View source for Wikipedia:User categories

{{for|more information|Wikipedia:Categorization#Categorizing user pages}}
<noinclude>{{subcat guideline|editing guideline|Categorization User|WP:UCAT|WP:USERCAT}}</noinclude>
{{nutshell| User categories are navigation aides for Wikipedians, to be used for collaborative purposes to build the encyclopedia.}}
{{Wikipedia:User categories/Introduction}}

== Naming conventions ==
:''See also: [[Wikipedia:Category names]]''
*Names and descriptions of user categories are subject to the same rules and restrictions as [[Wikipedia:Userboxes#Content restrictions|userbox content]].
*The name of a category should be clear about its scope and purpose and should generally follow the naming convention of fellow members of a parent category. See [[:Category:Wikipedians by interest]] for an example.
*A user category should have an indication it is a user category. "Indications" include, but are not limited to: "Wikipedians", "WikiProject", or a name of a Wikipedia-specific organization or grouping. For example, [[:Category:Wikipedian mathematicians]], not [[:Category:Mathematicians]]. [[Wikipedia:Babel|Babel]]-specific user categories are an exception to this, and instead should follow that convention by having the same name as the Babel-specific userbox, i.e. <code>Category:User (language code)[(-level)]</code>.  A category that complies with this point is [[:Category:User ar-3]], for level-3 speakers of Arabic.
*If in the userbox content, the verb (see [[Wikipedia:Userboxes#Content]]) is one of preference (enjoys, likes, loves, etc.), replace it with a more specific verb when selecting the category name. For example, "This user enjoys J. R. R. Tolkien" could be categorised as [[:Category:Wikipedians who read J. R. R. Tolkien]].

== Categorization ==
:''See also: [[:Category:Wikipedians]] ([[Special:CategoryTree/Wikipedians|category tree]])''
*User categories must be [[WP:SUBCAT|subcategories]] of [[:Category:Wikipedians]].
*User categories [[Template:Container category|designated as container categories]] should contain only [[Wikipedia:Categorization and subcategories|subcategories]] and possibly a limited number of directly related pages. Individual users should not be in parent categories.
*User pages and user categories do not belong in mainspace categories such as [[:Category:Living people]] or [[:Category:Biologists]], which are reserved for articles of the encyclopedia (in mainspace). This applies also to user subpages that are draft versions of articles.

== Overcategorization ==
{{Transcluded section|source=Wikipedia:Overcategorization/User categories}}
{{Wikipedia:Overcategorization/User categories}}

== Syntax for including a user category in a userbox ==
{{see also|Help:Category#Putting pages into categories|Wikipedia:Userboxes}}
:'''REMEMBER:''' Userboxes should '''NOT''' automatically include categories by default.
The following example is from {{tl|User WikiProject Film}}:

<pre>
{{userbox
| id = [[File:Video-x-generic.svg|43x43px|WikiProject Film]]
| id-c = #FFFFFF
| info = This user {{#ifeq:{{lc:{{{1|}}}}}|coordinator|is a [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Coordinators|'''coordinator''']]|is a [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Film/Participants|member]]}} of<br>'''[[Wikipedia:WikiProject Film|WikiProject Film]]'''.
| info-c = #C0C0C0
| info-a = center
| usercategory = WikiProject Film participants
| nocat = {{{nocat|}}}
}}<noinclude>{{documentation}}
<!-- Add cats and interwikis to the /doc subpage, not here! -->
</noinclude>
</pre>

*<code>&lt;includeonly&gt;</code> and <code>&lt;noinclude&gt;</code> should be on the same line as the closing parentheses (<code>}}</code>) to prevent extra spacing from appearing when grouping userboxes on userpages.
*Enclosing a category in <code>&lt;includeonly&gt;</code> tags will only categorise pages on which the userbox is transcluded. To show the userbox in that category, use {{tlx|User category}} or <code><nowiki>{{</nowiki>''Your userbox name''|nocat=}}</code>. Remember to set the [[WP:SORTKEY|sort key]] as <code><nowiki>{{PAGENAME}}</nowiki></code>.
*Enclosing a category in <code>&lt;noinclude&gt;</code> tags will only categorise the userbox.

== See also ==
* [[Wikipedia:Database reports/User categories]]
* [[Wikipedia:What Wikipedia is not]]
* [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion]]
* [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/User/Archive]] ([[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/User/Archive/Topical index|topical index]])

; Historical pages
* [[Wikipedia:User categorisation]] – a defunct [[Wikipedia:WikiProject|WikiProject]] for user categorisation
* [[Wikipedia:Guidelines for user categories]] - an historical guideline proposal

== Notes ==
{{reflist}}

{{Wikipedia categorization navbox}}

[[Category:Wikipedia categorization]]
[[Category:Wikipedia user space]]
[[Category:Wikipedia project content guidelines]]