Wikipedia:What's in, what's out

About this page

 * This will never be policy. It is just designed to help you and others to determine which articles are suitable to be included in Wikipedia.
 * It is not intended to be the last word, rather it is just the first place you might look to see what other people think, particularly in cases that you think are borderline.
 * In particular, it should never itself be quoted as a policy document. It is in some ways a summary of the policies, but the policies themselves, if they exist at all, are elsewhere.
 * Each entry is one user's opinion.
 * Keep all discussion confined to the talk page only.
 * There are more tips at the bottom of the page.

Aircraft

 * Aircraft types: In. DJ Clayworth
 * Aircraft type variants: In. DJ Clayworth
 * Aircraft marks: Out. DJ Clayworth
 * Aircraft marks: In as part of the appropiate organisation's article. Possible redirect for famous/important ones? Fangz
 * Aircraft marks: In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Marks: In, Individual planes: Out, unless truly legendary (Spirit of St. Louis) Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 12:41, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)

Anatomy

 * Anatomical features. In. The Anome 15:59, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * All anatomy/physiology/medicine: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 12:43, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Anatomical features. In. DaveTheRed

Bands

 * Bands that haven't released any albums or are "working on their first album": Out. Szyslak 06:43, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Bands that are known by at least a few people outside their hometown: In. Szyslak 06:43, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Bands known only to Bakersfield's burgeoning Christian emo scene: Out. Szyslak 06:43, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Bands known mostly to Bakersfield's Christian emo scene but gaining a small but growing fanbase among Fresno's Christian emo fans: In. Szyslak 06:43, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * If said Christian emo band hasn't released any albums or are "working on their first album": Out. Szyslak 06:43, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Bands with any release on a real label, including indie labels: In. MP3 or Cd-R releases don't count. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd  12:58, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Bands that are known by at least a few people outside their hometown that have any release, includinc CD-R releases: In. (N.B. Many experimental musicians are steeped in the history of the "home taping" trend and continue to release a bulk of material on CD-R.)
 * Bands with a release on a major or indie lable: In. Out otherewise DaveTheRed
 * Widely known bands: in
 * Local bands: out, unless they performed in a national event or two

Clothing

 * Types of clothing. In. Isomorphic
 * Types & brands: In. Individual items (i.e. Old Navy orange boxer shorts with fish skeletons): Out.

Companies

 * See WP:CORP instead.

Demography

 * Demography: In. --Eequor 17:34, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Demography for groups which constitute less than 1% of a population: Out. --Eequor 17:34, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Demography for groups of at least 1001 members: In. --Eequor 17:39, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Demography for groups less than 1% - in, but not on every place page. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * All demography: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:01, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)

Fiction

 * Fables: In. • Benc •
 * Mythology: In. • Benc •
 * Mythological characters (major/minor gods, heroes, etc.): In. • Benc •
 * Urban legends: In. • Benc •
 * Works of fiction (i.e., literature): In. • Benc •
 * Works of fiction (i.e., literature): Out, unless considered influential or popular by an independent source.
 * In, as long as verifiable and clearly marked as fiction. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Out unless well known, then an article for the whole series. --Improv 03:18, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Fan fiction: out. Neutrality (hopefully!) 21:20, Oct 16, 2004 (UTC)
 * Just like a band that hasn't published an album yet, an author that hasn't published a book yet should be out. 212.206.63.108 11:28, 11 Feb 2005 (UTC) Radiant
 * In, except fan-fiction or hopelessly obscure (i.e. a hand-xeroxed "book" given out to friends and family) Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:09, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Published fiction that's reasonably popular, In. Fan-fic, out. DaveTheRed
 * See WP:FICT

Fiction: Fictional characters

 * Minor fictional characters. Out. Isomorphic
 * Main characters from minor works. In. Isomorphic
 * Minor characters from major works. In. Isomorphic
 * Fictional characters. Out. Centrx
 * Fictional characters of extraordinary fame and significance of several paragraphs. In. - Centrx
 * In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Out unless known to non-fans. --Improv 03:18, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Out unless known to non-fans. Ashibaka tlk 21:47, 17 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * In if very, very famous (Luke Skywalker, Sherlock Holmes). Most characters should be summarised in the article of whatever fiction they're from. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:09, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * See WP:FICT
 * characters from myths: in.
 * Characters from (title): in and preferable to separate articles.

