Wikipedia:Deletion process: Difference between revisions

This page documents an English Wikipedia consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts WP:XFD WP:DPR WP:DELPRO

The deletion process is the Wikipedia process involved in implementing and recording the community's decisions to delete or keep pages and media.

Wikipedia has three main methods of deleting pages. A page might qualify for speedy deletion if it meets certain specific criteria, and proposed deletion may be used to suggest that an article is an uncontroversial candidate for deletion. If not, then a deletion discussion must be held in order to form a consensus to delete a page. In general, administrators are responsible for closing these discussions; however, non-administrators in good standing may close them under specific conditions (see the section 'Non-administrators closing discussions').

Note: Office actions and declarations from the Wikimedia Foundation Board or the system administrators, particularly concerning copyright, legal issues, or server load, may take priority over community consensus.

Deletion discussions
Deletion today Undeletion Deletion review Deletion log Request a copy of a deleted article
Articles
today all (sorted) closing log
Templates and modules
today all closing holding
Files
today all closing
Categories
today all closing speedy
Redirects
today all closing log
Miscellany
today all closing
Speedy deletion
candidates
Proposed deletion
all (sorted) BLPs
Policy Process Guide Administrator guidelines
v t e

The speedy deletion process applies to pages which meet at least one of the criteria for speedy deletion, which specify the only cases in which administrators have broad consensus support to, at their discretion, bypass deletion discussion and immediately delete Wikipedia pages or media.

Before deleting a page through the speedy deletion process, verify that it meets at least one of the criteria for speedy deletion, check the

involved, and search for other information which may impact the need or reason for deletion:

• The initial edit summary may have information about the source of or reason for the page.
• The
  talk page
  may refer to previous deletion discussions or have ongoing discussion relevant to including the page.
• The
  SALTing
  the page or keeping it.
• WhatLinksHere may show that the page is an oft-referred part of the encyclopedia, or may show other similar pages that warrant deletion. For pages that should not be recreated, incoming links in other pages (except in discussions, archives and tracking pages) should be removed.

If a page is not appropriate for speedy deletion, the page must be edited to remove the speedy deletion tag—this will, in turn, remove the page from Category:Candidates for speedy deletion. Consider notifying the editor who suggested deletion.

When deleting a page through the speedy deletion process, specify the reason for deletion in the deletion summary so that it will be recorded into the

. In some cases, it would be appropriate to notify the page's creator of the deletion.

The proposed deletion process applies to articles that do not meet the stringent criteria for speedy deletion, but for which it is believed that deletion would be uncontroversial. In this process, an editor places a tag on the article, and any editor can remove the tag to save the page. If the tag remains after seven days, the page can be deleted. For instructions on handling articles that have been proposed for deletion, see Wikipedia:Proposed deletion#Deletion.

The deletion discussion processes apply to pages which are formally nominated for deletion through an appropriate deletion discussion venue. Although the steps for closing deletion discussions vary from one deletion discussion venue to another, a few general principles apply at all venues.

Consensus

Consensus is formed through the careful consideration, dissection and eventual synthesis of each side's arguments, and should not be calculated solely by the balance of votes.

Outcomes should reflect the rough consensus reached in the deletion discussion and community consensus on a wider scale. (While consensus can change, consensus among a limited group of editors, at one place and time, cannot override community consensus on a wider scale.)

Concerns about conduct or views

• Inappropriate
  assume good faith
  in your tone - the participants may well intend to help by doing what they think right.

• attacking the user
  .

• Conflict between the views expressed and Wikipedia's policies and guidelines (eg an inappropriate
  without an appropriate basis
  ) - remember that you have quite a few options. These include commenting yourself, rather than closing, or extending the period of discussion, noting this is done due to concerns and to allow other editors to comment. Also remember that nobody is obligated to close a discussion, nor is it crucial that a discussion must be closed "now" if its due time has been reached.

Deletion requested by subject

Deletion discussions concerning

. Closers should review these policies to confirm the criteria are met, and then use their discretion.

Common outcomes

A deletion discussion may end with one of a number of distinct outcomes, with certain outcomes being more common at certain deletion discussion venues.

When considering closing a discussion, be aware that:

• Other (non-standard) decisions, and "combinations", may sometimes be appropriate at the closer's discretion. For example "Merge and delete" or "Rename and merge". The closer should aim in any case, to decide based upon consensus, and policy and community norms.

• It can sometimes be useful to provide a brief explanatory note, to make the rationale for the decision clear - this is especially true in heated and high public profile cases, or where many views will be given little weight (or a few views given substantial weight), or where the basis of the close may be misunderstood or
  reviewed by others
  .

