Concise records
Descriptions are kept as database entries rather than expanded automatically into long narrative articles.
Editorial standards
Editorial Method
How historical records are structured, reviewed and revised across the World History Database and its permanent archive pages.
Record model
How historical information is stored
The database uses structured fields rather than treating every entry as a free-form article. Core fields include Year, Country, General 1, General 2, Title 1, Title 2, Name 1, Name 2, Name 3, Event, Place, Range 1, Range 2, Day, Month and Description.
This structure supports cross-referencing: the same stored record can appear in a chronology, person search, place search, event view or permanent factsheet when its fields match that view.
Editorial process
Review, normalisation and correction
Names and labels
Names, spellings, event labels and category assignments may be normalised or corrected when a clearer or better-supported form is identified.
Date precision
Some records have a full day-month-year date; others have only a month and year or a year, reflecting the precision stored in the database.
Duplicate display rows
Search and archive interfaces may collapse exact duplicate display records so repeated material does not dominate a chronology or factsheet.
Generated pages
Permanent factsheets come from stored records
Event, biography and year archive pages are generated from the current PostgreSQL historical-events table. They organise matching stored records into readable HTML; they are not generated as new historical claims on demand.
Revision policy
The database can change when evidence improves
Historical records may be corrected or refined when errors, clearer dates, better spelling, improved identification or stronger supporting evidence becomes available. Provenance is assessed record by record.