User:SOTO/Forum Archive/The Panopticon/@comment-24048868-20200724135354

The wiki's current categorisation of life at the species level is confusing and in desperate need of an overhaul. While I encourage anyone reading this to have a quick glance at the categories in question, the main categories involved are as follows:
 * Category:Species: "Sentient/sapient species from around the universe."
 * This definition of species is wrong, as all life can be divided into species, regardless of intellect. It would be better named Category:Sentient species.


 * Category:Creatures: "Unintelligent creatures that do not exist in the real world."
 * The dictionary definition of creatures is simply "an animal, as distinct from a human being", so the use of the word here to cover non-sentient beings sort of holds up, but it isn't super-relevant to a universe of alien life. I therefore propose a rename to Category:Non-sentient species, as this is a very clear title which still fulfills the desired purpose.


 * Category:Sentient organic life - no description given.
 * This is a strange category, as it holds both individuals and species and is nested within Category:Species by biology. I propose its outright deletion, with the individuals placed within subcategories ofCategory:Individuals, and the species within the proposed Category:Sentient species'''.

So with that said, here is what a category tree would look like, with pre-existing and new subcategories fitting within.
 * Category:Lifeforms
 * This should contain just three categories: Category:Species, Category:Individuals, and Category:Artificial beings. On top of that, it should contain any individual pages that don't fit into those three pages, but can still be classed as lifeforms.
 * Category:Species - should contain all species, either directly or through its subcategories. There should be several subcategories (which already exist) such as Category:Species by ability, Category:Species by appearance, Category:Species by biology. Furthermore, Category:Species by class, (as a biologist, I would say phylum, but this is a very Earth-centric term) Category:Sentient species, and Category:Non-sentient species should be created and will house the following:
 * Category:Animal species (nested within Category:Species by class)
 * Category:Sentient animal species
 * Category:Non-sentient animal species
 * Category:Plant species - Same subcategories as animals. One of which is currently known as Category:Sentient vegetation for some unfathomable reason.
 * Category:Fungus species - Ditto. One of which is known as Category:Sentient fungi
 * Category:Silicon-based species - Subcategories depend on Tardis:Rule of three
 * Category:Crystalline species - Ditto
 * Category: Bacterial species - Perhaps nested in a microorganism category. I'm unsure if there have been any sentient microbes in Doctor Who fiction, but it seems likely.
 * Category: Viral species - Ditto

To summarise: I propose that 1. Category:Species is opened up to non-sentient lifeforms, 2. The creation/conversion of categories which house sentient and non-sentient lifeforms, 3. Category:Sentient organic life's deletion.

I encourage criticism and suggestions related to my thoughts, and once a finalised form has been admin-approved, I'd be happy to carry out all the changes required (barring category renames), although any help would be appreciated.