• There is never an obligation to close - in some cases (see "concerns") it may be preferable to comment oneself, instead, even if the "due date" for closing has been reached, and leave the close to another user.

Keep, delete, and no consensus

Three outcomes are common to all venues, and by far the most common outcomes: keep, delete and no consensus.

• A keep outcome reflects a
  talk page using one of several venue-specific templates (see 'Step-by-step instructions
  ' for details).

• A delete outcome reflects a rough consensus to remove (i.e. not retain) a page, including its entire revision history. To implement a 'delete' outcome: close the deletion discussion as 'delete'; delete the page, and link to the deletion discussion in the deletion summary; and, if the page should not be recreated, remove incoming links in other pages (except in discussions, archives and tracking pages).

• A no consensus outcome reflects the lack of a rough consensus for any one particular action. To implement a 'no consensus' outcome: close the deletion discussion as 'no consensus'; edit the page to remove the deletion notice; and record the outcome on the page's talk page using one of several venue-specific templates (see 'Step-by-step instructions' for details).

Other outcomes

Other possible outcomes for various discussions, include, but are not limited to:

Outcome	Commonly used for	Details
Disambiguate (or "Dabify")	Articles, redirects	If the discussion concludes that the title can refer to many topics, it can be changed to a disambiguation page to list all of them.
Incubate	Articles	This changes the article into a draft to be improved so that it meets inclusion requirements.
Delete but allow undeleting with an appropriate licence	Files	If a file is only deleted due to copyright issues, it could be re-uploaded if these issues are resolved
Listify	Categories	This means to delete the category and create a list article instead.
Merge	Articles, categories, templates	This combines two separate pages into a single page. Merge votes should be specific and clear. If you wish to merge templates or categories, use the deletion discussions. If you wish to merge articles, do not use a deletion discussion, but instead discuss it on the talk page.
Redirect	Articles, templates, sometimes other pages	This would be used if the page has no unique and usable content, but information about the topic is found in another article.
Rename (for categories), or move (for all other pages)	All	Issues to be addressed by changing the page title (and perhaps then expanding or improving its content). This can happen at AFD especially, if the article could be suitable for Wikipedia, but is created under an inappropriate title, and was nominated for deletion, but consensus agrees it is fixable if the title is changed. Categories require a different method than other pages: Categories - deletion is required to change the name. Pages other than categories - renaming is achieved using the page move function without deletion.
Retarget	Redirects	This means that the redirect should lead to a different page.
Userfy	Articles, templates, miscellaneous pages	This would move the page into the creator's userspace so that they may make improvements. If Wikipedia essays are nominated, they will sometimes be moved to userspace if they are found to violate policies or guidelines.

Nomination errors and issues

In certain situations, a deletion discussion may require correcting, moving elsewhere, or a null outcome ("procedural close"), due to issues with the deletion nomination rather than the merits of the page itself:

No deletion notice on nominated page	The best course of action is to add the tag and note that you've done so. The time of tagging would then be treated as the nomination time.
Currently linked from Main Page	If the nominated page is currently linked from the Main Page, remove any tag from the page itself. Then, if there are legitimate concerns, please use Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors to have the link removed before nominating the article. If there are clearly none, or the nomination is disruptive, the nomination page should be closed early (see 'speedy close').
Nomination is an immediate objection to a prior deletion outcome, more appropriate for deletion review	List it at deletion review on the nominator's behalf, and link it appropriately (including linking it from the closed discussion), notify the nominator, and close the deletion discussion.
Venue inappropriate (e.g., a file hosted on Commons, category or redirect at AFD, or discussions that the chosen venue is unable to address)	List the topic at the correct venue, notify the nominator, and close the discussion and provide a link to the new discussion. Never close a discussion as a wrong venue without opening a discussion at an appropriate one.
Page does not exist or has already been deleted prior to the nomination	Close the discussion, and place a notice on the nominator's talk page. It is entirely possible that they may have mistyped the page name, or that the page was already deleted before they could start the deletion discussion. If the former was the case, politely tell the nominator to properly start a new discussion with the correct title, and the time they start the new discussion will be treated as the nomination time.

A deletion discussion that is poorly formatted should not be closed for this reason alone, in order to avoid

.

Early closure

In general, deletion discussions should remain open for at least seven days to allow interested editors adequate time to participate. However, under certain circumstances, discussions may be closed prior to the seven-day timeframe.

Closers should apply good judgment before speedily closing a discussion, since often it is best to allow the discussion to continue for the entirety of the seven-day period.

