User blog comment:Pufflesrcute/Alphabetical Order on templates/@comment-2233791-20140615062537/@comment-3060206-20140615151054

I don't think it's a good idea to alphabetise the game templates, particularly because many games don't have named components. If things aren't named, people don't know exactly what they're searching for if they were to look on the template. An item might appear to be listed under a different title than the one the visitor perceives it as. That makes it a lot more difficult to find.

If sections, however, were arranged chronologically, unofficially named components would be a lot easier to navigate. A user looking up a certain component will have played all levels of a game up to where that component is, so they could use that basis of "have I seen this in the game before/have I not" to index what the specific portion they are searching for without having to guess and check with the randomisation of alphabetisation.

I mean for non-linear games of course, placing things in alphabetical order is ideal. Something like having more than one possible path within a level where different enemies/objects are introduced or if they are basically seen simultaneously and it's not clear who comes first into the level. In this case, the components that appear in that level only should be alphabetised, but proceed with the rest of the components in future levels in chronological order.

And if anything, don't Game categories already cover properly alphabetised pages? By transcluding the game category within the template, it automatically adds the game category to the page, and includes it in the category listing. Suppose a reader comes to the wiki looking up an officially named component. They should have no trouble searching through an alphabetised list of all areas within a game.