Talk:Zaid Muhamamd Sa'id Al Husayn
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I think default sort is a mistake for Arabic names edit
I think default sort is a mistake for individuals with Arabic names.
People with Arabic names don't inherit a surname, like people with an European do. Traditionally the closest thing they have to a "last name" is their father's first name.
And it is absolutely clear to me that it is a mistake to use default sort for the Guantanamo captives -- because the US Department of Defense can't consistently figure out what their names are.
Therefore I just reverted an edit where a well-meaning contributor imposed default sort on this individual.
Please don't impose default sort on these guys without discussing it first.
Cheers! Geo Swan (talk) 04:58, 1 March 2008 (UTC)
First, as a general rule, it is preferred that all biographies have a sort value on the article page and on the talk page. Because of this, various bots have created and are creating sort values based upon whatever hints are present.
Second, in this specific case, when this article was created, 16:41, 19 July 2006, it was tagged with two categories. Each category tage included a sort pipe, "Al Husayn, Zaid Muhamamd Sa'id". The sort value that you deleted was identical to the sort pipes. It was incorrect but it was the best hint that anyone could have found about how to sort the page. (Not all Arabs abide by the Arabic naming conventions. See the first paragraph of the article.) It assumed that the contributor of the article knew how to sort the name of the subject. I have placed the correct sort value on both the article and the talk page. There should be no further confusion.
Third, just to save you some time in discovering who made the initial error so that you may educate that editor, the article was created by User:Geo Swan.
Happy editing!