 | This former Wikipedia guideline, no longer backed by community consensus, is retained for historical reference. There was a 2023 discussion which resulted in deprecation. |
Avoid categories that, by their very definition, will never have more than a few members, unless such categories are part of a large overall accepted sub-categorization scheme, such as subdividing songs in Category:Songs by artist or flags in Category:Flags by country.
Note also that this criterion does not preclude all small categories; a category which does have realistic potential for growth, such as a category for holders of a notable political office, may be kept even if only a small number of its articles actually exist at the present time. Also, subcategories of Category:Works by creator may be created even if they include only one page and they conform to the other guidelines applicable to categories.