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Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Speedy

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Speedy renaming or speedy merging of categories may be requested only if they meet a speedy criterion, for example WP:C2D (consistency with main article's name) or WP:C2C (consistency with established category tree names). Please see instructions below.

  1. Determine which speedy criterion applies
  2. Tag category page with {{subst:cfr-speedy|New name}} or {{subst:cfm-speedy|Merge target}}
  3. List request along with speedy criteria reason under "Current requests" below on this page

Please note that a speedy request must state which of the narrowly defined criteria strictly applies. Hence, any other non-speedy criteria, even "common sense" or "obvious", may be suitable points, but only at a full discussion at WP:Categories for discussion.

Requests may take 48 hours to process after listing if there are no objections. This delay allows other users to review the request to ensure that it meets the speedy criteria for speedy renaming or merging, and to raise objections to the proposed change.

Categories that qualify for speedy deletion (per Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion, e.g., "patent nonsense", "recreation") can be tagged with the regular speedy tags, such as {{db|reason}} with no required delay. Empty categories can be deleted if they remain empty 7 days after tagging with {{db-empty}}. Renaming under C2E may also be processed instantly (at the discretion of an administrator) as it is a variation on G7.

To oppose a speedy request you must record your objection within 48 hours of the nomination. Do this by inserting immediately under the nomination:

  • Oppose, (the reasons for your objection). ~~~~

You will not be able to do this by editing the page WP:Categories for discussion. Instead, you should edit the section WP:Categories for discussion#Add requests for speedy renaming and merging here or the page WP:Categories for discussion/Speedy#Add requests for speedy renaming and merging here (WP:CFDS). Be aware that in the course of any discussion, the nomination and its discussion may get moved further down the page purely for organizational convenience – you may need to search WP:CFDS to find the new location. Participate in any ongoing discussion, but unless you withdraw your opposition, a knowledgeable person may eventually bring forward the nomination and discussion to become a regular CFD discussion. At that stage you may add further comments, but your initial opposition will still be considered. However, if after seven days there has been no support for the request, and no response from the nominator, the request may be dropped from further consideration as a speedy.

Contested speedy requests become stale, and can be untagged and delisted after 7 days of inactivity. Optionally, if the discussion may be useful for future reference, it may be copied to the category talk page, with a section heading and {{moved discussion from|[[WP:CFDS]]|2=~~~~}}. If the nominator wants to revive the process, this may be requested at WP:Categories for discussion (CfD) in accordance with its instructions.

If you belatedly notice and want to oppose a speedy move that has already been processed, contact one of the admins who process the Speedy page. If your objection seems valid, they may reverse the move, or start a full CFD discussion.

Speedy criteria

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The category-specific criteria for speedy renaming, or merging are strictly limited to:

C2A: Typographic and spelling fixes

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  • Correction of spelling errors and capitalization fixes. Differences between British and American spelling (e.g. Harbours → Harbors) are not considered errors; however if the convention of the relevant category tree is to use one form over the other then a rename may be appropriate under C2C. If both spellings exist as otherwise-identical category names, they should be merged.
  • Appropriate conversion of hyphens into en dashes or vice versa (e.g. Category:Canada-Russia relations → Category:Canada–Russia relations).
  • Correction of obvious grammatical errors, such as a missing conjunction (e.g. Individual frogs toads → Individual frogs and toads). This includes pluralizing a noun in the name of a set category, but not when disagreement might reasonably be anticipated as to whether the category is a topic or set category.

C2B: Consistency with established Wikipedia naming conventions and practices

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C2C: Consistency with established category tree names

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Bringing a category into line with established naming conventions for that category tree, or into line with the various "x by y", "x of y", or "x in y" categorization conventions specified at Wikipedia:Category names

  • This should be used only where there is no room for doubt that the category in question is being used for the standard purpose instead of being a potential subcategory.
  • This criterion should be applied only when there is no ambiguity or doubt over the existence of a category naming convention. Such a convention must be well defined and must be overwhelmingly used within the tree. If this is not the case then the category in question must be brought forward to a full CfD nomination.
  • This criterion will not apply in cases where the category tree observes distinctions in local usage (e.g. Category:Transportation in the United States and Category:Transport in the United Kingdom).

