[WikiEN-l] Re: What is a category?

[Anthony DiPierro]

> The solution I've occasionally suggested is to set up some sort of system
> whereby the meaning of categorization could be encoded right into the
> category link and understood by the software. That would allow all the
> different meanings of categorization to coexist. So for example the
article
> [[Io (moon)]] could be [[Category:is-a:moons]] and
> [[Category:related-to:Earth]]. Or Category:Writers could be
> [[Category:is-a:people]]  and [[Category:related-to:writing]].

The categories already do co-exist, and there's a simple way to determine
which type a category is.  If the category title is plural, (people, moons,
planets), then the articles or subcategories form an is-a relationship.  If
the category title is singular, (writing, Earth, Environment, History), then
the articles or subcategories form a related-to relationship.

All that said, there definitely needs to be more support in the software for
is-a relationships.  For instance, there should be a way to get a list of
articles which fit into the category or any of its subcategories.  This
would be a good step toward replacing lists (though there are still other
features which need to be addressed).

Anthony