Food

 * Recipes: Out. VfD procedure Andrewa
 * Recipes accompanied by even a small amount of contextual information about regional variation, cultural significance: In. Dpbsmith (talk)
 * Cocktail recipes: In. VfD discussion. Andrewa
 * Culturally-significant dishes: In. Nohat, Isomorphic, Dpbsmith (talk)
 * Recipes: Out - Tεx  τ  urε  15:34, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * Recipes: In Wikibooks --Eequor 06:40, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Recipes: In. --LegCircus
 * Recipes: Out (but in wikibooks). Food articles: In. Recipes as a part of a food article: out (but linked to the wikibooks recipe). Gentgeen 01:00, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Recipes: In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Out. --Improv 03:18, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Detailed recipes must be Wikibooks. Wikipedia is not a cookbook.  Furthermore these often make me hungry.  Mandel 04:56, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * Recipes: Out DCEdwards1966 21:47, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * That's a WP:ITMAKESMEHUNGRY argument, please provide a better one. Ab e g92 contribs 21:34, 6 February 2007 (UTC)
 * Recipes with an intesting history: In - Lifefeed 18:44, Nov 29, 2004 (UTC)
 * Any staple or notable foods: in. At least one sample recipe: in - you need to knwo what's in a thing and roughly how it's prepared. More recipes if there are significiant natonal or regional variations. Any other food items if notable for their history or examples of the cuisine of a culture, country or region: in. No view on what other projects want to include in their projects: that's their business. Unpublished personal recipes (other than clearly generic): out. Jamesday 19:40, 25 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * Most of the time you can summarize this by saying "X is a dessert from Y which contains foo, bar, and baz, often with the addition of qux, quux, and quuux." Link a proper recipe (In Wikibooks or otherwise) in External Resources. Verithrax 05:57, 16 May 2006 (UTC)
 * All in, except recipes. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:11, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)

Genres

 * Genres. In. Isomorphic
 * Genres with only one member. Out. Isomorphic
 * Genres: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:12, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * genres: definitely in; otherwise, how else could we conduct book reviews via wikipedia?

Geography

 * Geographical entities (countries, states, provinces, cities/towns, rivers, mountains, hills, lakes, seas, oceans, islands): In. Abigail 14:42, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * School districts (North America). In. (Merge non-notable schools under school district or other geographical entity). Dhaluza
 * In, as Abigail said. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Countries/states/provinces/cities/nonlocal rivers/mountains/nonlocal lakes/seas/oceans/nonlocal islands): In. --Improv 03:27, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Any geographical feature that's labelled by a physical sign somewhere: In. - Seth Ilys 18:41, 15 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * All Geography: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:26, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Any and all geographic feature with at least one person with undivided professional dedication to it: in. - Ekevu (talk) 19:47, 26 December 2005 (UTC)

Geography: Cities

 * Places listed in the US Census data: In. Andrewa
 * Any places listed in US Census data or any other official national equivalent census data, such as communities in New Zealand census data: In. Icurite
 * Towns having fewer than 1111 inhabitants: Out. --Eequor 06:36, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Unless said localities have census data available: In. Icurite
 * Towns/locations of historic significance, regardless of present status: In. -- Bonalaw
 * Any and all towns or inhabited places, anywhere in the world: In. RickK 01:51, Sep 20, 2004 (UTC)
 * Minor suburbs of major cities without historical significance (see not: Loveland, OH): Out.   18:06, 2004 Sep 21 (UTC)
 * Small towns without other significance: Out. Not sure on threshold right now. --Improv 01:11, 25 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * All human settlements and geographic features that more than a stub could concievably be written about. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Any and all towns or inhabited places, anywhere in the world: In. zoney ♣ talk 18:39, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Ditto. Neutrality/talk 02:55, Dec 16, 2004 (UTC)
 * Any geographical feature, even just a road junction: In. --SPUI 05:47, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * All cities, including ruined cities: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:26, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Cities - in. Major rivers, mountains, etc - in. Other landmarks, towns and miscellaneous parts of geography - only in if standing out somehow from similar parts. Radiant! 22:41, Feb 18, 2005 (UTC)
 * small cities, towns, suburbs, unless changed the world extremely: in

Internet

 * See also: WP:WEB
 * People best known for being a poster/sysop/troll on message boards or newsgroups: Out. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 14:09, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Computer vandal groups, trolling groups, warez groups, etc: Out unless their activities result in a significant amount of mainstream media attention. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 14:09, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Concur with Starblind Radiant! 22:38, Feb 18, 2005 (UTC)