C2D: Consistency with main article's name

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  • Renaming a topic category to match its eponymous page (e.g. Category:The Beatles and The Beatles).
  • This applies only if the related page's current name (and by extension, the proposed name for the category) is:
    • unambiguous (so it generally does not apply to proposals to remove a disambiguator from the category name, even when the main article is the primary topic of its name, i.e. it does not contain a disambiguator); and
    • uncontroversial, either because of longstanding stability at that particular name, or because the page was just moved (i) after a page move discussion resulted in explicit consensus to rename, or (ii) unilaterally to reflect an official renaming which is verified by one or more citations (provided in the nomination). C2D does not apply if the result would be contrary to guidelines at WP:CATNAME, or there is any ongoing discussion about the name of the page or category, or there has been a recent discussion concerning any of the pages that resulted in a no consensus result, or it is controversial in some other way.
  • This criterion may also be used to rename a set category in the same circumstances, where the set is defined by a renamed topic; e.g. players for a sports team, or places in a district.
  • Before nominating a category to be renamed per WP:C2D, consider whether it makes more sense to move the article instead of the category.

C2E: Author request

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  • This criterion applies only if the author of a category requests or agrees to renaming within six months of creating the category.
  • The criterion does not apply if other editors have populated or changed the category since it was created. "Other editors" includes bots that populated the category, but excludes an editor working with the author on the renaming.

C2F: One eponymous page

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  • This criterion applies if the category contains only an eponymous article, list, template or media file, provided that the category has not otherwise been emptied shortly before the nomination. The default outcome is an upmerge to the parent categories, where applicable. Nominations should use {{subst:cfm-speedy}} (speedy merger) linking to a suitable parent category, or to another appropriate category (e.g. one that is currently on the article). When listing the nomination at WP:CFDS, you must manually add all the appropriate parent categories as targets if the member page is not already in them.

Admin instructions

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When handling the listings:

  1. Make sure that the listing meets one of the above criteria.
  2. With the exception of C2E, make sure that it was both listed and tagged at least 48 hours previously.
  3. Make sure that there is no opposition to the listing; if there is a discussion, check if the opposing user(s) ended up withdrawing their opposition.

If the listing meets these criteria, simply have the category renamed or merged – follow the instructions at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Administrator instructions, in the section "If the decision is to Rename, Merge, or Delete"; to list it for the bots, use the Speedy moves section.

Applying speedy criteria in full discussions

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  • A nomination to merge or rename, brought forward as a full CfD, may be speedily closed if the closing administrator is satisfied that:
    • The nomination clearly falls within the scope of one of the criteria listed here, and
    • No objections have been made within 48 hours of the initial nomination.
  • If both these conditions are satisfied, the closure will be regarded as having been a result of a speedy nomination. If any objections have been raised then the CfD nomination will remain in place for the usual 7-day discussion period, to be decided in accordance with expressed consensus.

Add requests for speedy renaming and merging here

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Use the following format on a new line at the beginning of the list:

* [[:Category:old name]] to [[:Category:new name]] – Reason ~~~~

If the current name should be redirected rather than deleted, use:

* REDIRECT [[:Category:old name]] to [[:Category:new name]] – Reason ~~~~

To note that human action is required, e.g. updating a template that populates the category, use:

* NO BOTS [[:Category:old name]] to [[:Category:new name]] – Reason ~~~~

Remember to tag the category page with: {{subst:cfr-speedy|New name}}

A request may be completed if it is more than 48 hours old; that is, if the time stamp shown is earlier than 13:03, 29 October 2025 (UTC). Currently, there are 273 open requests (refresh).

Current requests

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Please add new requests at the top of the list, preferably with a link to the parent category (in case of C2C) or relevant article (in case of C2D).

