Avatar Wiki:Fanon categorization guide

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A category is a group of pages with similar topics. A category tree provides a dynamic view of Avatar Wiki's category structure. Categorizing on the Fanon Portal is of vital importance for multiple reasons, such as: Locating a fan-fiction story, finding articles related to a story, and even for marking Featured Fanon.

This guide will provide a clear system on how a fanon is categorized properly. The categories listed in this guide are mandatory on each pages as they are listed. Although this is the preferred fanon categorization method, it merely lists the minimum categorization requirements for a page; this doesn’t mean that the author cannot alter a bit from it by adding more relevant categories to a page.

Getting started

Adding categories

There are two ways to add categories.

1. Adding categories while editing the page
   1. Add [[Category:Category name (fanon)]] to the bottom of your page.
   2. Type Category name (fanon) into the box above the designated category space, and select the desired category from the drop down menu.
2. Adding categories while not editing the page
   1. Scroll down to the bottom of the page where the categories are to be displayed -this is right above the comment section. There is a small button, titles "Add category". When clicked, you'll be enabled to type in any category name. You don't need to include [[Category:, you can just start typing the name of the category. When done, click the done button, located in the right corner, and the categories will be added.

General categories

Each fanon page has its own set of specific categories to be added. There is, however, one category that is to be added on every page and that is A to Z (fanon) category. The purpose of this category is to enable any user to view all the fanon pages in alphabetical order. The category is to be added in the following form:

• Category:A to Z (fanon)|the page's name

As soon as you create the main page for your fanon, there is another universal category that is to be applied. The purpose of this category is to create a list with all the story's main pages within the fanon portal.

• Category:Story pages (fanon)

A last universal category that must be added to your fanon's main page is one of the following "genre" categories, to indicate what kind of characters a reader can expect in your story:

• Category:Avatar: The Last Airbender (fanon): this category comprises all the fanon stories that have a character of the Avatar: The Last Airbender series as a main character.
• Category:Legend of Korra (fanon): this category comprises all the fanon stories that have a character of The Legend of Korra series as a main character.
• Category:Original character (fanon): this category comprises all the fanon stories that have original characters as a main character, regardless of any appearances of a canonical character.

Creating categories

When to create categories

As every fanon is unique, so are the categories that accompany the story and therefore certain fanon specific categories need to be created.

• A user category for all of your sub-categories
• A category for your fanon series
• A category for chapters in your fanon
• A category for characters in your fanon
• A category for organizations in your fanon
• A category for locations in your fanon
• A category for battles in your fanon
• A category for events in your fanon
• A category for templates used in your fanon
• A category for images used in your fanon
• A category for self-made/used art

If you are unsure as to what other categories may or may not be created, contact an administrator for more information.

Fanon main page

A fanon's main page is the page where the author explains what the story will be about and tries to entice the passerby into reading his/her story. The following categories should be added to the main page:

• A to Z (fanon)|Fanon title
• Story pages (fanon)
• Username (fanon)
• Fanon title (fanon)
• Genre (fanon)

For a list of the available genres to be added to a story, go here.

Chapter pages

You cannot have a story without chapters, and to keep all your chapters organized and at maximum visibility, the following categories should be added:

• A to Z (fanon)|Chapter title
• Category:Fanon title chapters (fanon)

Character pages

Every character that appears in a certain fanon will have the following categories applied to its page:

• A to Z (fanon)|Character name
• Fanon title characters (fanon)

Apart from these two mandatory categories there is a whole other set of categories that is to be applied when applicable; more than one category of the following list can apply to a character:

For characters hailing from one of the five nations or the Spirit World: Air Nomads (fanon) Water Tribe (fanon) Earth Kingdom (fanon) Fire Nation (fanon) Spirit World (fanon) United Republic (fanon)	For characters who are benders: Airbenders (fanon) Waterbenders (fanon) Earthbenders (fanon) Firebenders (fanon) Energybenders (fanon) Unorthodox benders (fanon)
For characters who have specific traits: Animal characters (fanon) Assassins (fanon) Avatars (fanon) Bounty hunters (fanon) Criminals (fanon) Dai Li (fanon) Equalists (fanon) Freedom Fighters (fanon)	Kyoshi Warriors (fanon) Monks (fanon) Order of the White Lotus (fanon) Rebels (fanon) Royalty (fanon) Soldiers (fanon) Spirits (fanon)

Eg. An airbending criminal who hails from the Air Nomads and passes his days as an assassin, would be categorized under: "Air Nomads (fanon)", "Airbenders (fanon)", "Assassins (fanon)", and "Criminals (fanon)".