Living things

 * Species: In. WikiProject Tree of Life. Andrewa
 * Species: In - Tεx  τ  urε  15:34, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * Varieties: Out. Andrewa
 * Commercially important or famous varieties: In. Andrewa
 * Varieties. In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Species: In. --Improv 03:21, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Species and higher taxons. In Dsmdgold 16:41, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)
 * Species, subspecies, and varieties: In. Neutrality/talk 02:52, Dec 16, 2004 (UTC)
 * Any and all biology, no matter how obscure: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:13, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Obscure species: Wikispecies -- Mithent 17:19, 15 May 2005 (UTC)

Movies

 * Commercially-released movies: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:55, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Student films, home movies, "fan films", movies primarily shown to family and friends, etc: Out. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:55, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * See WP:FICT

Parts of speech

 * adjectives. Out. Isomorphic
 * adverbs. Out. Isomorphic
 * Latin phrases. Out. Isomorphic
 * Latin phrases. In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Latin phrases with >1 independent usages as a motto or other label. In. Isomorphic
 * Latin phrases with government/law/etc. denotations (de facto, habeas corpus, etc.). In. ugen64
 * Latin phrases with wide usages in law, medicine, printing, scholarship, etc. Latin phrases with >1 independent usages as a motto or other label. In. Dsmdgold 16:44, Oct 15, 2004 (UTC)
 * in-inside the Wiktionary that is!

Parts of speech: Catchphrases, neologisms, and slang

 * Catchphrases: in, if they have had a genuine run of popularity, and if the article is more than a dictdef, and if the article is reasonably good. Dpbsmith (talk) 01:52, 28 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Neologisms: In. ··gracefool |☺
 * Unstable neologisms: Out. ··gracefool |☺
 * Slang: In. • Benc •
 * Individual articles about each slang term: Out. • Benc •
 * Individual articles about particularly notable slang terms with complex etymologies: In. • Benc •
 * Slang used by a small number of people: Out. • Benc •
 * Obsolete slang: In. • Benc •
 * Offensive slang: In. • Benc •
 * Invented/vanity slang: Out. Neutrality (hopefully!) 21:21, Oct 16, 2004 (UTC)
 * Mostly out. Catchprases belong in the article of whatever they're from. Neologisms: Out.  Slang: out unless considerably more than dictionary definition in article. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd  13:23, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * "Japanimation": outer than out!

People

 * See WP:CORP instead.

People: Authors

 * Authors who have sold more than one million copies overall (all titles combined): In. Andrewa
 * Significant or controversial authors (<1 million copies): In. Rmhermen
 * Authors: In. Abigail 14:42, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * Authors that have been published by a non-vanity press: In. Meelar
 * Famous and otherwise notable people: In. Proposed Policy Andrewa
 * Non-syndicated radio disc-jockeys that haven't become a major news item due to controversy, etc. Out. Niteowlneils 19:24, 27 May 2004 (UTC)
 * Authors: In - Tεx  τ  urε  15:34, 3 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Published authors: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:24, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * authors, who are known worldwide:in
 * super-local authors:out

People: Educators

 * See WP:PROFTEST instead.

Products

 * Future products: Out. E.g. PictoChat, "a chat client for the yet to be released Nintendo Dual-Screen handheld".  Dpbsmith (talk)
 * Products that have now come out (e.g. PictoChat): In. Andre ( talk )A| 02:56, Nov 22, 2004 (UTC)
 * Particularly notable future products (e.g. Segway, Boeing 7E7): In. Plutor 13:22, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Future products that meet all four of the following criteria: In. Dpbsmith (talk) 19:48, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * are so notable as to be topics of legitimate mainstream news items;
 * are the product of companies that are so notable that they already have their own Wikipedia articles;
 * have a large quantity of rich, interesting, publicly-known detail, justifying an entire article (rather than a mention in the article about their developer);
 * are of such economic importance that Wikipedia's mention cannot in itself have any significant promotional effect, and cannot credibly be the motive for inserting the article. That is: Wikipedia is not a vehicle for creating "buzz."
 * Concur with Dpbsmith. --Improv 03:24, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Future "products" which are mostly brand name; whose promised feature set is highly variable, such that there is nothing yet to describe objectively; and the brand name is therefore a synonym for "cool things this company might do in a couple of years" to generate buzz (e.g. Windows Longhorn): Out. —FOo 23:12, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Products which do not currently exist: Out. --Eequor 00:03, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Products which have existed in the past: In. --Eequor 00:03, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Products: In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:28, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)

