Category talk:Set index articles on plants

Delete this Category?

What should this category handle? I just moved several pages better categorized in Category:Plant common names out of here. Homonymous scientific name remain. Is there a better category for homonyms? I've seen some homonyms handled as DABs. Are there any potential set indices on plants that cover something besides common names or homonymous scientific names applied to several plants that a set index on plant category should cover? Plantdrew (talk) 05:49, 24 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Set indices are distinct from disambiguation pages in that on a set index article, a little (or a lot) more information is shared about why the entries share the same name. If the remaining entries were made into disambiguation pages, the explanations would have to be shortened and only one blue link should be given. This category was created after I used {{SIA|plants}} on one set index article since I thought a dab page inadequate. I can't think of anything else that could potentially be included in this category. Rkitko ^(talk) 12:52, 24 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I (kinda) get the SIA/DAB distinction, and have been busy converting "DAB"s on plant common names to SIAs with Template:Plant common name, which places them in Category:Plant common names; I suppose "Set indices on plants" could be a parent of "Plant common names" (although that category needs some cleaning; not all the members are SIAs; I'd like to get the redirects out and categorized with Template:R to scientific name). Would it be useful to make "Plant common names" a child of this category? Maybe another a child like Category:Botanical homonyms for the scientific names? I've come across several "DAB"s for homonyms that could be recategorized as SIAs, but how should something like Fremontia be handled? Fremontia is classified as a DAB, but probably includes too much info for a DAB; but it can't be a SIA since it includes some things that are not plants.Plantdrew (talk) 17:30, 25 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

That sounds like a reasonable way to handle this. Both this category and Category:Plant common names were created in the same month in 2009 and I don't recall if Una and I knew that we were sort of on the same track, so the category structure never got resolved. So sure, the homonyms could be moved to a new set index category with a new template all their own mirroring the common name structure and this category could be the parent of those two. And we could periodically check on it to see if anyone has used to the common technique of {{SIA|plants}} that would categorize the article here, discourage that if it happens with any frequency, and then diffuse them into the appropriate subcategory. There are also a few candidates for set index status in Category:Nepenthes by synonymy. Fremontia would probably have to remain as a dab since it's not a set of the same item. The amount of information there is pushing it, but it's fairly minimal and could slide by as just providing context so people choose the right article. Rkitko ^(talk) 00:22, 26 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]

I was purging entries in Category:Plant common names that weren't SIAs, and got about 1/3 through the category. Now I'm thinking a more elegant way to categorize common names is needed. Wikipedia has plant common names presented as titles in 4 different ways:

1 Redirects, categorized at Category:Redirects to scientific names
2 Set indices, categorized at Category:Plant common names
3 Disambiguations, categorized as Disambiguations, sometimes by using the plant parameter, which also adds Category:Plant common names
4 Full articles on plants titled by common name (e.g. Apple), common names not categorized

Ultimately, perhaps Category:Plant common names should include all of #1-3 which are entries about a common name (categorizing #4 is tricky, as the namespace entry is not strictly about the application of the common name, and a category appropriate for this case was recently deleted). I should move this discussion to Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Plants, but I've got a couple questions.

I'm now thinking Category:Plant common names (which is a very general category) probably shouldn't only contains SIAs included via Template:Plant common name. If I modify the Plant common name template to add the present category (Category:Set indices on plants) to articles, will this category automatically propagate to all articles presently using the template, or would bot intervention be required? Getting back to child categories, would it be worth having a Category:Set indices on plant common names as a child of this one? Plantdrew (talk) 03:58, 26 May 2013 (UTC)[reply]