PathfinderWiki:Stub
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This page is affiliated with the Stub project. |
- See also: Template:Stub and Template:Sectstub
A stub is an article or section with a significant amount of missing information. It is a primary goal of the PathfinderWiki to eliminate stubs from the site in an effort to provide the most helpful and comprehensive resource possible.
If you encounter a stub, please add any relevant information to the articles. If it is no longer a stub, remove the {{Stub}} or {{Sectstub}} templates from the article. If an article could still be considered a stub even after editing it, leave the tag for another chronicler to contribute.
For a list of all articles flagged as stubs, see the stubs and pages with stub sections categories. On articles with stubs, check its Meta page for potential lists of unincorporated sources that might help complete the article.
Guidelines and advice
When to add or remove a stub template
There is no policy that defines what a stub is, or when to add or remove a stub template. It is ultimately a subjective decision that can optionally be discussed in pursuit of a consensus decision.
As a rule of thumb, it is generally acceptable to add a {{Stub}} template to an article when it lacks essential information about the subject that is available in an unincorporated canon source, and it is generally acceptable to add a {{Sectstub}} template to a section that lacks significant information.
Essential information cannot be strictly defined, but might include significant details about a subject's location, appearance, history, and purpose. Significant might include details beyond the most basic of facts.
If it's unclear whether it's appropriate to add or remove a stub template from an article, propose doing so on the subject's Talk page before doing so. Other editors can help determine whether the template is appropriate.
- Avoid adding a stub template to an article or section if you cannot confirm the existence of specific sources that could expand the documented canon information about a subject.
- If you can confirm the absence of sources, add them to the {{U}} (unincorporated sources) template on the subject's Meta page. The {{Stub}} template will link to this page automatically if it exists.
- Avoid removing a stub template from an article or section if you cannot confirm whether the information in any known but unincorporated sources is essential or significant.
- If you can confirm the incorporation of sources, strike them from the {{U}} template on the subject's Meta page. If all the sources on a subject's Meta page are incorporated in the article, remove the stub template.
- Avoid repeatedly adding or removing a stub template in response to another editor's decision to do the opposite. This might be construed as edit warring, which can be a violation of wikiquette, and if taken to the extreme can violate PathfinderWiki's disruptive editing policy.
- If you disagree with another editor's decision to add or remove a stub template, raise it on the subject's Talk page. If you sense a pattern of stub behavior that might be inappropriate, raise it on the user's Talk page. Assume good faith in any discussions, as everyone should have the same goal of improving PathfinderWiki's content.
Where to add a stub template
On PathfinderWiki, article stub templates are generally added after the lead section of the article, before the article's first heading, and section stub templates are generally added at the end of a section, before the article's next heading.
Not all short articles are stubs
A stub should contain enough information, such as sources or links to other canon subjects, for other editors to expand upon it. Unincorporated sources can also be listed on a subject's Meta page.
However, some articles might be as short as a single sentence and still encompass all published information about a canon subject. Such articles should not be flagged as stubs unless new sources provide significant additional unincorporated information about the subject.
Unlike Wikipedia, PathfinderWiki often prefers stubby articles over lists. See PathfinderWiki:Scope of the project.
Not all incomplete articles are stubs
Likewise, if an article's unincorporated sources provide only non-essential or insignificant information about the subject, that article does not require a stub template. For example, an article that has unincorporated sources which only corroborate the article's content, or which add minor additional details to the existing content, does not need to be flagged as a stub.
Not all stubs are short articles
As the Pathfinder campaign setting is a living setting, subjects can dramatically change over time or have large amounts of new information included in a single new work. While some of these might be canon changes that must be incorporated, others might be expansions of existing subjects.
If newly revealed information expands subjects with articles that are already thoroughly developed, they can still be flagged as stubs pending the incorporation of this new information.
Flagging for updates vs. flagging stubs
PathfinderWiki also has {{Update}} and {{Outdated}} templates designed to flag articles in need of revision to incorporate new information. Because these specifically request revision and review of an article's contents, these serve a different purpose than stub templates.
- Use stub templates to flag an article or section that lacks information from known unincorporated sources. This can include older sources and information that provide significant context or history, but do not constitute canon updates or revisions to the subject.
- Use update templates to flag an article, section, or assertion when known unincorporated sources necessitate the revision of documented assertions. This should include canon changes to the subject, such as recent canon events or retroactive alterations to the subject's canon status.
Random stubs
To help improve PathfinderWiki, consider editing one of these randomly selected stub articles.