CZ:Subpages

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A full Citizendium article includes a main article page and standard and optional subpages; the entire group is called a cluster.

Some subpages contain additional content on the subject of the article. Others are used for a variety of functions, such as discussing the article content, recording information about approved versions of articles (stable versions which have been checked and approved by an Editor), etc.

The subpage mechanism provides a header on every page or subpage of a cluster which allows easy navigation among the pages of the cluster. In addition, the header on the Talk subpage provides access to additional subpage-related functions.

You might look at the Biology article and its subpages--our "biology cluster"--as an example. The Civil society article also includes many subpages, including Timelines in recently (2008) revised format.

Some of the standard subpages, such as the Talk page, and the Approval subpage, are attached to a main (encyclopedia) page semi-automatically when the main article page is set up to use the article checklist. Other standard and optional subpages can be added by authors or editors.

Basic guidelines

Setting up subpages

To enable the full subpage functionality:

• Include the string {{subpages}} (which is a MediaWiki template which invokes the Citizendium subpage functions) at the top of the main article page - and later, all of its subpages, and:
• Create a Metadata page for the cluster; the Citizendium subpage system will automatically prompt to do this after the first page or subpage with {{subpages}} on it has been saved. You will need to fill in some basic information in the Metadata, such as the article name. Note: the Citizendium subpage mechanisms will not work properly unless the article name is entered correctly.

This is enough to turn on the subpage functionality; the system will also prompt to create the Talk and Approval subpages, if they do not exist, and will provide default contents for them which only have to be saved (although they can be modified first, if desired).

Don't forget that it is desirable to install the {{subpages}} statement on all individual subpages. Basic information about subpages is now included in the text in the subpage header on the Talk subpage.

See the instructions for more details on how to set up an article page to use subpages.

Default content subpages

In addition to the Metadata, Talk, and Approval subpages, there are three "default" subpages for every article:

• Related Articles
• Bibliography
• External Links

When articles are approved, another basic type is added, to allow Citizendium authors and editors to work on a future revision of the article, alongside the stable, approved, version:

• Draft

Activation of individual article subpages must be done manually. It is done by clicking on the appropriate subpage tab either on the main page, or in the Unused subpages area of the header on the Talk subpage, and saving the subpage, with appropriate contents - not forgetting the {{subpages}} at the top of the new subpage. CZ will then display the standard Subpages menu on that subpage, and include it in the navigation tabs in the cluster navigation header.

For more technical pointers about how the subpage template works, see CZ:Using the Subpages template.

List of subpage types

For various reasons, we will want to keep a canonical list of subpage types, and ask people to create subpages only of the types listed.

We'll also distinguish between default (required) subpages and optional subpages. Links to the default subpages will appear (on the subpages template) even if they have not yet been created, while links to optional subpages will be created only if they exist.

If nevertheless an additional subpage is required then you may consult:

• CZ:How to add a new subpage type
• CZ:Article-specific subpages

Removal of a link from the subpages template:
The link to an optional subpage is inserted whenever the file exists, i.e., it will still be displayed if the page is empty (has been blanked). In order to remove the link from the list (and again insert it into the list of unused subpages on the talk page template) the page has to be deleted. Alternatively, in order to save the history, it can be moved to a talk page archive (e.g., of the talk page of this subpage). Then the redirect created by the move has to be deleted.

Default subpages

• Talk: The first tab to the right of Main Page on every subpages menu bar, Talk is a page for authors and editors to discuss the contents and composition of the main page and subpages.
• Related Articles: a list of subtopics, parent topics, and other related topics, augmented by definitions
• Bibliography: a substantial list of the most important published books and articles on the topic; with links to online sources for them, if available
• External Links: a lengthy, categorized, annotated list of Web links about the topic

Optional subpages

You can see a complete list of the currently-supported subpages at Template:Subpage list. (To add a new one, see CZ:How to add a new subpage type.)
For subpages that are not (yet) fully supported, but are used for some topics see CZ:Article-specific subpages.

Further bibliographic material

• Works: a list of books, articles, artworks, etc., authored by a person
• Discography: a list of recorded works
• Filmography: a list of films, television shows, etc., directed, performed in, etc.

Summary presentations of information

• Catalogs: one or more pages containing almanac-type information about some aspect of the topic, in tabular form; see, e.g., catalog of religions)
• Timelines: one or more pages giving a timeline about some aspect of the topic; main content may or may not exist on the "Tutorials" page itself

Non-text media

• Gallery: an image gallery
• Audio: a collection of Citizendium-hosted audio recordings related to the topic
• Video: a collection of Citizendium-hosted videos related to the topic
• Code: a collection of code samples related to the topic

Presentations of the topic at various levels

• Tutorials: one or more pages that introduce a topic specifically for students; would be focused on more "practical" aspects of the topic, have more examples, and even perhaps some problems at the bottom of the page; some topics may lend themselves to more explicit "how to" type instructions (how to change your oil); main content may or may not exist on the "Tutorials" page itself
• Student Level: a simplified and entertaining version of the encyclopedia article for younger students
• Advanced: a subpage with content that will really only be useful for, or possibly even only intelligible to, specialists in the field
• Debate Guide: one or more pages giving a "map of the dialectical landscape," an account of the arguments on all sides of a controversial issue about the topic; if important to read "map", give dates arguments introduced, a timeline

Complementary texts

• Addendum: supplementary text, specifically serving as a continuation of the main encyclopedia article
• Signed Articles: one or more possibly "biased" articles written exclusively by real experts, and signed; note that the "Signed" subpage is a list of articles, which are placed on sub-sub-pages
• Function: Used to describes the known and postulated function of different proteins and genes. It will be used primarily by the Biology workgroup.
• Recipes: Each Recipe subpage will have a basic, but comprehensive and representative recipe as a supplement to our culinary articles.

Planned subpage projects

The following projects will not be included in the initial subpage pilot:

• News Guide: one or more pages summarizing of ongoing stories about the topic (such that a story itself will probably not become its own encyclopedia article!)

Approval of subpages

Individual subpages cannot be approved. Instead, an entire cluster (or infoset) is approved at the same time.

Note that once an article is approved, all new edits to subpages will edit the approved version of the subpages. Such edits must be aimed, therefore, always at improving the article, and editors should pay special attention to such edits. We do not want to discourage editing of subpages of approved articles, but want to apply a higher standard in responding to such edits.

See also

• {{Subpage style}} - Works with {{Subpage list}}