This category currently has 951 entries. The tag that puts articles into this category (((list-stub))) redirects to ((Expand list)), which says:
“ | Place this template tag in an article, immediately before any list that is incomplete. Wikipedia is not a directory, nor an indiscriminate collection of information; lists should have a clearly defined purpose and inclusion criteria. As such, an incomplete list is any well-defined list which is missing obvious entries. | ” |
Since this category is under Category:Wikipedia article cleanup and is included in the backlog category and the article cleanup category, I'd like to see some control about what goes into it. I have two proposals:
Proposal 1: Year, decade, and century articles should not be in this category
Proposal 2: Only dedicated list articles should be in this category
Comments? --Auntof6 (talk) 08:25, 19 December 2013 (UTC)
The template is intended to be used to show readers that any list is missing one or more important entries. Illinois Treasurer is an example of proper use. The names of the treasurers between 1891 and 1933, 1935 and 1967 are missing. Of course, in this case, a reader can surmise that just from looking at the dates, but in most cases there will be nothing except the templated notice to tell the reader that a list is incomplete. Like a stub template, it also invites the reader to complete the list if they have the relevant information. If we don't add these to embedded lists that are incomplete, then, in most cases, we won't have anything to tell the reader that potentially vital entries are missing.
A lot of the items in the category at the moment show improper usage. For example, it's not really properly used on Lawson Inada because that list is of "Selected works", a list that isn't required to be complete. Same goes for lists of examples. Pages with no information other than the list itself, like List of software licenses, shouldn't be stand-alone lists anyway.
I don't know about the year articles, but there are probably cases of proper use as well as improper. The stub-sorting IP seems to have gone through them adding ((list-stub)) to the pages. Osiris (talk) 06:07, 28 December 2013 (UTC)
Thanks to everyone for your comments. Osiris makes a lot of sense. I'm going to take the template off all the timeline pages (years, decades, etc.). For the others, I'll look at the specific use and decide whether to leave it.
Osiris, what would you do with articles like List of software licenses -- make a category instead of a list? (In this case, there already is a category, but I mean if there isn't.) Add the info into (or create) an article about software licenses? --Auntof6 (talk) 05:14, 29 December 2013 (UTC)