Help:Creating and using lists

See also: Wikipedia:Help:List

Lists can be useful ways to collect related pieces of information, but should be created and used with care to ensure that PathfinderWiki presents information in a useful way.

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Summary Seek and consider alternatives before creating a list, such as writing the information as prose paragraphs, using a template designed for a common type of list, or using a table. Review the Manual of Style.

Creating lists

PathfinderWiki uses MediaWiki, which provides three methods of creating lists:

List type	Wiki markup
Bulleted lists use bullet points and indentation to associate separate statements as individual items. These are also called unordered lists.	* '''Bulleted lists'''
Numbered lists are like bulleted lists but are numbered or lettered to indicate a meaningful progression or order for each item in the list. These are also called ordered lists.	# '''Numbered lists'''
Definition lists Emphasize a term and visually associate a definition to the term. Also known as dictionary lists or glossaries. These cannot be created in the Visual Editor.	; Definition lists: Definition...

PathfinderWiki also has special templates that format or categorize list items for specific uses. For example, the {{Refs}} template organizes all citations into an ordered list and links them to their references. {{Recurring}} and {{References}} templates not only list subjects but also record them in structured data as appearing in a work and add related categories. The {{Columns-list}} template sets any type of list in columns, and the {{Hlist}} template can list items horizontally rather than vertically.

List items should be presented in alphabetic order unless another ordering method is specified or more relevant. All items in a list should also use consistent prose, such as all being either complete sentences or short phrases but not a mix of the two.

Lists can have multiple levels, and long list items can be split into paragraphs and indented. For details, see the formatting cheatsheet.

Using lists in canon content

Many canon content articles, such as Absalom, avoid using lists altogether. The PathfinderWiki Manual of Style recommends against using lists for information that can instead be written as paragraphs.

Some articles, such as Azlanti Keep, contain navigational lists to other articles. Such lists are often better served by being converted into navbox templates, which are designed to contain navigational lists.

In general, avoid creating long lists of links in articles that don't offer readers context on the relative importance or value of each item. Navigational templates are almost always an improvement over such lists.

So when can lists be useful?

When a list is an improvement over a paragraph without sacrificing detail, go for it! For instance:

• Lists that include context for closely associated items, where a paragraph would be harder to read and a navbox would not be appropriate, can be much more valuable. For an example, see Prophecies of Kalistrade.
• Lists are a useful option for variations on a subject that might not have enough information to warrant their own article. While PathfinderWiki generally prefers stubs, a list item can still serve as the target of a redirect for a variant or related subject that lacks enough detail to justify a stub. Such items can later be linked to an article if subsequent sources provide additional information. For an example that mixes links to articles and redirected references, see fighting style.
• Lists that curate content and direct readers to additional context and information can also be useful. For instance, articles about creature types often list notable or known examples of that type. These lists also work best when providing context for why that specific creature is notable, and citations that provide a quick reference to a relevant source.

Unlike navboxes, such lists do not need to be comprehensive and can more subjectively feature exemplary articles. Adding a link to a category can also point readers to a more comprehensive list.

Such lists can also link to notable subjects that lack an article, which is better than lacking any information about the subject and provides sources to help other editors who come across that link create an article.

For an example of all these points, see underworld dragon.

Articles about years, which have a specially defined format, also use lists but should use them only as suggested.

Using lists in product articles

Articles about products use lists more often. Product information is typically more structured and consistent across articles, and lists work best for this type of information.

For example, the Bestiary Box pawns product includes a numbered set of pawns, so its article includes several ordered lists that correspond to those items' numbers.

Lists also feature in indices, many of which use navbox templates.

Many common list types have templates or are compiled from structured data rather than input manually. For example, the tables of contents for products, such as on Tide of Honor, often use unordered lists to link to major subjects within a section or chapter. The inherent and consistent structure of product information lends itself to being treated as data instead of content, and doing so allows for more automated collection, updating, and presentation of such information.

Outside of these contexts, lists should still be used judiciously. Reach first for templates such as {{Adventure overview}} or {{Recurring}}/{{References}}, which provide additional features and formatting options that can be difficult to consistently achieve in plain lists. If it's unclear which template best serves a purpose, you can also ask for help in the PathfinderWiki Discord chat.

Using lists in non-canon contexts

Meta pages collect unincorporated sources in lists or include additional non-canon context for articles, and are a useful venue for lists designed to organize collective work on an article.

PathfinderWiki:Disambiguation pages list links to help clarify ambiguous terms that could refer to multiple different articles.

Citing items in a list

Cite each item in a list individually whenever possible, even if all items in the list are from the same source. Newer works might add new items to the list or add additional citations to existing items, necessitating the addition of more detailed citations anyway.

If ever you decide to create a navbox from such a list, retain all the citation details within a "Sources" section of the new navbox's documentation page. For an example, see {{Golem navbox}}.

Lists vs. tables

Tables and lists often serve similar purposes, and offer similar features. Tables can be better options when the information being documented has multiple common dimensions.

For example, the ship article uses a table because many classes of ships have defined lengths, a certain number of masts, and passenger or crew capacity. A table allows these details to be visually organized and compared. Tables also allow those lists to be sorted across those different dimensions.

The spice article also uses a table, despite more closely resembling a list. The table facilitates sorting its items by origin, but the list is also sufficiently long that using an unordered or definition list might make the information harder to discern. There are no hard rules for using tables for clarity, but if a list becomes sufficiently long that you cannot quickly locate the primary subject of each item, a table might be more effective.

Conversely, the holidays and festivals article uses definition lists to organize items in a format that more closely resembles a calendar. Sorting is less useful as the items are intentionally and beneficially presented in date order. Lists can also benefit from the use of headings that separate items into significant groups, such as months of the year, which is harder to accomplish with tables. Holidays and festivals also uses definition lists, which visually separates each item more effectively than an bulleted or numbered list.

List articles

See also: Category:Lists and Category:Indexes

Very few articles on PathfinderWiki consist solely of lists, and those that do have very specific uses. For instance, Index of articles (1E) and Index of articles (2E) uses tables to list every article published in Pathfinder Adventure Paths. Works of fiction sometimes have index subpages that are composed of lists. The articles can be difficult to maintain or have fallen out of date, and alternative methods to compiling and updating that information might exist or be in development.

Some templates also contain only lists. These are often components of multiple templates, such as {{Deities list}} or lists of products, where updating that one list also updates different presentations and uses of that list across many articles.

If you believe a list might be useful in such contexts, raise a discussion in the Discord chat or create a prototype in your own User space before implementing it, as there might be prior work or tools that might help, or concerns about pursuing a list-based approach.

Resources for creating and maintaining lists

You can view all links to a subject by clicking the "What links here" menu item in the site navigation menu, under Tools. This can help you locate other wiki articles that already link to a subject. This also works on articles that do not yet exist, which can be especially useful for finding related navboxes or sources, and on citation templates for a work, such as {{Cite/Burnt Offerings}}.

A category page also lists all articles within that category. This is one of the many reasons why categorization is important.