Opposed requests

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  • Category:International sports competitions hosted in West Berlin to Category:International sports competitions in West Berlin – C2C: Incorrect either way, convention adopted (though perhaps never properly agreed upon) is 'hosted by' for countries and simply 'in' for cities. Not sure about having such a layer for West Berlin when unified Berlin currently does not (nor East Berlin) but that's for another forum... Crowsus (talk) 22:32, 24 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Strong oppose. Nominator does not know history. West Berlin was a separate international entity (and not part of West Germany). East Berlin was part of East Germany. SFBB (talk) 23:29, 24 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @SFBB, do not remove the speedy notice from the category page until the process is completed one way or the other. The article on West Berlin suggests that it was essentially part of West Germany. Regardless of that, why does that mean the category should not be renamed to remove the word "hosted"? As Crowsus explained, no other categories use the format "hosted in". It should be "hosted by" or just "in". Mclay1 (talk) 00:03, 25 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    @Mclay1 Of course, West Berlin wasn't part of West Germany...and this was ferociously contested by East Germany and other Eastern block countries. Just read the first paragraph of West Berlin or about how close was East Germany to boycott the FIFA World Cup 1974 just to mention a well-known example. Inhabitants of West Berlin were mostly West Germans (because of ius sanguini and West Germany considering every German: be it for the Sarre, East Germany, or West Berlin to be citizens of West Germany), but in was ruled completely separately from West Germany. Mock federeations were cretead to organize international sports events in West Berlin and so to avoid a boycott by Eastern European countries, and so on.
    Regarding the remarks about the word "hosted", I have no problems (but that should not be discussed here). SFBB (talk) 00:14, 25 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    'Hosted by' would be fine for me as a starting point since SFBB is viewing WB as a national entity. There are discussions elsewhere about that concept but this is just about getting the wording right. Crowsus (talk) 00:21, 25 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    We're simply trying to standardise the naming format of the category. It's such an insignificant change that it doesn't seem to warrant a full CfD. If everyone is fine with treating West Berlin as a country, then Category:International sports competitions hosted by West Berlin is the correct format. Mclay1 (talk) 00:25, 25 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    I had chosen for "hosted in" because the situation was extremely complicated and changed over time, and it also varied depending on the sport and the level of pressure exerted by Eastern European countries. As an "umbrella" wording, I think "hosted in" is more comprehensive and accurate than "hosted by", but I would not oppose homogenization. Anyways, this is not a discussion for speedy. SFBB (talk) 18:14, 25 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    If you want it to go to a full CfD, it can, but this is definitely a discussion we can have at speedy. Mclay1 (talk) 00:26, 26 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
    Alternatively maybe it would be better if I cancel this nomination until the matter of how West Berlin should be treated for categorisation has been resolved elsewhere, then it will be clear which of the preferred conventions this should be tweaked to. Crowsus (talk) 23:23, 28 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

On hold pending other discussion

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  • None currently

Moved to full discussion

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  • Oppose — As was the case with the recently-moved Skagway categories, the main article clumsily conflates separate topics (a borough and a once-incorporated city turned CDP resulting from the borough's incorporation) which are and would be presented as separate articles everywhere else on the encyclopedia. Yakutat would refer to the community, which is different from the borough (borough, CDP). The lack of willingness to fix this is hardly a justification for only making the situation worse by confusing the difference across namespaces. The nominator's efforts to clean up this category tree has already resulted in a lot of arbitrary categorization as it relates to their perceived definition of various communities. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions 03:59, 14 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]
Next Step Thanks for the feedback. Normally, when a speedy is opposed, I moved it to a full CFD discussion but here it sounds like the root concern is at the article level. I just want the category to match the main article, but have no opinion on whether the latter should be renamed or split.
@RadioKAOS: Would you be interested in opening an RM and/or split proposal at Talk:Yakutat, Alaska as the next step? - RevelationDirect (talk) 21:35, 14 October 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Ready for deletion

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Check Category:Empty categories awaiting deletion for out of process deletions. In some cases, these will need to be nominated for discussion and the editor who emptied the category informed that they should follow the WP:CFD process.

Once the renaming has been completed, copy and paste the listing to the Ready for deletion section of Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working/Manual.