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 essay contains links specific to the English-language Wikipedia. For guidance applicable to all Wikimedia projects, see the
corresponding page at Meta-Wiki
Structurism is a broad editing philosophy emphasizing interconnection, organization, and uniformity as the best way to improve the usefulness of content across all Wikimedia projects. Structurism provides five interconnected advantages to users and editors, by making Wikipedia:
1. Navigable
Allows users to find relevant content quickly and easily
2. Accessible
Allows all users—including impaired and mobile users—to access content
3. Intelligible
Allows users to understand content
4. Editable
Allows users to improve existing content
5. Translatable
Allows users (and bots) to parse and migrate content to other languages and sister projects
Types of structurism
Inter- (navigational) vs. intra- (informational)
Inter-structurism is concerned with "building the web"—making connections between content pages.
Intra-structurism is concerned with how content is organized for presentation within content pages.
Exo- vs. meta-
Exopedian structurism is concerned with the application of structure to encyclopedic content.
Metapedian structurism is concerned with the application of structure to project namespaces and to the practice of encyclopedia-building itself.
Tools and techniques
Wikipedia provides a large array of structural tools. To become a more effective structurist, familiarize yourself with these tools and apply them as appropriate. Some tools, like
wikilinking and
categorization, will apply to nearly every page you work on. Others, like
maps and
tables, will only apply to some pages.