Thread:15bowdenc/@comment-104549-20190505230552

I've noticed some issues with the categories you've added to your pages. This is a huge post, but only because it's a little complicated and I want to be 100% clear rather than leaving anything to guesswork. Here's the Categorization Policy; you may want to reference it as we go along.

Some of your categories have been what we call "duplicative". Duplicative categories require a bit of explanation. When two categories apply to a character, and one is more specific than the other (that is to say, one is a sub-category of the other), you add the more specific one and don't add the less specific. As a related policy, if multiple "parallel" categories apply (i.e. neither is a sub-category of the other), but one is chronologically later than and superseded the others, only the latest applies. Since that's kind of abstract, here's a concrete example: take Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was a Jedi, and during his life, he was a Jedi Initiate, Jedi Padawan, Jedi Knight, and Jedi Master; he was also a Jedi Guardian and a Jedi Council member, among other things. You would not add "Jedi" because "Initiates", "Padawans", "Knights", and "Masters" are all sub-categories of Jedi ranks, which is itself a sub-category of "Jedi". Those four ranks are parallel categories, but each came after and superseded the previous one (i.e. when he became a Padawan he stopped being an Initiate, when he became a Knight he stopped being a Padawan, etc.), so only "Jedi Masters" applies. "Jedi Guardians" and "Jedi Council members", however, can be added along with "Jedi Masters", because none of them are sub-categories of the others, and none of them superseded another. When it concerns fallen Jedi (or redeemed dark siders), the "later and superseding" policy also applies; Anakin Skywalker would get Redeemed Jedi (and Former Sith Lords), not Sith Lords.

Still too abstract, you say? Okay, let's take a personal example: your character Seemla Wib. The categories you had were Characters, Males, Neimoidians, Articles by 15bowdenc, Trade Federation members, Galactic Republic Senators, and Senators. Here's the breakdown:
 * Characters has to go because many of the below categories are more specific. As a general note, "Characters" should almost never be an article category; it should really only exist as a parent category for the sub-categories (if nothing else, most characters are either Male or Female).  I can't in good conscience say never, but give some serious thought to adding that one before you pull the trigger.
 * Males, Neimoidians, Articles by 15bowdenc, and Trade Federation members all stay.
 * Galactic Republic Senators stays, but as a result...
 * Senators goes, because "Galactic Republic Senators" is a more specific subcategory.

A word about non-existent categories. You've thus far managed to avoid this peril from what I've seen (good job!), but it often trips up new users. Nonexistent categories are straightforward; they don't exist on this Wikia (simply typing words into the category space as you're posting or editing an article doesn't create a category). A full list of all SWFanon's many, many categories may be found here. Per the Categorization Policy, "[o]nly pre-established in-universe categories (or out-of-universe categories for articles about fan fiction) and specially created categories to fit a certain fan series constitute legitimate categories". In other words, you can create categories to fit your fan fiction (see, e.g., a creation of mine here), but otherwise, the only valid categories (aside from user-based categories, e.g. Articles by Sakaros) are pre-established ones for the Star Wars universe (usually, though not always, guided by Wookieepedia). It is extremely unlikely that a category we need doesn't already exist; always check first, and make sure it doesn't exist under another name (e.g. Slicers is a category, and includes the concept of "Hackers", which is not). If a category doesn't exist and you think we need it, ask yourself to how many characters it applies; there should never be a "category of one". If you think we need it and it applies to at least a handful of characters and it's a broadly applicable category (not one unique to your creations), feel free to ask Sav, Sebolto, or me for guidance.

That is a wall of text and a huge amount of information, so if you have any questions or need clarification (about anything here or anything in the Categorization Policy), please reply below and I'll do my best to clear it up. 