristics of Misplaced Pages articles follows from the NPOV tutorial, which states that Misplaced Pages topics need to be important and also interesting.
At times just because information is true and citable does not necessarily mean it meets the threshold for notability within a given article.
See also other notability related topics in the list on the right.