Nomination Withdrawn	Shortcut WP:WITHDRAWN While the nominator may withdraw their nomination at any time, if subsequent editors have added substantive comments in good faith, the discussion should not be closed simply because the nominator wishes to withdraw it. Early closure is inappropriate where it appears that the withdrawal is simply an attempt to short-circuit an ongoing discussion. If the nominator appears to have genuinely changed their mind due to other views expressed, the discussion should not be considered withdrawn. Instead, consider whether to use any of the early closures below.
Speedy keep	A "speedy keep" outcome is appropriate when the nomination unquestionably is an attempt to vandalize or to otherwise create disruption. For example: Nominations which are clearly an attempt to end an editing dispute through deletion (possibly in an attempt to dispute resolution would be a more appropriate course. Nominations which are made solely to provide a forum for disruption (this includes editor harassment ). The nominated page is a policy or guideline. The deletion process is not a forum for policy concerns. Frivolous or vexatious nominations (recently featured articles, for example). This includes re-nominating the same page with the same arguments immediately after they were strongly rejected in a recently closed deletion discussion. Nominations which are so erroneous that they indicate that the nominator has not even read the article in question. The nominator is banned, so their edits are not to be retained. In that case, the nominated page is speedily kept while the nomination can be tagged with {{db-g5}} and speedily deleted as a banned contribution. However, if subsequent editors have added substantive comments in good faith, the nomination should not be speedily closed (though the nominator's opinion will be discounted in the closure decision). Further information: WP:Speedy keep
Speedy delete (see also #Speedy deletion)	Shortcut WP:SPEEDYCLOSE When the nominated page unambiguously falls within any criteria for speedy deletion, particularly criterion G12 (copyright violation), it is not necessary to wait until the end of the discussion period.
Snowball clause	The "snowball clause" exists to avoid almost certain , such that there is not a "snowball's chance in hell" that the outcome will be anything other than what is expected, and there is clearly no need at all to prolong discussion further. This clause should not be used to close a discussion when a particular outcome is merely "likely" or "highly likely", and there is a genuine and reasoned basis for disagreement. This is because deletion discussions are not a vote ; it is important to be reasonably sure that there is little or no chance of accidentally excluding significant input or perspectives, or changing the weight of different views, if closed early. Especially, closers should beware of interpreting "early pile on" as necessarily showing how a discussion will end up. This can sometimes happen when a topic attracts high levels of attention from those engaged (or having a specific view) but slower attention from other less involved editors, perhaps with other points of view. It can sometimes be better to allow a few extra days even if current discussion seems very clearly to hold one opinion, to be sure that it really will be a snowball and as a courtesy to be sure that no significant input will be excluded if closed very soon. Further information: WP:Snowball clause

No quorum

If a nomination has received no comments from any editor besides the nominator (or few in the case of AfDs), the discussion may be closed at the closer's discretion and best judgement. Common options include, but are not limited to:

• relisting the discussion (see the section 'Relisting discussions');
• closing as "no consensus" with no prejudice against speedy renomination (NPASR); and
• closing in favour of the nominator's stated proposal.
• Soft deletion is a special kind of deletion which may be used after an article's deletion discussion. If a deletion discussion sees very little discussion even after being relisted several times, the administrator can close the discussion as soft delete and delete the page. However, in this case, the article can be restored for any reason on request. If your article was soft-deleted, you can request it be restored at Requests for undeletion.
• There is consensus among the community that problematic or likely-problematic articles
  blanked and redirected
  by any editor if there are no objections. This similarly applies to deletion nominations as well; if no editor suggests that the corresponding article should be kept, then redirection is an option.

Procedure

Discussions are usually closed after seven days. If there is a lack of comments, or the action to take is unclear, the discussion may be relisted for an additional seven days. Usually, both closing and relisting are administrator actions.

Relisting discussions

The intent of the deletion process is to attempt to determine

on whether an article should be deleted.

However, if at the end of the initial seven-day period, the discussion has only a few participants (including the nominator), and/or it seems to be lacking arguments based on policy, it may be appropriate for the closer to relist it, to solicit further discussion to determine consensus. A relisted discussion may be closed once consensus is determined without necessarily waiting a further seven days.

That said, relisting should not be a substitute for a "no consensus" closure. If the closer feels there has been substantive debate, disparate opinions supported by policy have been expressed, and consensus has not been achieved, a no-consensus close may be preferable.

