Policy:Notability

BattleTech Information

Every bit of information that has to do with BattleTech warrants inclusion on the BattleTechWiki.

This includes, but is not limited to, fictional places, characters, items, technology or events within the fictional universe, as well as real companies and people that have owned, licensed, or worked on BattleTech.

In the event that an article about a given subject cannot be expanded beyond a paragraph due to a lack of source material, it is suggested to include the information within another article where appropriate, or to create a list of similar, minor topics, such as grouping very minor characters into a single list article (see Magistracy of Canopus/Minor Characters or Vost Lance for an example). Where appropriate, redirects can be created that point to the entry in the list article; it is possible to include the redirect in the appropriate categories (see Garber Vost for an example).

Note that it is always possible to create an article on the topic later, if and when more information becomes available in the future. Also note, that an article should never be created if facts that pertain to that subject are not available to be added. This includes creating empty articles, pages where a name for an article has been 'reserved' but no relevant information has been provided. These sub-stubs are to be deleted within seven days of being identified. A page limited to only empty templates, lists of source materials and/or external links does not provide enough material to warrant article status. To encourage substantial article creation and cross-linking between pages, redlinks are the preferred manner of indicating a needed article.

Sub-Stub Pages

While it is one of BattleTechWiki's stronger philosophies that all things BattleTech rate placement on the site, a bare minimum of notability is required. That 'minimum notability' rule is that an article, when initially completed, must provide some in-universe information about the subject of the article that encompasses more than just the name itself. In other words, articles must serve a greater purpose than simply providing evidence of existence of the article's subject.

It is not the intention of the BTW project to 'fill in' all redlinks so that they are no longer red, but instead provide a minimum amount of information to the individual reader whom has followed that link to the article. 'Empty articles' are those that list no information, or extremely limited information, such as only a reference, a mostly-empty infobox or a seemingly obvious statement (ex: "a military unit", "an Inner Sphere company", "some character"). These 'empty articles' are considered by BTW to be 'sub-stubs', in that they are less notable than extremely simple articles ('stubs') and provide no pertinent information to the article's perceived subject. If the subject of the article is not notable enough to be provided an acceptable amount of context by the initiating Editor, then it is not notable enough for inclusion on BattleTechWiki.

In order to prevent the proliferation of these sub-stubs, but acknowledging that an article may not yet be completed by the initiating Editor, when a later Editor comes across a page that clearly fails to meet article status, they are authorized to tag the page with the {{sub-stub}}. In doing so, the article is automatically included in the Sub-stub category, where it must be allowed at least 7 days (from tagging) before an Admin may delete it. Those seven days allow any Editor the necessary time to 'rescue' the article before deletion. The same Editor is also authorized to remove the {{sub-stub}} tag (once the 'rescue' has been completed). However, articles ignored throughout that seven day period, upon the full passing of the time period, may be deleted by an Admin without further discussion.

Sub-stubs may also be saved from the immediate seven-day deletion by simply having the template removed, but -as long as the three-revert rule is not violated- that same template may be re-applied at any time. Likewise, an Editor may respond to the sub-stub template removal by adding the article deletion template ({{deletion|1}}), prompting a discussion regarding the article's value and possible immediate deletion, once consensus has been achieved.

To re-iterate, this aspect of the notability policy is meant to allow for all potential BattleTech subjects to be represented, but still provide a measure of distinction and value to articles included, thereby protecting the overall project's integrity.

Non-related Information

While it is understood and appreciated that some aspects of the BattleTech universe share some unintentional similarities with other genres (especially science fiction), BattleTechWiki is not the place to provide comparisons or trivial references to other non-BattleTech storylines. An example of this would be an entry with a planet that may share the name with a noted planet in the Star Trek or Star Wars universes; the information would not be relevant to the in-character article of the BattleTech subject. (An acceptable exception to this policy would be an instance where the real-world background of a BattleTech subject was the direct and referenced result (or acknowledgment) of some external subject, such as Buckaroo Banzai is with Team Banzai.)