User talk:Elli/Complete list

This essay is far too blunt - there are multiple types of list

1. Those that can never plausibly be complete, e.g. people born in a given year, languages (the line between a language and a dialect is fuzzy at best), websites
   • "Complete list of..." titles/redirects for these lists are very, very rarely going to be appropriate (the only situation that comes immediately to mind is if it is the proper name of a list that is itself notable)
2. Those that can be complete, but might be out of date at any given moment, e.g. episodes of an ongoing television program, named hurricanes
   • "Complete list of..." titles/redirects are not problematic if changes happen slowly enough and updates frequent enough that the list is nearly always going to be complete. e.g. a list of US Presidents is going to be complete for all but a couple of minutes every four-eight years in all reasonably foreseeable circumstances. In other circumstances (e.g. a list of Google Doodles) the same considerations as type 1 apply.
3. Those that can be complete, and once complete will remain so, e.g. episodes of a TV program that has ceased airing, UK number 1 singles in 2020
   • "Complete list of..." titles/redirects are not problematic at all here.

Obviously types 2 and 3 can be subdivided into topics where every item is notable enough for an entry in a list on Wikipedia (e.g. chemical elements) and topics where only some are (e.g. characters in a long-running soap opera). "Complete list of..." titles/redirects are never going to be appropriate ways to title a list that is not complete (other than when the list is actively being updated/compiled and will be complete shortly, or it is the proper name of a list). Thryduulf (talk) 05:42, 25 January 2021 (UTC)