Rethinking Notables Categories

Profile manager: Paul Schmehl [send private message]

Project Goal

The goal of this project is to understand the categorization structure for Notables and determine what, if any, changes need to be made.

Right now this project just has one member, me. I am Paul Schmehl.

Here are some of the tasks that I think need to be done. I'll be working on them, and could use your help.

• Define the existing structure
• Suggest changes/improvements/deletions
• Draft a formal proposal

Will you join me? Please post a comment here on this page, in G2G using the project tag, or send me a private message. Thanks!

Proposal

Proposal. As discussed in the G2G thread found here: https://www.wikitree.com/g2g/1391359/notable-categories-religion I think Notable Categories should not be duplications of existing categories with one exception; locations. In other words, Notable subcategories should be categorized such that, if a profile qualifies for one, that profile is ipso facto a Notable. Or, to put it another way, if a profile does not fit into a Notable category, that profile is not Notable.

So, what I'm suggesting is that Notables be categorized in two ways; field of endeavor (claim to fame, if you will) and geopolitical location. The former because that is what qualifies them for notability. The latter is because there is member interest in being able to find all notables from a specific geopolitical area. E.g. all South African notables, all German notables, all Nevada notables, etc., etc.

Given that proposal, we need to examine the existing framework to see how well it aligns.

Existing Structure

Top Level - Notables - automatically added when the sticker is added to a profile This category is needed for ease of management of notable profiles by Notable Project members. Having to wade through multiple categories to manage notables would be far too burdensome for the limited number of project members.

Subcategories (31) User selected in one of two ways; either as a parameter to the sticker E.g { { Notables Sticker|North Carolina, Notables } } or as a category added to the top of a profile (just as other categories are added.)

So, for example, '[ [ Category:US Senators From Idaho ] ], would be added the same way that cemetery and locations are added (although I would propose that there just be a US Senators and US Representatives category, and the location category [ [ Category: Idaho, Notables ] ] be used for the location.

A Activists and Reformers (18, 451, 1) African-American Notables (1, 1919, 13) Aristocracy and Nobility (26, 1, 1) Aristocratie et Noblesse (1, 0, 0) B Beauty Pageant Winners (34, 3, 0) Business Leaders (3, 29, 1) C Catholic Popes (0, 209, 4) E English Heritage Blue Plaque (0, 14, 1) F Famous People (15, 16, 2) G Google Doodles (0, 61, 0) H Harvey Prize (0, 1, 0) M Martyrs (1, 5, 1) Medical Pioneers (0, 45, 0) Mononymous Notables (0, 41, 0) N Notable Journalists (0, 23, 1) Notable Wiccans (0, 1, 0) Notables Diversity Project (0, 19, 1) O Olympic Medalists (3, 0, 0) P Philanthropists (5, 124, 0) Politicians (22, 10, 0) Prestigious Awards (52, 0, 0) Q Quaker Notables (3, 113, 0) R Regions, Notables (7, 0, 0) Religious Notables (10, 2, 0) Royal Society of Chemistry Blue Plaque (0, 1, 1) S Salonnières (0, 8, 0) Socialites (1, 10, 0) Supercentenarians (0, 186, 0) T This Day In History (13, 0, 0) W Witch Trials (8, 8, 8)

Suggested changes

• Structure of the sticker
  • Currently the sticker allows freeform parameters. If the category doesn't exist, it will be created
    • This can lead to clutter as members, unrestrained by any guidelines, create redundant or unnecessary categories
    • It can also lead to confusion as Notables in the same field are classified differently
  • A fixed option field is needed for the sticker. My proposal is to only allow geopolitical location information. And to require that the option field be used (in other words, generate an error if it is not used)
    • This has two benefits
      • Reduces confusion and errors
      • Groups all Notables in a geopolitical area which seems to be of interest to some members and projects that focus on such areas
• Structure of the Notables Subcategories
  • Current structure appears to include all the necessary accomplishment categories
  • I noticed some duplication E.g Aristocracy and Nobility (26, 1, 1) Aristocratie et Noblesse (1, 0, 0)
    • Prestigious Awards (52, 0, 0) Harvey Prize (0, 1, 0) English Heritage Blue Plaque (0, 14, 1) Royal Society of Chemistry Blue Plaque (0, 1, 1) Shouldn't Harvey Prize, English Heritage Blue Plaque and Royal Society of Chemistry Blue Plaque be subcategories of Prestigious Awards?
    • It seems we don't have a high-level category for Sports. I wonder if Athletes might be better. That should cover everything from racing to tennis, skating, fishing, sailing,
    • It appears that Quaker Notables, Wiccan Notables, and Catholic Popes could go under Religious Notables, and the subcategories under Religious Notables could be expanded to include all the world's major religions with subcategories under those for the various sects and denominations that exist