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Ballotpedia's coverage of elections held on March 3, 2015, was limited. Select races were covered live, and all results will be added once the merger is complete.
One very helpful thing that all Ballotpedia users can do is help sort articles into useful categories.
What is a "category" on Ballotpedia?
Categories on Ballotpedia are tags at the bottom of articles that will help the reader of one page find other articles that are in a similar category. For example, this article is tagged at the bottom as belonging to two categories "Editing Help" and "Ballotpedia basic information". When a reader of this article--a reader who is clearly looking for help in figuring out how Ballotpedia works--clicks on one of those category links at the bottom of the article, he or she will be directed to a collection of other articles that are about figuring your way around Ballotpedia.
Similarly, articles about ballot measures should be placed in useful categories. An article about the "Michigan Civil Rights Initiative", a 2006 ballot measure, could usefully be categorized in the categories for "Civil Rights Initiatives" (because someone reading the article about the Michigan initiative might want to know about affirmative action ballot measures in other states), or "2006 ballot measures" (because someone reading the article might want to know about other initiatives that were on the ballot in 2006), or "Michigan ballot measures" or "2006 Michigan ballot measures".
Deciding what categories an article belongs in
We recommend that you be bold in assigning articles to categories. As Ballotpedia grows, some of the early categories may become obsolete. In that case, obsolete category tags can always be removed, so don't worry about creating categories that might not be useful or might become obsolete. The category can always be removed.
If you're writing an article and want to put it in a category, think about whether the article is on a subject that other articles will be written about. Are you writing about a tax limit initiative? Are you writing about a newspaper in Missouri? If another article is likely to appear on Ballotpedia that is about a tax limit initiative (just not the one you're writing about) or about a newspaper in Missouri (just not the newspaper you're writing an article about), then consider putting the article in a category.
Check to see if there is already a category your article fits in
The way you do that is by visiting Special:Categories.
How to put your article in categories
Once you have decided to put your article in categories, the steps to follow are:
- On the "edit" page for the article, place your cursor at the end of the article.
- Type two initial square brackets: [[
- Type the word "Category" followed by a colon, as in: Category:
- Type the name of the category. For example: Ballotpedia basic information
- Type two concluding square brackets: ]]
- Preview your work and then click "save page".
- You're done.
The Colorado Civil Rights Initiative 2008 is an example of an article that has been sorted into some useful categories.