Wikipedia:Template index/Category namespace

These notes are generally placed on top of category pages.

For notes about the deletion and renaming of categories, see Wikipedia:Template messages/Deletion.

Additional templates for category pages can be found in Category:Category namespace templates and its subcategories.

Table of contents templates

For more table of contents templates, see Wikipedia:Template messages/Compact tables of contents.

What to type	What it makes
{{category TOC}} Talk

Special types of categories

What to type	What it makes
{{set category}} Talk, links	This is a set category. It should only contain pages that are {{{1}}} or lists of {{{1}}}, as well as subcategories containing those things (themselves set categories). Topics about {{{1}}} in general should be placed in relevant topic categories.
{{container category}} Talk, links	This is a container category. Due to its scope, it should contain only subcategories.
{{File category}} Talk, links	This category contains files To place a file in this category, add the tag {{[[Template:{{{1}}}|{{{1}}}]]}} to the Licensing section of the file's description page. If you are not sure which category a file belongs to, consult "Wikipedia:File copyright tags". If this category is very large, please consider placing your file in a new or existing subcategory.
{{Maintenance category}} Talk, list	This is a maintenance category, used for maintenance of the Wikipedia project. It is not part of the encyclopedia and contains non-article pages, or groups articles by status rather than subject. Do not include this category in content categories (except for eponymous maintenance categories).
{{possibly empty category}} Talk, list	Administrators: Please do not delete this category as empty! This category may be empty occasionally or even most of the time.
{{category disambiguation|SOMECAT}} Talk, list	This category is not in use because it has an ambiguous title. Note: This category page should be empty. All entries should be recategorized under one of the above categories or an appropriate subcategory. {{Category disambiguation}} has the following issues: Should specify at least 2 categories.
{{category redirect|othercategory}} Talk	This category is located at Category:othercategory. Note: This category should be empty. The following categories are used to track and monitor this redirect: From a cross-project redirect: This is a soft redirect that is used as a connection to other Wikimedia projects. A Wikidata element is linked to this page: Wikipedia:Template messages/Category namespace (Q15869195). See the instructions for more information. Administrators: If this category name is unlikely to be entered on new pages, and all incoming links have been cleaned up, click here to delete.
{{cat exp|text including links}} Talk	This category is for text including links.

"See also" templates

What to type	What it makes
{{cat main}} Talk	The main article for this category is Template index/Category namespace.
{{cat more|Article}} Talk	For more information, see Article.
{{birth category header|123|4}} Talk	see e.g. Category:1234 births
{{birthdecade|12|3|13th}} Talk	see e.g. Category:1230s births
{{birthsInCentury|13th|12|13|12th|14th}} Talk	see e.g. Category:13th-century births
{{bookdecade|12|3|13th}} Talk	see e.g. Category:1350s books
{{booksInCentury|13th|12|13|12th|14th}} Talk	see e.g. Category:14th-century books
{{bookyr|123|4}} Talk	see e.g. Category:1353 books
{{death category header}} Talk	see e.g. Category:1234 deaths
{{death decade|12|3|13th}} Talk	see e.g. Category:1230s deaths
{{deathsInCentury}} Talk	see e.g. Category:13th-century deaths
{{law by year|1911|20th}} Talk	see e.g. Category:1911 in law
{{playdecade}} Talk, list	see e.g. Category:2010s plays
{{playsInCentury}} Talk, list	see e.g. Category:21st-century plays
{{playyr}} Talk, list	see e.g. Category:2011 plays
{{sportsyearcat}} Talk	see e.g. Category:2011 in sports
{{workdecade}} Talk, list	see e.g. Category:2010s works
{{worksInCentury}} Talk, list	see e.g. Category:21st-century works
{{workyr}} Talk, list	see e.g. Category:2011 works

Category maintenance templates

What to type	What it makes
{{cleanup}} Talk, list, category
{{cfdnotice|SOMECAT}} Talk, list
{{category diffuse}} Talk, links	Pages in this category should be moved to subcategories where applicable. This category may require frequent maintenance to avoid becoming too large. It should directly contain very few, if any, pages and should mainly contain subcategories.
{{overpopulated category}} talk	This category is overpopulated. It is suggested that the contents of the category be subcategorized.
{{subjective category}} Talk	This category may inappropriately label persons. See Wikipedia:Categorization and WP:BLPCAT for advice on how to apply categorization to articles relating to people. See also the policy at Wikipedia:Categorizing articles about people regarding categorization by ethnicity, gender, religion, sexuality, or disability. Unlike others, this note is placed at the bottom of the category page See also: Wikipedia:BLPCAT Wikipedia:Categorizing articles about people
{{categorization of people disputed}} Talk	The inclusion of certain people in this category is disputed. Please see the relevant discussions on the talk pages of those individual articles. Consider rewording the inclusion criteria of this category if they are unclear. See also the guidelines at WP:BLPCAT and Wikipedia:Categorizing articles about people. (October 2025) See also: Wikipedia:BLPCAT Wikipedia:Categorizing articles about people
{{uncategorized}} Talk, list, category	Place this at the bottom of an uncategorized article/category if you are unsure of which categories apply.