Misplaced Pages

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Edgarde (talk | contribs) at 17:48, 22 July 2007 (→Context: rephrase example). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The following is a proposed Misplaced Pages policy, guideline, or process. The proposal may still be in development, under discussion, or in the process of gathering consensus for adoption.

Shortcut ]

This page in a nutshell: Stay on topic!

This guideline pertains to the relevance of content within articles. For guidelines regarding the relevance of articles or subjects as a whole, see Misplaced Pages:Notability. For guidance on the relevance of links to outside websites, see Misplaced Pages:External links. For guidance on certain types of content in general, see Misplaced Pages:What Misplaced Pages is not.

On Misplaced Pages, relevance is simply whether a fact is in the right article. This is determined by weighing the importance of the fact within the article scope, against article length constraints. There are no general rules for establishing relevance in all cases, so often it is determined by consensus on what is likely to be useful to readers.

Scope

The article title usually defines a scope for the article's content. In other words, facts added to an article should be about the subject of the article.

The lead paragraphs may further specify the subject scope through a concise description. Avoid making an explicit statement of scope, unless it is needed as part of a disambiguation.

Information added to articles on very general subjects should address the entire subject, rather than meandering into related topics for which more specific articles exist (or should exist). Articles on very specific subjects will provide room for far greater detail.

Example

An article entitled Internet should be about the global computer network, not about networking, software, or computers in general. The influence of faster personal computers on the Internet may be relevant this article; speed comparisons of different makes of personal computer are not relevant.

Establishing relevance

Facts that go into an article must provide definition, detail or context. Definition is the most essential to the article, context the most external. But all three may be relevant.

Definition

The moon is the natural satellite that orbits the Earth. There is only one.

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), what it is notable for, and how it is distinguished from similar, related subjects. Such facts should be placed in the lead section, or in the first lines of the section to which they are most relevant.

Avoid dictionary-style definitions

Misplaced Pages is not a dictionary, so dictionary-style definitions including etymologies or alternative meanings for the subject title are usually not appropriate, and should be moved to Wiktionary. In rare exceptions, the subject of the article will be a word itself, such as Cf. or Fuck. Otherwise, Misplaced Pages articles are about the subject of the article, not a parsing of the word or phrase used in the article's title.

Detail

The moon's equatorial circumference is 10,921 km.

Every subject may have an potentially unlimited number of details. Generally what details are important enough to include will be determined by a consensus of the article's editors, favoring information the articles' anticipated readers might want.

Specific guidelines may be provided by a WikiProject whose scope includes the article in question.

Biographical details

Biographical subjects have special limitations. Some people are only notable for their connection to notable events. Since such persons are not public figures, details of their personal lives should be excluded. This overrides other rules on relevance — see Misplaced Pages:Biographies of living persons for policy on articles about living individuals.

Context

Like any rotating celestial body, the moon's diameter is wider at its equator than through its poles, though only by less than a kilometer since the moon is fairly solid and rotating slowly. This type of rotational distortion is more extreme in rapidly spinning bodies, and can be seen clearly in images of the planet Saturn, a rapidly spinning gas giant whose equatorial diameter is roughly 10 percent wider than the polar diameter.

Context, while not intrinsic to the subject, may still provide an enhanced understanding of the subject. Context has a higher potential for irrelevance than either definition or details, and can usually be outsourced by linking the relevant article.

Context information is worth including if it does one of the following:

• explains how the subject came to public attention (i.e., made it notable).
• changes the subject's form or history (in particular, any of its fundamental or distinguishing traits).
• changes how the public perceives the subject.

The effect that a fact has had on the subject should be evident in the article.

Example

In a mature article on the moon, the above example provides excessive, irrelevant context that does not merit repetition in articles for every celestial body. The relevant information might be simply this:

Rotational distortion flattens the moon by less than a kilometer.

... where context is outsourced to the article Rotational distortion, from which the reader can find details if they so choose.

Connections between subjects

In many cases, a fact that connects two subjects may be important to one of the subjects, but not the other.

Non-notable mentions of a well known subject do not merit inclusion in that subject's article simply for the mention. This is commonly the case with creative works that make references to other subjects; see Misplaced Pages:"In popular culture" articles for details.

Keep articles focused

Unlike a paper encyclopedia, Misplaced Pages has unlimited capacity, but 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 is miserable to read, and does little to inform the reader about the subject.

Article length contraints

Where a large amount of important material can be written on a subject, the bar for inclusion is raised for the article.

Example

The Rwandan genocide is relevant to History of Africa, an enormous topic. Article length contraints limit the genocide to a single concise sentence in History of Africa. However, it is accorded several paragraphs in History of Rwanda, and a comprehensive treatment under Rwandan genocide. In turn, several topics under Rwandan genocide have their own detailed articles.

Summary style

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 spin it off into its own article.

In this situation, the main article provides a concise overview of the subject. Where it touches on related topics or subtopics, details not directly relevant to the overall topic are expanded upon in linked articles.

See also

• Misplaced Pages:Handling trivia
• Misplaced Pages:Only make links that are relevant to the context
• Misplaced Pages:Coatrack

• Misplaced Pages proposals
• Misplaced Pages content guidelines