Publications

 * MSDSs: In Wikisource. --Eequor 23:54, 15 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Publications: Academic journals

 * Academic journals. Out. Isomorphic
 * Top academic journals. In. Isomorphic
 * In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * In. huaiwei 01:14, 13 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:32, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * In. Marcika 05:14, 2 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * In. Mbisanz 01:58, August 3, 2005 (UTC)
 * In. NBS525 21:39, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Publications: Newspapers and magazines

 * Newspapers: In. • Benc •
 * Magazines: In. • Benc •
 * Local, special interest, self-published, and/or underground newspapers and magazines: Out. • Benc •
 * With a circulation in the tens of thousands: In. • Benc •
 * In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Self-published or underground newspapers and magazines that were to notable within some subculture: In - Lifefeed 18:51, Nov 29, 2004 (UTC)
 * Student newspapers at notable universities and colleges: In. Bearcat 05:17, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * High school newspapers, or anything self-published or underground that is irrelevant to the rest of the world - out. Radiant! 22:41, Feb 18, 2005 (UTC)

Radio Stations

 * FCC Data and info as in KBHE-FM? Mydotnet
 * In DCEdwards1966 21:50, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * In, except individual HAM operators, internet radio stations, cable radio channels, etc Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:33, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Radio networks: In. i c u r i t e 10:52, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Religions

 * Religions: In. Abigail
 * Information about religions (ex. "Christians believe that ..."): In. Bwoods 03:39, 22 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Preaching any one religion as the truth: Out. Bwoods 03:39, 22 August 2005 (UTC)
 * Novelty religions, small cults of no effect, etc. Out. - Centrx
 * Widely-known "novelty" religions, e.g. Church of the SubGenius: In. —FOo 23:13, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * In. Intrigue 03:32, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * In, unless less than 100 victims .. err.. members. --Improv 03:25, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * All in, except ones so small that their existance is unverifiable. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:34, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Agree with User:Starblind.Icurite
 * in, except for cults and too-small religions,etc.

Religions: Individual churches

 * Normally: out DDerby
 * Famous, noteworthy, over 5000 members, or unique, noteworthy ministry: in DDerby
 * high schools are the subject of dispute; churches may be as notable as high schools, though there are more churches. DDerby
 * Entering all churches in US alone would probably be over 100,000 entries. DDerby(talk) 06:34, 8 September 2005 (UTC)
 * Generic names representative of a movement or denomination (Resurrection Life Church): discuss the movement/denom and possibly founding church, but don't treat as a directory. DDerby
 * Churches: In. i c u r i t e 10:53, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * known throughout at least 12 states: in
 * Registered as a historical site in the National Register of Historic Places: In. Rockingharder

Songs and pieces of music

 * Albums, classical works. In. Isomorphic
 * Songs. Out. Isomorphic
 * Songs that have special cultural significance: In. Bearcat 05:22, 1 Feb 2005 (UTC)
 * Song Lyrics, Album-song-lists, Stand-alone Discographies: Out. Paitum
 * Lyrics and song lists: Out. --Eequor 06:35, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Album lists: Only in article for the label or artist. --Eequor 06:35, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Songs, where there is something to say about the song other than its lyrics, melody, and other musical or emotional properties &mdash; e.g. interesting cases of copyright such as Happy Birthday: In. &mdash;FOo 23:19, 16 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Albums in, redirect greatest hits compilations to pages by artist, listing tracks, individual songs only needed if the album page gets unwieldy (or for artists that only ever recorded singles worth noting) Tuf-Kat 01:42, Sep 20, 2004 (UTC)
 * Albums: In DCEdwards1966 21:52, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * Greatest hits compilations: In, if they are notable (The Eagles Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) or they contain new material as well as greatest hits. DCEdwards1966 21:52, Oct 12, 2004 (UTC)
 * In, if someone is willing and able to make a non-stub article on them (without resorting to filler and semi-relevant info of course). Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:36, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Songs, assuming that someone has written a valid, non-stub article about them and that the album article is too long for a merge and redirect. Meelar (talk) 01:13, Mar 28, 2005 (UTC)
 * Songs and releases, where they have been published by a record company (1A), distributed on more than one radio station (1B) or can be confirmed to be otherwise significant (1C); where a quality article can be written about them (2); where an article of reasonable length can be written about them (3); where the band/artist/writer/album article, if only released by one band/artist/writer/album, is too long to include the information on them (4): In. Otherwise: Out. i c u r i t e 10:57, 17 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * all of them, with or without stubs (because stubs can be helpful in research): in!

