User:DexDor/Sortkeys

The following paragraph is an extract from WP:SORTKEY.

To place entries after the main alphabetical list, use sort keys beginning with tilde ("~"). Several Greek letters are also used for specific purposes. "Σ" (sigma) is used to place stub categories at the end of subcategory lists .... "β" (beta, displays as "Β") is for Wikipedia books. "ι" (iota, displays as "Ι") is for images. "ρ" (rho, displays as "Ρ") is for portals. "τ" (tau, displays as "Τ") is for templates. "ω" (omega, displays as "Ω") is for WikiProjects. Similar to the handling of Latin letters, if the sort key is a lower case Greek letter then the capital Greek letter will be displayed in headings on category pages. "β" will appear beneath "Β"; "ι" beneath "Ι"; "ρ" beneath "Ρ"; "τ" beneath "Τ"; "ω" beneath "Ω"; etc. ...

The following table provides further information about the use of these sortkeys. The examples are intended to be consistent with WP:SORTKEY and other Wikipedia guidance/policy.

Character used as sortkey	Displays as^[1]	Intended for (based on WP:SORTKEY)^[2]	Example(s) (categorization of page)	Example(s) (categorization of category)
"~" (tilde)	"~"	(not known^[3])	(not known)	(not known)
"µ" (micro)	"M"	(stub categories - deprecated in favour of "Σ")	N/A	N/A
"Σ" (sigma)	"Σ"	stub categories	N/A	Category:Foo stubs in Category:Foos Category:Foo stub templates‎ in Category:Foo templates‎ Category:Foo stubs in Category:Foo Wikipedia administration
"β" (beta)	"B"	Wikipedia books	Book:Foo in Category:Foo	Category:Wikipedia books on Foo in Category:Foo
"ι" (iota)	"Ι"	images	(not known)	Category:Images of Foo in Category:Foo
"π" (pi)	"Π"	(not in WP:SORTKEY^[4])	Portal:Foo in Category:Foo (as of October 2020)	N/A
"ρ" (rho)	"Ρ"	portals	Portal:Foo in Category:Foo^[5]	N/A^[6]
"τ" (tau)	"Τ"	templates	(not known)	Category:Foo templates in Category:Foo Wikipedia administration
"ω" (omega)	"Ω"	WikiProjects	Rarely, if ever, used, but possibly could be used in a case like Template talk:WikiProject Foo in Category:Template-Class Foo Articles	Category:WikiProject Foo in Category:Foo Wikipedia administration Category:WikiProject Foo templates in Category:Foo templates^[7] Category:Wikipedia books on the Wikipedia Foo in Category:Wikipedia books Category:Wikipedia categories named after Foos in Category:Foos

Other special purpose sortkeys that have been used include:

" " (space) - typically used when an article is categorized in an eponymous category.
"*" (asterisk) - e.g. here[1] where the correct (per WP:SORTKEY) sortkey was replaced with an asterisk.
"ε" - to (incorrectly) place a "needing expert attention" category in a content category.^[8]

Note: Code such as [[Category:Adele|ω]] can be used.

Notes

^ Based on MediaWiki as of January 2016
^ As of November 2015.
^ WP:SORTKEY mentions the tilde sortkey ("To place entries after the main alphabetical list"), but does not explain exactly what it should be used for. It has been observed - e.g. at Book:Adele (in the eponymous category - where it should really use the beta sortkey) and at Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Florida (when that was incorrectly in article categories).
^ This has the advantage over "ρ" of not displaying a potentially confusing "P" on the category page (like the change that has been made for stub categories).
^ In most cases there's a link from the article category text to the portal (and navigation in the reverse direction is usually easy via the eponymous article) so it may be unnecessary for the portal page to be in the article category.
^ Portal categories should not be put in article categories ("A portal category should not be categorized in a content category (a category under Category:Articles" - WP:PCAT) so the only parent categories (up to the top level) are other portal categories.
^ Note: many such categories do not (as of 2016) use the omega sortkey - e.g. Category:WikiProject Christianity templates (Nov 2015).
^ Category:Interfaith articles needing expert attention

[1] Based on MediaWiki as of January 2016

[2] As of November 2015.

[3] WP:SORTKEY mentions the tilde sortkey ("To place entries after the main alphabetical list"), but does not explain exactly what it should be used for. It has been observed - e.g. at Book:Adele (in the eponymous category - where it should really use the beta sortkey) and at Category:Wikipedia requested photographs in Florida (when that was incorrectly in article categories).

[4] This has the advantage over "ρ" of not displaying a potentially confusing "P" on the category page (like the change that has been made for stub categories).

[5] In most cases there's a link from the article category text to the portal (and navigation in the reverse direction is usually easy via the eponymous article) so it may be unnecessary for the portal page to be in the article category.

[6] Portal categories should not be put in article categories ("A portal category should not be categorized in a content category (a category under Category:Articles" - WP:PCAT) so the only parent categories (up to the top level) are other portal categories.

[7] Note: many such categories do not (as of 2016) use the omega sortkey - e.g. Category:WikiProject Christianity templates (Nov 2015).

[8] Category:Interfaith articles needing expert attention

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