Wikipedia talk:How Wikipedia notability works

Multiple linking of Wp:Notability is deliberate and needed
Multiple linking of Wp:Notability is deliberate and needed to make an important distinction each time that the term is used. "WP:notability" refers to the overall wp:notability ecosystem, and WP:Notability refers to that specific page. North8000 (talk) 15:48, 12 January 2021 (UTC)
 * Per suggestion below, the unlinked "WP:notability" has been renamed to "Wiki-notability" North8000 (talk) 18:43, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

A possible wp:notability decoder ring?
For about 9 months (starting at the time of our efforts to clarify the Wp:notability guideline with respect to SNG's) I've been working on an essay regarding how Wikipedia notability works; it is How Wikipedia notability works. It recognizes that a part of the reason that wp:notability is often unclear is that rather than being contained largely within one guideline or policy, it is an ecosystem consisting of multiple guidelines, established practices and values, venues and other pages. It also recognizes that in addition to sourcing, the wp:notability ecosystem acknowledges a second notability consideration which is more related to the real-world meaning of the term, but in an encyclopedic context. It also that notes that the WP:notability page has two functionally separate sections resulting in two different meanings for "GNG". It then details how such a summary resolves some common wp:notability quandaries.

I would like to (and might boldly) link it from this guideline. I would also invite careful evolution of it or any feedback there or here. I'm hoping that it might gain some prominence and with that the "make only careful consensused changes" status that comes with that. An essay with some prominence & stability might be a good place to include explanatory efforts. This would allow us the freedom to work on explaining such things without the complexities and constraints of putting them in this core guideline where they are "making rules". Finally, writing down all of the above the plus the de facto mission and definition of the notability ecosystem might help in efforts to clarify this core guideline.North8000 (talk) 14:59, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

Request: make only careful changes
I've been working on this essay for 9 months and am hoping that this achieves status as a stable important essay. My request is to make only careful changes. Sincerely. North8000 (talk) 14:53, 24 March 2021 (UTC)

Contradiction?
Let's say, for the purposes of establishing notability, an editor points to an article which relies entirely on an interview with a company founder and which was published in the New York Times. That editor says "significant coverage in reliable reputable independent source, meets GNG". Lets say that another editor points to WP:NCORP and says "nope, fails WP:ORGIND". For the purposes of this discussion, lets assume both editors are correctly reflecting community interpretation. Your essay suggests that so long as GNG is met, NCORP is irrelevant - is that intentional?  HighKing++ 15:09, 21 April 2021 (UTC)
 * Sorry I missed your post....a belated response. My essay does not attempt to define or tidy up the rules that a herd of cats (the wp:notability ecosystem) follows, it is only to describe the motion of the herd.  Which, BTW mostly moves OK. On your specific question,  here's what the ecosystem does.   You start with that the beginning of WP:notability says that if you meet GNG, that's all that you need....i.e. then the SNG is irrelevant.  But the ecosystem notes that the tougher source criteria indicates a community intent to toughen source criteria for businesses.  It resolves this apparent conflict by applying the tougher source criteria when determining GNG.  or to use my term, the SNG sourcing criteria "calibrates" GNG. Sincerely, North8000 (talk) 14:28, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
 * That's a tidy turn of phrase, I might borrow that.  HighKing++ 16:07, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

Suggestion
Having the only difference between the terms for an entire "ecosystem" and for a specific page be a difference in capitalization makes for somewhat hard reading. Perhaps "Wp:notability" (the term for the whole ecosystem) could be replaced with something like "wiki-notability". XOR&#39;easter (talk) 22:50, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

Thanks. Good point, will do. North8000 (talk) 23:54, 28 July 2021 (UTC)

Good idea

 * I feel like this essay should be better publicized; it's important. Too often people (including me) throw around words like SIGCOV, ORGIND, BASIC, SPORTSCRIT, NPROF, COWABUNGA—and often incorrectly. Anyway, one missing but important "common question" is the relationship of WP:NEVENT with the GNG, which I think could be expanded upon. Ovinus (talk) 03:17, 20 August 2022 (UTC)


 * Thanks for the post. I think that it would be very useful to give this more prominence.  I made a quick unsuccessful try to link it at wp:notability. We should try again if we get a few supporters.   On you specific question, my essay does not attempt to define or tidy up the rules that a herd of cats (the wp:notability ecosystem)  follows, it is only to describe the motion of the herd.  Which, BTW mostly moves OK.  On the question at hand, the ecosystems notes that events have a 1/2 strike against them under wp:not and so they et a tougher/stricter reading of GNG if the GNG "way in" is chosen. And the interpretation/debate gets influenced by the tougher SNG criteria. <b style="color: #0000cc;">North8000</b> (talk) 14:48, 22 August 2022 (UTC)