Supreme Court potential nominees

 * ...are often notable jurists anyway. In. --TenOfAllTrades
 * In. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:36, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * out

Tools

 * Hand tools. In. (possibly merged under the trade if appropriate; e.g. slater). Dhaluza

Trading cards

 * Trading card games. In. The Anome 15:58, 6 Sep 2004 (UTC)
 * Individual cards from any trading card game. Out. Isomorphic
 * Non-famous cards from any trading card game: Out. Meelar
 * Famous cards from any trading card game (e.g. Black Lotus, Shivan Dragon, Juzam Djinn): In. Meelar
 * Famous cards: In. --Eequor 06:38, 14 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Any individual cards from any trading card game: out (or in as a sub-heading of the article).   18:18, 2004 Sep 21 (UTC)
 * Any individual cards from any game, where there is proof the card exists (1) and there is enough information exists (2) to form a quality article (3) of reasonable length (4) that can be understood by most people (5). Icurite
 * Games In, cards out. --Improv 03:27, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Games: In. Companies: In. Cards, tournaments, players, etc: Out. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:39, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * games, companies, cards: in; players: out

Transportation

 * Roads numbered at the state or higher level: In. Part of WikiProject Highways. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Roads numbered at the county or lower level: In if important, otherwise part of a list. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Defunct numbered roads: In or redirect to the current number if there's a one-to-one correspondence. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Named roads: In if important. In some states, which roads get numbers is mostly a political decision. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Specific road junctions: In only if known by name or very abnormal. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Current railroad companies: In. Part of WikiProject Trains. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Defunct railroad companies: In; redirect to the current company or a later defunct company if there's a one-to-one correspondence. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Never-built railroad companies: Mentioned somewhere, either in a list of all never-built companies in the state/other division, or on the page for a railroad that was built there, or on a separate page if it was an important plan, or especially if something was actually built, like grading or bridges or whatever (Southern New England Railroad). --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Current passenger railroad stations: In. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Historic passenger railroad stations: In if there's more to be said than what line it was on. This applies to all junction stations; stations on one line should redirect to the line if there's nothing else to say. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Navigable canals: In. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Drainage canals: In if important, part of a list if part of a project or drainage district, out if part of a single subdivision and no more. --SPUI 05:44, 13 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Mostly out unless very famous or historically significant (Route 66, Appian Way) Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd 13:41, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)
 * Interstates and highways: In. All other roads out unless they are famous or historically notable. DaveTheRed
 * Roads serving primarily trips of at least 100 miles: In. Roads serving primarily trips of less than 10 miles: Out unless historically significant or previously served longer-distance traffic.  --VidTheKid 09:56, 4 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * Very localized transportation such as insignificant roads or bus routes, out. Radiant_* 10:11, Apr 4, 2005 (UTC)
 * Roads that connect communities. In. Dhaluza 11:52, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

TV episodes

 * See Centralized_discussion/Television_episodes instead.

TV episodes: Doctor Who

 * Recurring Doctor Who characters/creatures: In. --Goobergunch|? 02:03, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * One-time Doctor Who characters/creatures: Out. --Goobergunch|? 02:03, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * One-time Doctor Who characters/creatures that are notable for continuity reasons: In. --Goobergunch|? 02:03, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * New Doctor Who series, coming up in 2005: In. PaulHammond 14:07, 3 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * Major/famous characters: In. Everything else: Include as appropriate in series/season/episode articles. Andrew Lenahan - St ar bli nd  13:45, Feb 16, 2005 (UTC)

Wikipedia

 * Circumventing VfDs and other established consensus-building tools: Out. Jeff Q (see Talk:Why do we need this?)
 * Non-authoritative pages allowing frustrated Wikipedians to vent their irritation at ludicrous articles and content: In (apparently). Jeff Q 10:15, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)
 * (The above apparently refers to a particular page in the Wikipedia namespace that survived VfD.)
 * Actually, no. I hadn't even heard of that page. It was some other content (I forgot what) that didn't seem to me to be totally ludicrous, but was causing someone great exasperation at the time, which they expressed here by adding an Out to this wannabe-policy list. Jeff Q 08:14, 6 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * articles where we could fool around and create jokes: in (hahaha!)

