User blog:Renaboss/Family sections

My fellow bureaucrats, and all ye who art interested (don't I talks fancy? :P), here is the thing: the family sections on character infoboxes are a mess. Some are too crowded, and the vast majority of them are simply not uniformized. So I've decided to come up with some basic, specific guidelines, mirroring how I think the family sections should be ordered and what elements they should include. We once discussed arranging those sections according to the family pages, but I think we should do something different.

What goes in them:


 * All seen characters. All characters, named or unnamed (for example, Mrs. Simms' son, Katherine's cousin, is unnamed, but seen), that have actually been seen in the series, portrayed by actors. However, this should not include distant relatives that aren't blood related. For example, I don't think Zach Young should have Susan's aunt Claire on his page.


 * Immediate family members, in the following order: Parents/Step-parents (mother first, father last - so, for example, for Susan it should be Sophie (mother), Morty (mother's husband), Addison (father), Carol (father's wife)); Spouses (from earliest to latest); Children/Wards (from eldest to youngest); Grandchildren; Siblings; Grandparents (should go before parents, but seems silly to have Phyllis before Bree on Andrew's page, no? Your call.); Direct in-laws.


 * Other family members and fiancés: Uncles, aunts, cousins, and then in the end all the people with whom the characters have been engaged, but not married, in chronological order (so, for Edie: Karl; Carlos).

What doesn't go in them:


 * Irrelevant unseen characters: Renee's mother is pretty relevant, and she falls into immediate family. Therefore, she should be featured. However, is it necessary for us to list Susan's aunt Ella and uncle Frank, and Regina, and the whole nine yards? Or Gaby's aunt Inez? Also, unseen and unnamed in-laws aren't added. For example, Lee's siblings on Bob's page, Renee's sister on Ben's, Susan's half-brothers on Mike's...


 * Non-committed romantic partners: By which I mean, romantic and/or sexual partners with whom the characters have never been married or engaged. Therefore, Ron shouldn't be on Susan's page, Frank on Lynette's, etc. Not to mention the vast array of sexual partners Bree had in a span of 3 episodes this season. :P


 * Pets: We've never used pets before, and I think we should definitely abstain from adding them. I own a dog, and he's pretty much immediate family to me, but the characters on this show don't seem to be so attached to their pets. :P They all wind up on bad-continuity limbo anyway. I mean, what the heck happened to Rufus Solis? :P

Notes: This being an encyclopedia of sorts, we are to provide factic information, not one that is based on assumptions. For example, we shouldn't just assume Sophie's sister Claire's last name is presented as Bremmer, even though that is likely one of her names. Even her relationship with Sophie isn't specified, but I'm willing to let that slide. Lucia's last name, Fern's last name, Tim's last name... we can't just assume what they are. Therefore, we should merely provide their first names.

The word late shall be used only for spouses. Take into consideration Bree Van de Kamp, and her first husband, Rex. If we only used 'Husband' it'd be confusing because he's not her current husband, and we can't use 'Ex-Husband' either, seeing as how they never divorced. So we use 'Late Husband'. For children and other relatives, it's unnecessary.

Example:

SUSAN DELFINO


 * Sophie Bremmer - Mother
 * 3 Unnamed Stepfathers
 * Morty Flickman - Stepfather
 * Addison Prudy - Father
 * Carol Prudy - Stepmother


 * Karl Mayer - Ex-Husband
 * Mike Delfino - Late Husband


 * Zach Young - Stepson
 * Julie Mayer - Daughter
 * MJ Delfino - Son
 * Unnamed Granddaughter


 * 2 Unnamed Brothers
 * Unnamed Grandfather
 * Claire - Aunt
 * Tim - Cousin


 * Adele Delfino - Mother-in-Law
 * Nick Delfino - Father-in-Law


 * Ian Hainsworth - Ex-Fiancé
 * Jackson Braddock - Ex-Fiancé

See? It's relatively concise, the only unnamed relatives are the immediate family ones who are mentioned/seen at least once, and there's no overcrowding of people. No Franks, Ellas, Young family, Hainsworth family, Bongo... yadda yadda. :P

We should also try and see if maybe the family sections can be concealed? Like the navigation boxes are, until we click the 'reveal' button. That way it doesn't unnecessarily clutter up the page, especially when the sections are big like Susan's.

Anyone else agree? Whatever revisions you feel are necessary, please, comment below and hopefully a compromise can be reached and the motion can be passed. :)