Help:Categorization

The base page of every work in the main namespace should be placed in the basic categories which are outlined below. The approach is slightly different to that used in Wikipedia as it's not just about the subject of the work, but about the type of publication, date and copyright status.

Introduction
Works (main namespace) have four basic types of Works category:
 * 1) What it is: Category:Works by type.
 * 2) * e.g. poems, essays, novels, executive orders, speeches, etc...
 * 3) What it is about: Genre (for fiction) or Subject (for non-fiction)
 * 4) * Category:Works by genre‎, ie. drama, erotica, satires, etc...
 * 5) ** See also Category:Fiction by genre, ie. Horror, Mystery, Romance, etc...
 * 6) * Category:Works by subject‎, ie. Physics, Art, History, etc...
 * 7) ** See also Category:Works by country‎, if the country is the subject, ie. United States, Australia, China, etc...
 * 8) When was it published: make sure the date is in the header, if it's known. Otherwise find the nearest fit in Category:Works by date‎.
 * 9) * This category is added by the  parameter in the header.  You only need to add it there.  You do not need to add it with the rest of the categories at the bottom of the page.
 * 10) Why it is free.  If it is in the public domain, and why, or the free licence under which it has been released. Category:Works by license
 * 11) * This category is added by the licence template. For a list of licences, see Help:Copyright tags.
 * 12) * If there is no licence and you are unsure which one should apply, add the no licence maintenance tag instead.

Other, more specialised, categories are available. These do not apply to all works and will only sometimes be appropriate. The complete tree of categories for works starts here: Category:Works. It includes the following, which are slightly more common but still rare:
 * Category:Works by award‎ (if the work won an award)
 * Category:Works by language‎ (for the original language of translations or for language as the subject)
 * Category:Works by series‎ (if the work is part of a series)

Sometime these categories may be combined into one category (eg. Category:Horror short stories). Categories may also cover the era (eg. Category:1910s plays), the country of origin (eg. Category:American poetry) and other identifiable groups.

Author pages (author namespace) have a similar set of basic Author categories
 * 1) Type of author - novelist, poet, diarist etc.
 * 2) Genre they are known for - children's authors, biographers, political authors, etc.
 * 3) Nationality
 * 4) Affiliation  and occupation if known.

When categorizing, it's also important to add a link to the work in the appropriate portal. See Help:Portals.

Works
Automatic

The following categories are automatically added by the templates if the relevant information is provided:


 * header
 * the date
 * License templates
 * the copyright status

Click on a + sign to expand any category.

Author pages
Automatic

The following categories are automatically added by the templates if the relevant information is provided:
 * author
 * the family name
 * the general period the author lived in according to the Wikisource system
 * License templates
 * the copyright status
 * the copyright status

Where Wikidata contains information about etc. then these categories are automatically added where the community has suitably configured that categorization. Requests for additional automated categories should be made at either Module talk:Author/data or at Scriptorium.
 * year of birth
 * year of death
 * nationality
 * occupation
 * affiliations

Note: Users can identify automated categorization when they have Gadget-HotCat active, as manual categories have the +/- beside their categories.

Excluded categories
Other types of categories beyond those listed above are not used on English Wikisource and may be proposed for deletion. In particular, the following types of categories may be present on other language Wikisources but are not accepted on English Wikisource and are grounds for speedy deletion:
 * Person-based categories: Categories where the defining characteristic is person-based. This includes, but is not limited to, author-based categories like "Works by author name" intended to contain works by a particular author (instead, list the works on the Author page).
 * There are exceptions for categories where the person's name signifies an administration (the administration associated with a specific US president), regnal period (the government of a given British monarch), or similar, which are not subject to speedy deletion under this criterion.
 * Work-based categories: Categories solely intended to contain pages within a particular work (instead, provide a table of contents on the work's main page).

ar:مساعدة:تصنيف he:ויקיטקסט:קטגוריות id:Bantuan:Kategorisasi ja:ヘルプ:カテゴリ pl:Wikiźródła:Kategorie ru:Викитека:Система категорий