Wikipedia:Set index articles
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This page documents an English Wikipedia editing guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page. |
A set index article (SIA) is a list article about a set of items of a specific type that also share the same (or similar) name. For example, Dodge Charger describes a set of cars, List of peaks named Signal Mountain describes a set of mountain peaks, and List of ships of the United States Navy named Enterprise describes a set of ships. Being a set of a specific type means that they share a common characteristic in addition to the similarity of name. A list is only a SIA if inclusion of an item in the list is due to the name of the item—e.g. every entry in a list of earthquakes may include the word "earthquake", but that does not mean the list is a SIA.[contradictory]
Fundamentally, a set index article is a type of list article. The criteria for creating, adding to, or deleting a set index article should be the same as for a stand-alone list. The style of a set index article should follow the style guidelines at Wikipedia:Stand-alone lists. A set index article can be tagged with {{Set index article}}.
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Set indexes and disambiguation[edit]
A set index article is not a disambiguation page: A disambiguation page is a list of things, possibly of different types, that share the same (or similar) name, formatted for best navigating the reader to the sought topic. A set index lists things of only one type and is meant to provide information as well as navigation. Just like a normal list article, it can have metadata and extra information about each entry. An SIA need not follow the formatting rules for disambiguation pages, although many SIAs do. Unlike disambiguation page guidelines, a SIA is allowed to contain red links to help editors create articles on notable entries.
Sometimes there will be a disambiguation page and a set index article for the same term. If the disambiguation page carries the name of the term (as with Signal Mountain), then the set index article should be named "List of XXXs named YYY" (as in List of peaks named Signal Mountain). Normally, if there is a choice between pointing the term at the set index page or the disambiguation page, the term should point to the disambiguation page (the broader category). In the rare case where the set index article is considered the primary topic, it may be named with just the term itself, the disambiguation page being called "YYY (disambiguation)".
Tagging and categorizing an article as a SIA[edit]
Place one of the following templates at the bottom of the page, using the most specific template available. If there is no specific template, you can, as {{Set index article}} explains, use the most generic template with certain sort keys to more specifically categorize articles; the template's page also explains that you can use it to place pages into child categories of Category:Set indices.
Generic[edit]
- {{Set index article}} for any set index article – Category:Set indices
Geographic features[edit]
- {{Lake index}} for lakes - Category:Set indices on lakes
- {{Mountain index}} for mountain names – Category:Set indices on mountains
- {{River index}} for rivers – Category:Set indices on rivers
- {{Road index}} for roads, streets, or highways – Category:Lists of roads sharing the same title
Vehicles[edit]
- {{Locomotive index}} for locomotives – Category:Set indices on locomotives
- {{Ship index}} for ship names – Category:Set indices on ships
For more information about set index articles for ships, see Wikipedia:WikiProject Ships/Guidelines § Index pages.
Other types of SIAs[edit]
- {{Sport index}} for sport names – Category:Set indices on sports
- {{Storm index}} for named storms - Category:Set indices on storms
- {{Surname}} for people's surnames – Category:Surnames
- {{Given name}} for people's given names – Category:Given names
- {{Animal common name}} – Category:Set indices on animal common names
- {{Plant common name}} – Category:Set indices on plant common names
See also[edit]
| This page is referenced from the glossary. |  |
