Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Trivia sections: Difference between revisions

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This guideline is a part of the English Wikipedia's Manual of Style.

It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

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[[:|WP:TRIVIA
WP:AVTRIV
WP:TRIV]]

This page in a nutshell: Lists of facts, as found in trivia sections, are better presented within the context of the text rather than in a section of unrelated items.

Avoid organizing articles as lists of isolated facts regarding the topic. A number of articles contain lists of isolated facts, often grouped into their own section labelled "Trivia", "Notes" (not to be confused with "Notes" sections which store footnotes), "Facts", "Miscellanea", "Cultural references", "Cultural depictions", "Subject in popular culture", "Other information", etc. We often refer to these informally as trivia sections. This style guideline deals with the way in which these facts are represented in an article, not with whether or not the information contained within them is actually trivia, or if trivia belongs in Wikipedia.

Note that this guideline does not advise the wholesale removal of trivia sections. It admits their value in article construction and describes a process that can be used to integrate this information into the article over time. There is no implicit value judgement that "trivia is bad."

Rationale

Lists of miscellaneous information can be useful for developing a new article, as it sets a low bar for novice contributors to add information without having to keep in mind article organization or presentation - just tack a new fact on to the list. However, as articles grow, these lists become increasingly disorganized and difficult to read. It is ideal to provide a logical grouping and ordering of facts that gives an integrated presentation providing context and smooth transitions. Furthermore, some items may add an unwanted distraction from the article, and the existence of a section for miscellaneous information may encourage the addition or re-addition of unwanted items.

Guidance

See also Wikipedia:Handling trivia#Practical steps (essay)

Whenever you see a "trivia section", take a look at each fact and consider how you might integrate it into the larger text, whether by inserting it into a section, adding a new section, or creating a more targeted list of closely-related items, such as Cameos or Continuity errors. Creating subsections to group items in the list may be helpful in the search for an ideal presentation. Integrating these facts may require additional research to establish further context, locate suitable references to cite, or identify relationships with other facts.

Sections which contain facts to be merged into the main body of the article are a list of "facts pending integration" or "facts lacking sufficient context for integration". Don't simply remove it, but seek to minimize it. Some trivia is especially tangential or irrelevant, and may not warrant inclusion at all.

Once a trivia section is empty, it should be removed, but where such a section is re-added with new content, the integration process should begin again.

Other policies apply

Keep in mind, however, that "trivia" content is not exempt from our rules and style guidelines. Wikipedia is not supposed to be a dumping ground for speculation, rumor, hearsay, invented "facts", or libel — continue to follow Wikipedia:Neutral point of view, Wikipedia:No original research, Wikipedia:Cite your sources, and Wikipedia:Biographies of living people. If you have doubts about whether your fact is suitable for inclusion, place it on the talk page instead where other interested contributors can help consider its inclusion and locate suitable references.

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 '''Avoid organizing articles as lists of isolated facts regarding the topic.''' A number of articles contain lists of isolated facts, often grouped into their own section labelled "Trivia", "Notes" (not to be confused with "Notes" sections which store [[Wikipedia:Footnotes|footnotes]]), "Facts", "Miscellanea", "Cultural references", "Cultural depictions", "Subject in popular culture", "Other information", etc. We often refer to these informally as trivia sections. This [[Wikipedia:Manual of Style|style guideline]] deals with the way in which these facts are represented in an article, not with whether or not the information contained within them is actually [[Wikipedia:Handling trivia|trivia]], or if trivia belongs in Wikipedia.
+Note that this guideline does '''not''' advise the wholesale removal of trivia sections. It admits their value in article construction and describes a process that can be used to integrate this information into the article over time. There is no implicit value judgement that "trivia is bad."
 ==Rationale==