The Regional branch includes all sites that are about, of interest to, or focus on, a particular geographic region. The Regional categories under a Subject branch contain sites that have a global focus, where the regional aspects are incidental rather than the primary subject matter.

You will typically find the same site listed in the Regional branch and in a subject branch (e.g. Arts, Business, Reference, etc.). Duplicate listings of a site (once in the Regional branch and once in the topical branch of the directory) should be made when the site has a topical and a regional focus. Duplicate categories in the Regional and topical branches, however, are not permitted.

No. Create regional subcategories when no other type of organization (e.g. by subtopic) will work.

No. However, you should submit them to the appropriate Regional category so they can be listed there.

Create regional subcategories when no other type of organization will work. You are permitted to create regional subcategories in the subject branches under the following circumstances:

• Sites should have a global focus, and where the regional aspects of the site are incidental, or not as important, as the subject matter. Examples include, but are not limited to, colleges and universities, and academic subjects (literature, art history, archaeology, etc.).
• Sites for subjects that are too specialized to be categorized by topic in the Regional branch. Specifically this includes cases where there may never be enough sites under a particular locality to warrant the creation of a topical subcategory. Examples include, but are not limited to, local recreational, professional, and enthusiast clubs and organizations.

The regional subcategory under the topic should not duplicate an existing category in the Regional branch. Always do a search before creating a new category to make sure you are not duplicating an existing category. If duplicate categories are found, they will be merged.

Deciding whether or not to organize a particular topic by region can be a real challenge. It is impossible for these guidelines to give you answers for each unique situation you come across. Editors should follow the organization of similar topics and keep in mind that consistent organization of sites is paramount. If you can not decide between creating regional subcategories in your subject branch or moving sites to the Regional branch, you should err on the side of sending sites to the Regional branch.

Yes. Absolutely. This is the rule rather than the exception. See the next question for more information.

Creating Regional Subcategories

• The regional subcategories you create should mirror the geographic taxonomy in the Regional branch. Use the same geographic names and spellings. You have two options for building out your regional subcategories. Use the following example as your guide:

  Example: I want to create a regional structure so I can classify business directories by country. I create the following categories.

  • Business/Directories/Regional
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • China
    • Japan
    • New Zealand
    • United States

  Or I can create:

  • Business/Directories/Regional
    • Asia
      • China
      • Japan
    • North America
      • Canada
      • United States
    • Oceania
      • Australia
      • New Zealand

  However, DO NOT create a structure that is inconsistent with the Regional branch. For example:

  • Business/Directories/Regional
    • Asia
    • Australia
    • Canada
    • China
    • Japan
    • New Zealand
    • North America
    • Oceania
    • United States
• Do not further build out your category by locality.
• Do not subcategorize a regional category further by topic.

Input Necessary @links

• Once you have created your regional structure under your topic, find the categories in the Regional branch of the directory where @links should be placed, pointing to the regional category under your topic.
• Go into the Forum for your topical area, find the thread called Rename/Delete/Move/Sort_Requests, and submit the following message:

  I have created the following category: <input category name> Please place the appropriate @links in the Regional branch.

Double Listing Sites

If you have created Regional subcategories under your topic, you should list all sites twice. You should list the site once in your regional subcategory, and submit the site to the most specific topical category in the Regional branch.

If your category does not duplicate a similar category in Regional, you may maintain the regional categories under your topic. However, you should also submit these sites to the specific locality categories in Regional.

Make sure the proper @links are made at the state level in Regional to prevent any potential duplication. The @links should point directly to the state subcategory under your topical category.

If your category does duplicate a similar category in Regional, the two categories will be merged.

If you have a grouping of sites for a specific locality, do not further build out your category by locality. Create a topical category under the locality category in the Regional branch that corresponds to your subject category, and put the locality sites there. You should create an @link from state category under your topic to the locality/topical category in Regional. Any duplicate listings for the locality in your state category should be deleted.