Editing Policy:Notability

{{Policy}}
{{nutshell|This page documents what is and is not sufficiently notable to warrant inclusion on the Sarna.net BattleTechWiki, and how to include it.}}

==BattleTech Information==
Every bit of information that has to do with [[BattleTech]] warrants inclusion on the Sarna.net BTW. This includes, but is not limited to, real-world aspects of the BattleTech game and gaming universe such as people and firms who have contributed to BattleTech, as well as all aspects of the fictional setting including, but not limited to, fictional places, characters, items, technology or events.

Real-world information is pertinent to BattleTech only if there is some deeper, direct connection. Examples of edge cases include the real-world Admiral [[Takeo Kurita (20th c.)|Takeo Kurita]] or the ''[[seppuku]]'' ritual, which have no intrinsic connection to BattleTech, but do feature prominently in the fictional setting.

===Non-related Information===
While it is understood and appreciated that some aspects of the BattleTech universe share similarities with other genres (especially science fiction), Sarna.net BTW 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 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckaroo_Banzai Buckaroo Banzai] is with [[Team Banzai]].)

==Stub Articles==
Many articles may only have very little information pertaining to the subject. Such articles are referred to as "Stub" articles, and may be tagged with '''<nowiki>{{stub}}</nowiki>'''.
:''Note: '''In a deliberate change to previous user consensus, Stub Articles are now deemed acceptable.''' Whereas these were discouraged in the past, and summary list articles were proposed instead, User Consensus in early 2019 decreed that everything should have its own article, and that the Sarna.net BTW should abandon the practice of referring to subjects as "minor". In this regard, "Stub" articles are now preferred over having no article at all, and all summary list articles should be turned into individual articles for their individual entries as a general rule.''

==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 is that an article, when initially completed, must provide 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.

"Sub-stub" 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 (e.g. "a military unit", "an Inner Sphere company", "some character"); they are less useful than even 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 Sarna.net BTW.

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 may tag the page with the '''<nowiki>{{sub-stub}}</nowiki>'''. In doing so, the article is automatically included in the [[:Category:Sub-stub|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 enhance the article before deletion. The same editor is also authorized to remove the '''<nowiki>{{sub-stub}}</nowiki>''' tag. As long as the [[Policy:Three-revert rule|three-revert rule]] is not violated–that same template may be re-applied at any time unless the article was sufficiently improved. Likewise, an editor may respond to the sub-stub template removal by adding the article deletion template ('''<nowiki>{{deletion|1}}</nowiki>'''), prompting a discussion regarding the article's value and possible immediate deletion, once [[Policy:Consensus|consensus]] has been achieved.

==Special Cases==
===Military Units===
When it comes to military organization, the BattleTech setting emphasizes the [[regiment]] as the largest regular field formation. Brigades and larger formations exist in BattleTech, but are typically administrative in nature and often defined by their constituent regiments. Similarly, there are few if any independent military formations (outside of [[mercenary units]]) smaller than a regiment that have no parent formation.

For the purpose of Sarna.net BTW, this means that the core article about a given military formation will usually be about a regiment (or otherwise, a [[Cluster]] under [[Clan]] doctrine or a [[Level IV]] under [[ComStar]]/[[Word of Blake]] doctrine), with its constituent battalions, companies and lances (or other sub-units) listed in the regiment article but not usually given their own articles. Exceptions are possible for particularly noteworthy sub-units.<br />Conversely, formations larger than regimental size should also have their own articles, but would break down their sub-units only to the regimental level (with links to all sub-units listed).

Mercenary units, by contrast, should be covered in a single article by default, regardless of their size, though for units larger than a regiment, individual articles should be created for each regiment either as a redirect to the main unit article or as a more detailed article on the regiment in question if sufficient information is available.

===Notable 'Mechs and Pilots===
Going back to the original ''[[Technical Readout: 3025]]'', it has been long-standing BattleTech tradition to name individual notable pilots or vehicles for a given unit in [[Technical Readout]]s. This was carried over to Sarna.net BTW in the form of [[:Category: Notable MechWarriors and pilots|individual categories for notable pilots]] of each type of [['Mech]], [[aerospace fighter]], or other combat vehicle, and a [[Category:Individual 'Mechs|separate category for notable individual 'Mechs]].

A pilot or individual vehicle is notable if either expressly mentioned as such in a source (typically, a Technical Readout), or otherwise if the pilot is both a somewhat prominent character in BattleTech fiction and also strongly associated with the vehicle in question, and vice versa. For example, [[Kai Allard-Liao]] could be considered a notable ''[[Centurion (BattleMech)|Centurion]]'' pilot because he was himself famous and also piloted the famous ''[[Yen-Lo-Wang]]'' which is a notable 'Mech in its own right; but he is not a notable ''[[Hatchetman]]'' pilot even though he happened to pilot a ''Hatchetman'' in what was probably his most famous single action.
[[Category:Policies|Notability]]