[WikiEN-l] "Trivia" sections in articles

Thu Feb 23 06:41:18 UTC 2006

A quick and illustrative example at [[Brian May]]

May is a vegetarian - ok, that could be put into another section.
May is the tallest member of Queen - I don't see where else that would
fit exactly.
Some character in some computer game is *rumoured* to have been
created after him - junk that deserves to be in the bin.

Personally I don't find much redeeming value in these "Character X in
show/game Y was based on this person" references at all.

Steve

On 2/23/06, Alphax (Wikipedia email) <alphasigmax at gmail.com> wrote:
> Peter Mackay wrote:
> >>From: wikien-l-bounces at Wikipedia.org
> >>[mailto:wikien-l-bounces at Wikipedia.org] On Behalf Of Alphax
> >>(Wikipedia email)
> >
> >
> >
> >>They look ugly and unprofessional. Can we get a policy or
> >>something to suggest that they be renamed "Miscellaneous
> >>information" or merged into the rest of the article?
> >
> >
> > I must respectfully disagree. To many readers, these little facts add colour
> > and interest to the article and can tie the main subject to other, often
> > unexpected subjects. Putting them all in one section at the end of the
> > article is the best place for them, because otherwise we would have to find
> > appropriate places for them in the main body of the text, and it may not
> > always be easy (or concise) to do this.
> >
> > "Trivia" is the accepted name for this sort of material. It is concise and
> > descriptive.
> >
>
> Pray tell me how anything to do with (eg.) the Prime Minister of Britain
> is "trivial"???
>
> > Perhaps the question is just how trivial a factoid needs to be to be
> > included. We don't need every little bit of blather.
> >
>
> So why can't it go into other sections of the article?
>
> --
> Alphax - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Alphax
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