Note that Avatars get all four of the main bending art categories.

Organizations page

The same format as the characters page is to be used for organizations with the exception of adding the Fanon title organizations (fanon) category instead of the Fanon title characters (fanon). Only add those categories which apply to your organization.

Locations page

For every page about a location appearing in a fanon, the following categories are meant to be added:

• A to Z (fanon)|Location name
• Fanon title locations (fanon)
• Nation where the location is situated (fanon)

Battles page

The same format as the characters page is to be used for battles with the exception of adding the Fanon title battles (fanon) category instead of the Fanon title characters (fanon).

Events page

The same format as the characters page is to be used for organizations with the exception of adding the Fanon title events (fanon) category instead of the Fanon title locations (fanon).

An update page

In the case a specific update page is made -this is not to be added on the fanon main page in the case it doubles as an update page- the following categories are to be added:

• A to Z (fanon)|News and updates/fanon title
• News and updates (fanon)|fanon title
• Fanon title (fanon)

Naming categories

Naming a category is just as important as the subject of one, as it helps to designate the category's purpose, and what articles it will hold. There are three basic rules to keep in mind when creating a category:

1. The category must always have the suffix "(fanon)"
2. The category always has the name of the fanon it belongs to.
3. The category clarification i.e. chapters, characters, etc. is always in plural.

Although not mandatory, category creation with sentence case is preferred.

Vulmen's fanon Eyes of Katara is used here as an example for the following category titles.

• A fanon user category: Category:Vulmen (fanon)
• A fanon series category: Category:Eyes of Katara (fanon)
• A chapters category: Category:Eyes of Katara chapters (fanon)
• A characters category: Category:Eyes of Katara characters (fanon)
• An organizations category: Category:Eyes of Katara organizations (fanon)
• A location category: Category:Eyes of Katara locations (fanon)
• A battles category: Category:Eyes of Katara battles (fanon)
• An events category: Category:Eyes of Katara events (fanon)
• A templates category: Category:Eyes of Katara templates (fanon)
• An images category: Category:Eyes of Katara images (fanon)
• An art category: Category:Vulmen art (fanon)

Category descriptions

After the category is added to the page, click on it in order to completely create the category. It is advised to have a small description in the body of your categories, so other users searching through your categories will know exactly the category's purpose. Category descriptions need only be a line or two long, and must identify the user they belong to.

For example, Vulmen's fanon series category, Eyes of Katara (fanon), has a small description under the category's title, which reads:

Category comprised of all fanon pages related to Eyes of Katara, written by Vulmen.

Categorizing a category

On Avatar Wiki, both Mainspace and Fanon Portal, all pages and articles must be categorized, this includes the category pages. As aforementioned, a category tree provides a dynamic view of Avatar Wiki's category structure. This structure is created by the categorization of categories, which creates a tree-like structure, giving users the ability to effectively search through categories.

User name (fanon)

• Users (fanon)

Fanon name (fanon)

• User name (fanon)
• Stories (fanon)

Fanon name chapters (fanon)

• Fanon name (fanon)
• Chapters (fanon)

Fanon name characters (fanon)

• Fanon name (fanon)
• Characters (fanon)

Fanon name organizations (fanon)

• Fanon name (fanon)
• Organizations (fanon)

Fanon name locations (fanon)

• Fanon name (fanon)
• Locations (fanon)

Fanon name battles (fanon)

• Fanon name (fanon)
• Battles (fanon)

Fanon name events (fanon)

• Fanon name (fanon)
• Events (fanon)

Fanon name templates (fanon)

• Fanon name (fanon)
• Navbox templates (fanon)

Fanon name images (fanon)

• Fanon name (fanon)
• Images (fanon)

User name art (fanon)

• User name (fanon)
• Art (fanon)