Wikipedia:Article series

Please note that the following is a description of the way things are, not the way they should be, nor does this page describe policy. Please experiment with different ways of organizing related articles, and leave a note either here or on the talk page so that others can see and evaluate methods.

In the chaotic (i.e. normal) manner of development on Wikipedia, article series have appeared of late. There's been little discussion about when it is appropriate to use these series, or how to go about doing so. They do have the potential to be an extremely useful method of tying together information on very broad subjects. It would be wonderful if, for example, a reader could go to Israeli-Palestinian conflict and see a table that provides links to all the major issues surrounding that idea. This meta-page is simply an organizing place for information about series; currently, it appears as though history-related articles are by far the most common recipients of an article series. The standard format for a series box seems to be:

This article at the top of the History of the United States series.

Pre-Colonial America

Colonial America (1493-1776)

History of the United States (1776-1865)

The coming of the Civil War

The Civil War

History of the United States (1865-1918)

History of the United States (1918-1945)

History of the United States (1945-1964)

History of the United States (1964-1980)

History of the United States (1980-present)

Demographic history of the United States

Military history of the United States

This is a parent article, meaning that it provides an overview of each of the subjects in the subarticles. (Please note that in this context, subarticle does not confer any changes in the article's status in the software, and subarticles should stand on their own as a description of a particular phenomenon)

In one of the subarticles, the format changes to link to the parent article in the title at the top (This article is part of the History of the United States series.); the header referring to the article in question is changed from a link to a bold title.

This article is part of the History of the United States series.

Colonial America

History of the United States (1776-1865)

The coming of the Civil War

The Civil War

History of the United States (1865-1918)

History of the United States (1918-1945)

History of the United States (1945-1964)

History of the United States (1964-1980)

History of the United States (1980-present)

Demographic history of the United States

Military history of the United States

It is also possible to place an article in two different series. For example, Music of the United States is the parent article for the Music of the United States series, and is also a subarticle of the Culture of the United States series.

This article is an overview of the Music of the United States series.

Roots music: before 1940

1940s and 50s

1960s and 70s

1980s to the present

African-American music

Native American music

Latin, Tejano, Hawaiian, Cajun, Puerto Rican and other immigrants

This article is also part of the Culture of the United States series.

Cinema

Folklore

Music

Dance

Literature

Cuisine

Poetry

Architecture

Visual arts

List of article series in the Wikipedia:

History Series

• Cold War
• History of Afghanistan
• History of Albania
• History of Algeria
• History of Australia
• History of Brazil
• History of Cambodia
• History of China
• History of Egypt
• History of France
• History of Germany
• History of Mongolia
• History of Poland
• History of Romania
• History of Russia
• History of Seattle
• History of South Asia
• History of Sweden
• History of the United States
• History of computing
• History of the English Bible

Non-History Series

• Culture of the United States
• Electronic music
• Heavy metal music
• Jesus
• Music of the United Kingdom
• Music of the United States
• New Imperialism
• European colonization of the Americas
• History of the English penny

See also: History of Japan appears ripe for a series to be developed...