On 12/12/06, Marc Riddell michaeldavid86@comcast.net wrote:
Here are some examples, my main argument and a proposal:
When I began contributing to Wikipedia, there was a Category ³Suicides². If a person¹s article stated they committed suicide, the category, ³Suicides² would be included. If this person had committed suicide by using a firearm, the Category, ³Suicides by firearm² would be also be included. In this case the Category, ³Deaths by firearm² would also be included. In this way, the researcher can call up, individually, all persons in the encyclopedia who had committed suicide. Then, if they chose, they could also call up separate lists of those who committed suicide by firearm, and a separate list of all persons who died by firearm. This was wonderful for the researcher.
Then, I began finding many of my edits being reverting by persons who stated that only one of these Categories should be included in an article; that both a main category and a subcategory should not be in the same article. More and more of these articles were being diluted by this argument.
I have been in constant conflict with some who state that it is not only redundant to enter a single Article into both Categories; it is actually against Wikipedia policy. At present, if I enter John Doe into the ŒSuicides by firearm¹ Category only, he does not appear in the ŒDeaths by firearm¹ Category list. Consequently, if I want to call up all persons in the encyclopedia who have died by firearm, I must call up all the subcategory lists and collate them myself.
Another example: Jane Doe dies from breast cancer. Category: ³Deaths from breast cancer² is added to her Category box, but I do not include the Category: ³Cancer deaths². Then, when I click on the ŒCategory: Deaths from breast cancer¹, her name is included in this list. But, if I click on the ŒCategory: Cancer deaths¹ she is not included.
What I am wanting by adding her name to both Categories is a separate list of ALL persons who died from breast cancer, and a separate list of ALL persons who died from cancer. What is the problem with including the same Article in both a Main Category and a Subcategory?
It pretty much defeats the purpose of having subcategories.
By putting an article into a subcategory, you are effectively putting it into the parent category.
Maybe we should figure out a way to make that more obvious.