Wikipedia:Deletion policy/Draft

The deletion policy describes when and how unencyclopedic material is removed from Wikipedia. In the normal operations of Wikipedia, over a thousand articles are deleted each day, through the processes outlined below. Reasons for deletion include but are not limited to violation of copyright, content that does not belong in an encyclopedia, and content not attributed to a reliable source, especially if the content is negative in tone.

Only Administrators can perform deletion; admins can also reverse ("undelete") any deletion. All such actions are logged. Other editors can request deletion or undeletion through the processes described below.

Alternatives to deletion

Merging

Articles that are short and unlikely to be expanded can often be merged into a larger article, or list article that gives context. For example, information about family members of a celebrity who are not otherwise notable is generally included in the article on that celebrity, so stub pages about these people should be merged there. Stub pages about minor characters or recurring jokes in works of fiction are generally merged into a list article.

If two pages are duplicates or otherwise redundant, one should be merged and redirected to the other, using the most common, or more general page name.

Editing

If the article can be improved, this should be solved through regular editing, rather than deletion. A variety of tags can be added to the article to note the problem, including {{stub}} for a short article, {{cleanup}} for poor writing, {{npov}} for bias and {{verify}} for attribution, and {{expert-subject}} for expert attention.

Articles written in a foreign language should be listed on Wikipedia:Pages needing translation, or tagged with {{notenglish}}.

Pages with an incorrect name can simply be renamed by any user. If there is a dispute over the name, the requested moves process can be used, or the tag {{npov-title}} can be applied.

Discussion

Disputes over article content are not dealt with by deleting the article. Likewise, disagreement over a policy or guideline is not dealt with by deleting it. The issue should instead be listed on Wikipedia:Requests for comments for further input. Similarly, issues with an inappropriate user page can often be resolved through discussing it with that user.

Other projects

Articles that can never be other than a dictionary article ("dicdef") can be merged as above, or moved to Wiktionary. See Wikipedia:Things to be moved to Wiktionary for instructions. Likewise, articles that are source text (other than copyright violations) should be moved to Wikisource.

Reasons for deletion

Reasons include but are not limited to the following:

• Advertising or other spam witout relevant content (but not an article about an advertising related subject)
• Content not suitable for an encyclopedia
• Copyright infringement
• Hoax articles (but not an article describing a notable hoax)
• Inappropriate user pages
• Inflammatory redirects
• Lack of verifiable information from reliable sources
• Newly-coined neologisms
• Original research
• Overcategorization
• Redundant templates
• Subject fails to meet the notability guidelines
• Unused or obsolete images

Processes

There are four basic processes for deletion, and one that can be used to review and overturn the outcome of these processes.

Speedy deletion

Pages can be deleted without any discussion if they meet one of the criteria for speedy deletion, which generally boil down to an obvious absence of encyclopedic content. Articles on proposed deletion or deletion discussion (see below) are still subject to speedy deletion, which overrides the other process.

• Where to find them: A list of all pages flagged for speedy deletion can be found in CAT:CSD.
• How to do this: Administrators can delete such pages on sight. Other editors can request speedy deletion by editing the relevant page to add a deletion template to the top of the page.
• If you disagree: add the {{hangon}} tag.

Copyright violations

For legal reasons, Wikipedia cannot host content that is in violation of copyright.

• Where to find them: Wikipedia:Copyright problems
• How to do this: For images, add the description page and add {{imagevio}} to the top. For other pages, edit the page to replace its entire content with {{copyvio}}.
• If you disagree: Try to contact the author of the text or image and see if they are willing to release their work (1) under the GFDL, or (2) into the public domain.

Proposed deletion

An editor who believes a page obviously and uncontroversially doesn't belong in an encyclopedia can propose its deletion. These pages can be deleted by any adminstrator if, after five days, nobody objects to this. Once there is an objection or a deletion discussion, a page may not be proposed for deletion again. This process only applies to pages in the Article, User, and User Talk namespaces.

• Where to find them: A list of all pages flagged for speedy deletion can be found in CAT:PROD.
• How to do this: Edit the page to add the following text to the top: {{subst:prod|reason}}, writing your reasoning in the "reason" field.
• If you disagree: Any editor who disagrees with a proposed deletion can simply remove the tag. Even after the page is deleted, any editor can have the page restored by any admin simply by asking. In both cases the editor is encouraged to fix the perceived problem with the article.

Deletion discussion

Articles that do not fall in the above three categories can be deleted after community discussion. This includes contested speedy or proposed deletions. Here, any editor who wishes to participate can give their opinion on what should be done with the page.

These processes are not decided through a head count, so people are encouraged to explain their opinion and refer to policy. The discussion lasts for five days; afterwards, pages are deleted if there is consensus to do so. If there is no consensus, the page is kept and subject to normal editing, merging or redirecting as appropriate.

Because the article deletion process sees a lot of traffic, a nomination that gets little response after five days can be relisted. This does not apply to the other processes.

It is considered inappropriate to ask people outside of Wikipedia to come to the debate in order to sway its outcome. Such comments may be ignored.

• Where to find them: There are separate processes for articles, categories, templates, redirects, images and media, stub templates, and everything else.
• How to do this: Follow the instructions at the top of the relevant process page.
• If you disagree: Go to the relevant process page and explain why you disagree. Do not remove the tag from the page. For more information on this process, read the Wikipedia:Guide to deletion.

Deletion review

If you believe an article was wrongly deleted, or should have been deleted but wasn't, or a deletion discussion improperly closed, you should discuss this with the admin who performed the deletion, or the person that closed the deletion discussion, on his or her talk page. If this fails to resolve the issue, you can request review at Wikipedia:Deletion review.

If an article was deleted for lack of content (this applies to most speedy deletions), and you wish to create a better article about the same subject, you can simply go ahead and do so, with no need for process.

As above, this process is not decided by head count. The review lasts for five days, sometimes extended to ten if the outcome is unclear, after which the earlier process is overturned if there is consensus to do so. Overturned speedy or proposed deletions tend to end up on deletion discussion.

• Where to find them: Wikipedia:Deletion review
• How to do this: Follow the instructions at the top of the page.
• If you disagree: Go to the review page and explain why you disagree.

• Renominations?
• Courtesy blank