Postamble
If none of the above match what you want to decide, don't worry. Do any of them, in other fields perhaps, give you an idea of the level of detail that might be appropriate? If they do, then this page has succeeded. And either way, once your question is definitively answered, come back and add your new knowledge to the list above!


 * ''This material was originally at the top of the page, but was moved here as an effort to reduce instruction creep.

This page is an opportunity to express your opinions, rather than a proposed policy such as Importance.

Each day many decisions are made as to what subjects are encyclopedic, that is, what articles belong in Wikipedia. These include decisions as to how to vote on AfD, as to whether to write a particular article at all and what to call it if so, and about what to write in policy, talk and help pages.

There is information in many places relevant to these decisions. One function of this page is to bring as much as possible of that information together, for quick reference.

An entry is an indication of how a particular user thinks they would vote on AfD, no more and no less. It is signed but undated, and should be updated or deleted by the user if their views change so that it no longer accurately reflects them. Entries should only ever be changed or deleted by the user who signs them, with two exceptions, see below.

For examples of how people have previously voted at AfD, see AfD Precedents.

This page exists from long before categories were used in Wikipedia. "What's in, what's out" discussions regarding categories are at categorization and categorization of people

(skip)

Definitions
A type or class of topic is called a class of articles or simply a class below.

A subclass of a given class is a class that is a proper subset of the given class. That is, a class contains all the members of its subclass, and some others.

A superclass of a given class is one that has the given class as a subclass. That is, a superclass contains all the members of the class of which it is a superclass, and some others.

When subclass and superclass are used together, it just means that the subclass is a subclass of the superclass. This is to avoid using terms like the original class.

An encyclopedic article is one we want in Wikipedia.

Arrangement of entries
All entries have at least one * and may in theory have any number of them. This is used to indicate logical nesting of classes and categories.

An entry that relates to a subclass of another entry should follow after that entry, and be bulleted one level deeper. It will not always immediately follow its superclass entry, but there should not be any intermediate entries on the same or any shallower bullet level than the superclass.

An entry that supports or contradicts another entry for exactly the same class or set of articles should be bulleted to the same level, and should be immediately adjacent to it and other entries for the same set of articles (either above or below).

Where classes overlap but neither is a subset of the other, there is no single correct nesting. This will not be rare, and may make the page harder to interpret but not impossible. Duplicate, overlapping, and contradicting entries are all quite OK, see below.

The list will be sorted alphabetically (perhaps a bit roughly) at each level, in a heirarchical fashion to keep subclasses of every class together. The order of identical entries is undefined.

It's not as complicated as it sounds! These rules only really matter if you're thinking of rearranging the order of the entries. If you're just adding entries, a few added out of order won't hurt, and others will soon fix them.

When entries are added or reordered, it may be necessary to change the level of entries. That's fine. This situation and removing superflous material are the only times you should change an entry signed by someone else.

Some principles

 * 1) If something has any valid reason for being encyclopedic then it is. It may fail three relevant tests and pass only one. It's in on the strength of that one.
 * 2) If something is mentioned in an article that doesn't necessarily make it encyclopedic in its own right. A famous singer may warrant an article, while her pet just gets a mention in her article.
 * 3) A member of almost any class could be encyclopedic. One might argue that individual trees are not encyclopedic, but the Royal Oak certainly is.  A vote of "In" for a class says that things in that class are inherently encyclopedic.

Editing and using the entries
This list will always be incomplete, and may contain many redundancies and contradictions. That doesn't matter. It's not a policy. It's just to give an idea.

If you see an entry without a policy link and you know one, or there is one and you know a better one, just add a supporting entry on the same bullet level, and immediately below the existing entry. Don't change an entry signed by someone else. In particular don't change their description, even to wikify it. Your link may not reflect what they meant to say! Add you own entry instead, under theirs.

Don't remove a properly formed and signed entry unless you are quite sure that it is vandalism. Then move it to the talk page, and give your reasons there. One that you are just quite sure is wrong should stay. It's just one user's opinion. Add your own to balance it.

And if you see an entry that puzzles you, or which you feel should be changed, feel free to contact the user who left it, on their user talk page.

The entries
''Feel free to add any you think are helpful. This is not a vote. It will just help others to get a feel for what the community thinks of a proposed article, before they actually create it.''