Wikipedia:Fancruft
This is an neutral point of view policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
This page in a nutshell: Avoid including information that is trivial and of importance only to a small population of fans. In-universe topics must demonstrate out-of-universe notability. |
Fancruft is a term sometimes used on Wikipedia to imply that a selection of content is important only to a small population of enthusiastic fans of the subject in question. The term is a neologism derived from the older hacker term cruft, describing obsolete code that accumulates in a program.
While "fancruft" is often a succinct and frank description of such accumulations, it also implies that the content is unimportant and that the contributor's judgment of the topic's importance is clouded by them being a fan. Thus, use of this term may be regarded as
Policy relating to fancruft
As with most of the issues of
Generally speaking, the perception that an article is fancruft can be a contributing factor in its nomination and deletion, but it is not the actual reason for deletion. Rather, the term fancruft is a shorthand for content which one or more editors consider unencyclopedic, possibly to the extent of violating policies on verifiability, neutrality, or original research.
Usage
The use of the term implies that an editor does not regard the material in question as encyclopedic, either because the entire topic is unknown outside fan circles, or because too much detail is present that will bore, distract or confuse a non-fan, when its exclusion would not significantly harm the factual coverage as a whole.
Some users consider this a pejorative term and see it as insulting to well-meaning contributors. They might likewise consider use of the term in forums such as articles for deletion inappropriate, but it is, nevertheless, in common use there. However, this usage is not a substitute for a well-reasoned argument based on existing Wikipedia policies.
Articles about fictional works
The question of what material is encyclopedic is likely to remain hotly debated. That said, the issue becomes more muddled when the topic is (part of) a piece of fiction. The term "fancruft" is most commonly applied to fictional works and pop culture.
It is, of course, possible to write in great detail on fiction in a way that is factually accurate, espouses the neutral point of view and is not original research, but historically, encyclopedias do this only in the context of representing critical points of view (e.g. when engaged in literary criticism).
Some works of fiction are particularly likely to inspire articles that may be criticized as fancruft, particularly works with a great number of characters, places, events, and important objects, such as the
Popularity
Debates often arise between contributors who point out that the topic on which they are writing is popular (and thus important) and those who believe that, regardless of a fictional universe's popularity, having well over 500 articles devoted to specific episodes of The Simpsons, an American animated television series and a single article on Paradise Lost makes Wikipedia appear biased towards pop culture and against "serious" subjects such as the Western canon. Of course, as Wikipedia is a wiki, its materials can be said to reflect readers' priorities, since anyone may add more information about their preferred subjects and become an editor. However, the issue of systemic bias is a real one, as is the issue of bias in the form of deletion of verifiable material on the vague grounds of it being "unencyclopedic."
Tone and focus
One of the major aspects of fancruft articles is that they tend to focus entirely on their subject's fictional relevance, as opposed to their place in the real world. Articles on episodes of television series, or fictional characters in movies are more likely to be labeled fancruft if they are primarily summaries, biographies of made-up people, or collections of trivia that relate to the continuity of a series rather than its critical or social reception. In fact, an article should not be entirely composed of summaries or biographies of fictional characters. Articles can often avoid being labeled fancruft if they avoid focusing on their subjects as fiction. See
Positive aspects
There is also a positive side to the act of describing an article as containing cruft; those who would keep the information in it are stimulated to produce a better article to avoid deletion, or merge several unviably small articles into one with clearer focus. Concentrating, say, minor characters in a series can be good for them, as giving them what some may consider the "appropriate" amount of attention may avoid their complete removal from the encyclopedia.
Approach
If the user comes across fancruft, an approach is to
In the context of
Instead of immediately listing a potential
See also
- Template:Overly detailed
- User:GlassCobra/Essays/What Wikipedia is
- Wikipedia:Alternative outlets, for places outside Wikipedia where subjects of fan interest may be documented more properly
- Wikipedia:Cruftcruft
- Wikipedia:Discussing cruft
- Wikipedia:Don't call things cruft
- Wikipedia:"In popular culture" content
- Wikipedia:Listcruft
- Wikipedia:Manual of Style (writing about fiction)
- Wikipedia:Notability (fiction)
- Wikipedia:Out of scope
- Wikipedia:Please do not bite the newcomers
- Wikipedia:Pokémon test
- Wikipedia:Too much detail
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