Misplaced Pages

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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.

Shortcuts WP:REL WP:ROC

This page in a nutshell: Stay on topic!

This guideline addresses the relevance of content within individual articles. For guidance on the encyclopedic suitability of subjects or articles as a whole, refer to Misplaced Pages:Notability. For the suitability of certain types of content, see Misplaced Pages:What Misplaced Pages is not. For the relevance of links to outside websites, see Misplaced Pages:External links.

Keep articles focused

Unlike a paper encyclopedia, Misplaced Pages has an effectively unlimited capacity. This should not lead to disorganization. Misplaced Pages articles should be of finite size and stay focused on a small number of topics. Articles that are dense with information only tenuously connected to their subjects do little to inform readers about those subjects.

Editors are engaged in the process of examining the material to hand, and the new material that they want to include, and examining the information available on a topic from reliable sources, and selecting what is important enough to include in the article. It is an on-going process, as it is unlikely that the initial editors will have been able to assemble all the relevant material on a topic by themselves. Each editor who comes along, adding information to an article, is making it easier for readers and editors alike to judge if the article is presenting a neutral and complete view of a topic, once those reliable sources are confirmed, and the material has been incorporated into the article, providing context with each piece of information. The proper context for an important piece of information may be in a different article, and new articles may be created when enough information has accumulated, and the original article is growing too long.

Use summary style

Misplaced Pages articles should be written in summary style, providing an overview of their subject. This overview may touch upon several related topics or subtopics, but any details not immediately 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 spin it off into a sub-article.

Article scope

Articles on very general subjects should serve as an introduction to the entire subject, and avoid going into detail on topics for which more specific articles exist. Articles on very specific subjects can treat their subject in depth.

The topics an article covers should match the article's title. An article titled Internet should be about the global computer network, not about networking, software, or computers in general. The way in which those subjects relate to the Internet should be described, but all other information about them should be put in networking, software, and computers, respectively. When several concepts share the same name, such as "jet", disambiguation pages or templates should be used.

Content

All of Misplaced Pages's content must be verifiable. The relevance of information is best demonstrated by the provision of reliable sources, and of suitable context.

The bulk of Misplaced Pages's content consists of:

• Basic description - which explains what the subject is, what it does (or did), and what it is notable for. This type of information should be put in the article lead, or in the first lines of the section to which it is most relevant.
• Factors that have influenced subject's form, role, history, public perception, or other noteworthy traits. The effects of these factors on the subject should be plainly apparent; if they are not, additional context is needed. Groups of disparate facts lack such context, and should be avoided.

More specific guidance on content may be provided by a WikiProject whose scope includes the article in question.

Interactions between subjects

A fact that connects two subjects may be appropriate for mention in the article of one, but not the other. This is often the case with creative works: what is important within the creative work may not exert a measurable influence on the other subject.

For instance, comedian Chevy Chase's depictions of U.S. President Gerald Ford enforced the public perception of Ford's clumsiness and may merit mention in the articles of both Chevy Chase and Gerald Ford. However, a later depiction of Ford as one of The X Presidents had little effect on him and probably has no place in the article concerning the former president.

Biographical details

For more information, see Misplaced Pages:Biographies of living persons

There are particular considerations to keep in mind concerning Biographical subjects. Some people are only famous for their connection to notable events, without having any fame beyond those events. As such, they are not public figures, and details of their personal lives are not relevant to what has made them of encyclopedic interest. See Misplaced Pages:Avoiding harm (pseudo-biographies) for more details.

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