Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-1196539-20140717014526

When I first joined this site, there was some business with my adding several pastas to the Images category with the intent of helping out the wiki because the Category Listing page described the category as one to be given to any pasta with images. I was not aware, and had no way of knowing, that the tag had since been depreciated and was no longer used--this status was not updated on the Category Listing page. Needless to say, this caused a big headache for the staff who had to clean up and remove this tag from the dozens of articles I added it to, all because this information was not made available to new users.

I recently discovered (with much less harm done) that the Original Content tag had been depreciated and was no longer in use, as well as the Shock Ending category. The former was, once again, not noted in any way on the Category Listing page. The latter is tagged as "depreciated," although I had to ask a member of staff to find out what the hell this word meant, as it was not elaborated upon anywhere on the page or in the site rules (Category section here).

I'm posting this thread to discuss two things. Firstly, that what I've just described above is a problem. At the VERY LEAST, the Category Listing page must be regularly updated, and CLEARLY, so that new users will be able to understand it and avoid messes like these. This is the minimum action that can be taken. I'm proposing a little more than that.

Before I go into anything more specific, let me explain the second reason I'm posting this thread. I've noticed a handful of discussions depreciating categories since joining this wiki, and while I can't remember specific examples aside from Original Content, I do believe it's happening too often, and is a short-term solution to a long-term problem. I cite, as an example, the Shock Ending category--while I can't find a discussion relating to its depreciation (we really need a forum search feature), I can assume it happened because of rampant misuse of the category. Rather than simply banning the category from use and effectively shoving it under the rug, however, I think the problem can be addressed much more directly just by making it absolutely 100% crystal clear in its descriptions, both on the category page and the Category Listing, what precisely it is to be used for, and what qualifies a pasta as a member of that category.

That's ultimately what this thread is about. Specify, specify, specify. We need more clarity, more elaboration, and less room for error on these kinds of pages, especially categories and pages relating to them. There's no reason an official site protocol page like the Category Listing should have gone this long without being updated.

Ultimately, what I'm proposing is that more attention be paid to these pages, their terms of use made more specific and measurable, and generally just be upkept a little more. And before anyone says, "Well why don't you just go do that instead of starting a thread about it," I intend to. I will be happy to personally spearhead these specifications. I just want people to be aware that this is a problem that needs to be addressed, and paid attention to in the long-term, and that depreciating categories is not the only or even the best solution to category misuse.

I'd also like feedback on whether the Shock Ending category should be reinstated. I think it's an extremely useful category when people use it properly, and am willing to bet that most improper use is the result of people not understanding what the category is supposed to be used for, not of any kind of malicious intent or trolling. If we clarify its proper use in its descriptions, misuse of the category will be hindered and the depreciation made unnecessary. 