Talk:Waronker

Surname pages and disambiguation pages

Some repeated edits to this page have hinged on whether it is a disambiguation page. Allow me to elucidate.

On English Wikipedia, {{surname}} pages are not strictly disambiguation pages. They are what are called Set index articles (see WP:SETINDEX, which makes it clear that a “set index article is not a disambiguation page”). As for formatting rules, WP:SETINDEX makes it clear that “A set index need not follow the formatting rules for disambiguation pages; however many do by convention. A set index article is meant for information as well as navigation: just like a normal list article, it can have metadata and extra information about each entry.” So surname pages may follow a less restrictive format than that prescribed for disambiguation pages if there is good reason for doing so.

An interesting adjunct to this is found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MediaWiki_talk:Disambiguationspage#Set_index_article_templates where a list of "set index article templates" is appended to the defining list of disambiguation page types; as it explains, they are not disambiguation pages, but their names are added to the list because some bots were removing interwiki links between languages that do regard surname pages as disambiguation pages and English wikipedia, which doesn't. As it says, “interwiki bots consider set index articles to be "disambig similar", they allow interwiki links between set index articles here on the English Wikipedia and disambig pages on other Wikipedias”

Both User:RepublicanJacobite and User:121.117.182.100 have been editing in good faith, and I hope this explanation will cast light on the rather subtle distinction which is at the root of their disagreement and facilitate a resolution.

Best regards, Hebrides (talk) 07:12, 17 January 2011 (UTC)