Editing Chabadpedia:Categorizing redirects (section)

==When to categorize a redirect==
Normal ("hard") [[WP:Redirect|redirects]] should be placed in one of several [[Chabadpedia:Template index/Redirect pages|maintenance categories]] specifically for redirects. This should be done using categorization templates (rcats) such as {{tl|R with Wikidata item}}.

[[WP:soft redirect|Soft redirects]] usually should ''not'' be categorized by rcats. Use of {{tl|Soft redirect with Wikidata item}} and {{tl|R category with possibilities}} to tag soft-redirected categories are presently the only exceptions.

Redirects are not usually sorted to ''article'' categories; exceptions are described below.

===Categories just for redirects===
One series of templates and categories is used only for redirects. The templates place redirects into the categories. The templates also explain why the redirect exists, for example {{tl|R from merge}} means it was created by a merge or {{tl|R from alternative name}} means that the redirect is an alternative name for the main title.

These categories contain ''only'' redirects. They are helpful in keeping track of redirects and further subcategorizing them as needed. They include redirects within the main namespace and in other namespaces. They are often applied using templates, though such categories can also be created and populated directly. This categorization is intended for Chabadpedia editors, not readers.

For tables of redirect category templates, grouped both alphanumerically and by function, see [[Chabadpedia:Template index/Redirect pages]]. For the categorical list of such templates, see {{Cat|Redirect templates}}. Every redirect category is a subcategory of {{Cat|Chabadpedia redirects}}, which is ''not'' meant to contain any redirects directly and is purposely kept empty except for subcategories.

===Article categories===
In some situations, placing a redirect in an article category ''is'' acceptable and can help users browsing through categories. The following are examples of some of these situations:

====Redirects having a target that is incompatible with the category====
{{Shortcut|WP:INCOMPATIBLE}}
Alternative names should not look out of place on a category page. This is often a way to satisfy disagreements over renaming an article when more than one name seems equally valid. The alternative name(s) becomes a redirect and gets categorized the same way as its target. Another example is when a single article covers things known by multiple names, such as a person who is known in multiple fields of endeavour under different names, a merged article about three different newspapers, or a sketch comedy television show whose name exists on Chabadpedia as a redirect to the comedy troupe that created it. In such a case, consideration needs to be given to which title should be reflected in an individual category.

Placing such a category on the target article, with the alternative title in pipetext, ''does not'' accomplish the desired purpose, because pipetext in a category link only affects how a title is ordered alphabetically, ''not'' how it actually appears.
*''Examples:''
**[[A Racial Program for the Twentieth Century]] is a hoax quotation by the phony author Israel Cohen. The redirect to that article, {{no redirect|Israel Cohen (hoax)}}, belongs in [[:Category:Nonexistent people used in hoaxes]] but the article does not.
**[[Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner]] is an article that covers both the cartoon and its titular characters. Categories that refer to one of the characters, but not both—such as [[:Category:Fictional coyotes]], [[:Category:Fictional flightless birds]], and [[:Category:Fictional birds]]—are placed on the appropriate redirects.

====Alternative names for articles====
The primary function of the category system is to allow readers to browse through articles. The category system is often used like an alphabetical index. It is sometimes helpful for redirects from common alternative names to appear in the index list. Editors should consider whether alternative names should be mixed in with other names, or not. Sometimes an entirely new category is more appropriate (see ''Categorization of multiple taxonomies'' below).

====Subtopic categorization====
{{Shortcut|WP:SUBTOPICCAT}}
Some subtopics of articles have well-known names and, over time, may expand to become separate articles. Many articles cover several topics that have been combined. This can happen following a merge of several related articles. Often there are redirects pointing to these subtopics. These redirects can be categorized. In some cases, the categories for the redirects that point to the subtopics will be different than the categories for the entire article.
*''Example of similar categorization:''
**[[Butterfly vertebrae]] points to a subsection of [[Congenital vertebral anomaly]] &ndash; both appear in [[:Category:Dog health]].
*''Examples of different categorization:''
**[[Prohibition in Finland]] (appearing in [[:Category:History of Finland]], [[:Category:1932 in Finland]], and [[:Category:Prohibition by country]]) redirects to a subsection of [[Prohibition#Nordic countries|Prohibition]] (appearing in [[:Category:Prohibition]] and [[:Category:Alcohol law]]).

====Categorization of multiple taxonomies====
Some articles can be organized by more than one [[taxonomy (general)|taxonomy]]. An example of this is the organization of animal and plant articles by common names and binomial name taxonomy. This is possible by categorizing the article one way and categorizing the redirect a different way. In this case, the alternative categorization of the redirect will not appear in the article unless it is manually added.
*''Examples:''
**[[:Category:Banksia taxa by common name]] and [[:Category:Banksia taxa by scientific name]].

====Categorization of list entries====
{{Shortcut|WP:LISTRCAT}}
Some well-organized lists have redirects pointing at their subsections. In such cases, categorization of the redirects can be an alternative way of browsing entries in a long list. It can also provide an alphabetical listing for lists that are not organised alphabetically, such as lists organised in a chronological order. Redirects to sections of minor character lists should generally only be categorized within that fictional setting, and not in the wider fictional categories.
*''Examples:''
**[[:Category:EastEnders characters]] provides a single alphabetical listing of major and minor characters in the soap opera ''[[EastEnders]]''. (The redirects for minor characters ''should not'' be categorized outside the EastEnders category structure; e.g., not in subcategories of [[:Category:Fictional characters by occupation]].