All The Tropes:What Goes Where On the Wiki

Here at All The Tropes we have plenty of different kinds of content. We point out patterns in a work, discuss patterns that may or may not be in that work, share our reactions to fictional happenings and take wild guesses at what happens next -- among other things as explained in Not a Trope. It became clear early on back on TV Tropes that letting all this content mix together was not the best idea, and a rather involved hierarchy of subpages eventually evolved.

In migrating ATT to MediaWiki, we maintained this organizational hierarchy, leveraging MWiki's native support for namespaces in the process. There is very little we chose to eliminate, with the result that -- although it's prettier in some ways, and handled better in the software -- it's still the same somewhat dense web of specialized subpages.

Seeing as all this can get very confusing for new people, and in some cases even veteran tropers, here's a breakdown of what goes where on the wiki.

Works

These are creative products, in all forms of media. Articles in this category:

• Are listed on the various types of trope pages, but may be linked from anywhere.
• May be split into separate pages, based on the extent and complexity of the Franchise.
• Have an ordinary blue link.

Creators

These are the people who make creative works -- authors, actors, directors, voice actors, gaffers, best boys, and so on. For the case of musicians, creator pages commonly are used in place of pages on individual songs or albums -- but works with more storyline like operas and musicals should have their own pages.

• Are listed on the various types of trope pages, but may be linked from anywhere. Can be used anywhere a work can.
• Has a more limited set of subpages, as we don't need to talk about Ho Yay for real people.

Tropes

These are recurring patterns, elements, techniques, and progressions that the creator unquestionably put into the work to add information of some nature or to elicit a particular response or reaction from the audience. In the case of video games and other interactive media, gameplay elements fall in this category as well. Articles from this category:

• Are listed on Works and Creators, but can be linked from anywhere.
• Have a {{trope}} template at the top.
• Are listed and Potholed anywhere. If there are enough examples for a given objective trope, it might have its own subpage.
• Are identified with a green hyperlink.
• Has highest priority in naming, which means that a work may need a clarifying parenthetical, like Heroes (TV series).

There are a few subcategories of tropes.

YMMV Tropes

YMMV stands for "Your Mileage May Vary". YMMV basically breaks down into 2 subcategories, which are

1. All Audience Reactions, without exception; and
2. Items that appear to have the semblance of an objective trope, except in practice they require a significant judgment call to decide whether, how and to what degree they exist in a work. In theory by argument ad absurdum all tropes qualify, but in practice what this means is that it's a trope that is either:
   1. A subject of significant disagreement among tropers or the fandom
   2. Unclear whether or not the trope applies due to failed execution, being limited to implication, or questions of author intent.

Articles from this category:

• Are usually found on the main namespace, but particularly positive or negative ones are found on Sugar Wiki or Darth Wiki, respectively
• In addition to the {{trope}} link on top, has Category:YMMV Trope on the bottom.
• Have example lists filled with works, probably with more Thread Mode than is strictly necessary.
• Are identified with an underlined green hyperlink.
• Are not listed on main pages of works, but instead on their YMMV subpage, except:
  • The YMMV trope is used or referred to In-Universe--for example, if characters have the reaction to a Show Within a Show, or if a potential fan reaction is Discussed or Lampshaded--in which case, there is no doubt that the trope was used.
  • If they are Darth Wiki tropes, they should have no examples anywhere; Darth Wiki should remain a walled garden.
  • If they're one of these tropes and there are more than two examples, the trope should move to a subpage:
    • Moment of Awesome
    • Funny Moments
    • Heartwarming Moments
    • Tear Jerker
    • Nightmare Fuel
    • Fridge Logic, Fridge Brilliance and Fridge Horror
  • Used on a creator page. Creator pages are not allowed to have YMMV items, and YMMV items found on creator pages should simply be deleted rather than moved.

Trivia Tropes

Facts that occur during or around the production of a work but are not elements written to tell the story. Casting choices not relevant to the story, who did what to whom on set, Throw It In, Shout-Outs, etc.

Articles from this category:

• In addition to the {{trope}} link on top, has Category:Trivia Trope on the bottom.
• Normally belong on Trivia subpages.
• Are not listed in main pages, character sheets or YMMV subpages--except when used or referred to In-Universe (for example, with Conversational Troping, or in reference to a Show Within a Show), in which case they go on the main page.
• May be linked from anywhere

Administrivia / Wiki Tropes

Stuff related to the wiki or the Internet in general, this page included. The "tropes" part is only in the meta sense, if you consider All The Tropes a work of fiction.

Articles from this category:

• Are usually found on the main namespace, or have "All The Tropes:" as a prefix on the page name (like this page does). A few older pages may be in the "About/" namespace.
• Administrivia items usually have no menu/banner at the top; wiki tropes may or may not have one.
• Usually have no in-article example lists
• Are listed and Potholed anywhere, though the situation rarely calls for it

Just for Fun

Pages that basically play by their own rules. We keep them around, because... well they're fun.

Articles from this category:

• Spread about evenly among the Main namespace, Sugar Wiki and Darth Wiki
• Sometimes have open-to-editing example lists
• Are listed or Potholed anywhere within the confines of good taste

Exceptions

Seeing as every self-respecting rule system needs exceptions, here's a few we made up just to confuse you:

• If YMMV, Trivia, or Flame Bait items happen In-Universe, are invoked, or are part of a Show Within a Show, we treat them like an objective trope. Make sure to explicitly mention the example is "In-Universe" or "Invoked". It turns off the YMMV flagger and makes sure it doesn't get moved by mistake.
• We're more lenient with links in image captions and page quotes on main pages. If a YMMV applies to the quote or image somehow, it's usually fine. Just make sure you aren't lapsing into gushing, complaining or Take That territory. Links and potholes in the descriptions and related tropes sections are also fine for YMMV and objective trope articles, as long as you keep the overall tone neutral. Not so much for descriptions of works.
• Trivia entries can be listed as examples on pages that describe actors, writers, directors, musicians or other creators in general. These already contain mostly trivia information. There's no sense in splitting them. See also Creator Page Guidelines.
• Certain YMMV or Trivia items may be split into their own subpage and namespace, if the work contains enough examples of them.
• Finally, certain namespaces that are just for fun also don't need to obey these rules. These include Fridge, Headscratchers, Wild Mass Guessing, Haiku, and Analysis. Same goes for the Discussions, Reviews and Live Blogs sections. This does not mean you can do whatever you please there.