Community talk:Discussions/Location Naming

So we need to figure out a way to make all of these location names consistent, understandable and accurate.

What we don't really want is a messy set of rules with a complex syntax that apply differently to different articles, using a single system with simple rules is best. There will always be exceptions, but these should be simple too.

Simplicity is important because:

• Visitors should be able to know what an article is about at first glance, and not be confused
• Editors should be able to link to an article without having to look up its title (or even be forced to copy & paste it)
• It helps with SEO (using codes and shorthand in titles is very bad, using plain English key words is very good)

For example, our standard convention for naming articles is simple. If there is no disambiguation needed, simply give it its name. but if disambiguation is needed, use our universal "X in Y" format:

• If the page covers one game, name the game - Characters in GTA III
• if one page covers multiple games, use the era instead - Liberty City in GTA III Era
• If one page covers multiple eras, use the universe instead - none exist yet, but I expect we might see titles like "Plot in HD Universe" or "Vehicle Manufacturers in HD Universe"
• If one page covers something that appears in a location that appears in multiple games/eras, then we extend it such as: Hospitals in Liberty City in GTA III Era

(Note that we should not use Wikipedia's "X (Y)" format unless it is completely unavoidable. In fact, I will soon be proposing that other disambiguations like Michael (GTA V) be changed to "Michael in GTA V".)

I admit that it might be nice if ALL area titles had their location added, such as "East Beach, Los Santos" - but that is probably not necessary. So we should probably just use the standard convention above wherever a disambiguation is needed.

This discussion is required because of the need to rename places in Los Santos in GTA III Era, because of their counterparts in Los Santos in GTA V. This may extend also to Liberty City (III and IV eras) and San Andreas (III and V eras).

Market, Los Santos refers to the GTA III Era rendition in GTA San Andreas. Simply using "Los Santos" in the name is not enough, as Los Santos in GTA V now exists. So our options are:

• Market, Los Santos in GTA III Era
• Market in Los Santos in GTA III Era
• Market in GTA III Era

Personally, I'm torn between using "X , Y" for all area named (with X, Y in Z for a disambig), or keeping with our standard convention of "X" (then "X in Y" for disambig, or "X in Y in Z" where necessary). Thoughts? gboyers ^talk 22:39, 16 November 2012 (UTC)