[WikiEN-l] Ratings again (was: Oour quality could rival Encyclopedia Britannica)

[Arwel Parry]

In message 
<166eccf30510250938j6f379792v716029ba87efe42c at mail.gmail.com>, Stefan 
Sittler <kiaparowits-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w at public.gmane.org> writes
>(...)
>> Remember categories? They were really controversial when they were first
>> introduced, but now they are invaluable, and it's hard to remember what
>> MediaWiki was like without them.
>>
>> -- Neil
>
>I have been wondering about this, actually. (I'm newish to WP). Could
>somebody show me how exactly categories are helpful? A link would be
>fine. It's hard for me to see the usefulness. A link or three would be
>fine, maybe an old pertinent discussion. Thanks.

I find [[Category:Football (soccer) clubs]] invaluable - I can drill 
down through the subcategories "...an/..ese football clubs" and easily 
check each July whether I need to create any new articles for teams 
appearing in the qualifying rounds of the [[UEFA Champions League]] or 
[[UEFA Cup]] for the first time since Wikipedia started. It's not 
difficult to create club stubs and hope someone more knowledgeable will 
fill in the details (come on - had you ever heard of [[FC Kairat 
Almaty]] before last summer? I hadn't, but we have a fairly informative 
article now).

-- 
Arwel Parry
http://www.cartref.demon.co.uk/