Relisting debates repeatedly in the hope of getting sufficient participation is not recommended, and while having a deletion notice on a page is not harmful, its presence over several weeks can become disheartening for its editors. Therefore, in general, debates should not be relisted more than twice. Users relisting a debate for a third (or further) time, or relisting a debate with a substantial number of commenters, should write a short explanation (in addition to the {{

}} template) on why they did not consider the debate sufficient.

When relisting a discussion, it should be removed from the log for its original date (this does not apply at

}} template as well.

Non-administrators closing discussions

Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Old

In general, administrators are responsible for closing deletion discussions. However, at times the many discussion venues become backlogged. Registered editors who are not administrators may close deletion discussions, with the following provisions:

• Deletion discussions must be decided in accordance with consensus and taking account of Wikipedia policies and guidelines. If you are not familiar with deletion policy or the workings of deletion discussions, please avoid closing discussions.
• Non-administrators should not close discussions in which they lack the technical ability to act upon the outcome, such as deletion.^[2]
• Close calls and controversial decisions are better left to an administrator.
• In cases where an administrator has deleted a page, including by speedy deletion, but forgot to close the discussion, anyone may close the discussion provided that the administrator's name and deletion summary are included in the closing rationale.
• Closing discussions in which you have offered an opinion or for a page in which you have a vested interest (i.e., a page that you have edited heavily) should be avoided. The sole exception is if you are closing your own withdrawn nomination as a speedy keep and all other viewpoints expressed were for keep as well.
• When closing deletion discussions, users should indicate in the closing decision that they are not administrators.
• Non-administrators should limit their closes to keep, merge, redirect, and
  no consensus without prejudice against speedy renomination
  decisions; except in TfD, where non-administrators may close a discussion as orphan if the corresponding template has no transclusions in four days. Non-administrators may close an XfD as speedy delete if and only if an administrator has already deleted the page.
• Non-administrators should, as a rule, only close discussions if they are fairly experienced editors, and have participated at previous deletion discussions.

Decisions are subject to review and may be reopened by an administrator. If this happens, take it only as a sign that the decision was not as obvious as you thought. The reopening of the discussion should include an appropriate notice as per

.

Participants, including participating administrators, should not reopen non-admin closures. If this happens, any editor other than the closer may restore the closure with an appropriate notice as per

.

Step-by-step instructions (all discussion types)

Discussion type	Information page	Instructions for closing
Articles for deletion (AfD)	Wikipedia:Articles for deletion	Shortcuts WP:DELPRO#AFD WP:DPR#AFD Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Administrator instructions.
Categories for discussion (CfD)	Wikipedia:Categories for discussion	Shortcuts WP:DELPRO#CFD WP:DPR#CFD Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Administrator instructions.
Files for discussion (FfD)	Wikipedia:Files for discussion	Shortcuts WP:DELPRO#FFD WP:DPR#FFD Wikipedia:Files for discussion/Administrator instructions.
Possibly unfree files (PuF)	Wikipedia:Possibly unfree files	Shortcuts WP:DELPRO#PUF WP:DPR#PUF Wikipedia:Possibly unfree files/Administrator instructions.
Miscellany for deletion (MfD)	Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion	Shortcuts WP:DELPRO#MFD WP:DPR#MFD Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Administrator instructions.
Redirects for discussion (RfD)	Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion	Shortcuts WP:DELPRO#RFD WP:DPR#RFD Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Administrator instructions.
Templates for discussion (TfD)	Wikipedia:Templates for discussion	Shortcuts WP:DELPRO#TFD WP:DPR#TFD Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Administrator instructions .
Deletion review (DRV)	Wikipedia:Deletion review	Shortcuts WP:DELPRO#DRV WP:DPR#DRV Wikipedia:Deletion review/Administrator instructions.

Special situations

Transwiki

If consensus indicates a transwiki should take place, but you do not want to complete the transwiki process immediately:

1. Add a new entry to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Old/Transwiki.
2. Add the appropriate tag to the article:
   • {{Copy to Wiktionary}}
   • {{Copy to Wikisource}}
   • {{Copy to Wikiquote}}
   • {{Copy to Wikibooks}}
   • {{Copy to Wikibooks Cookbook}}
   • {{Copy to Wikimedia Commons}}

Pages with many revisions

The deletion of pages with long histories may impact server performance. As a precaution, therefore, deletions of pages with more than 5,000 revisions require the special "bigdelete" user right, which administrators do not have. Such deletions can be requested of stewards at meta:Steward requests/Miscellaneous.

About Deleted Articles There are three processes under which mainspace articles are deleted: 1) talk page and, depending on the circumstances, politely explain why you think the article should be restored, or why a copy should be provided to you so you can address the reason for deletion before reposting the article. If this is not fruitful, you have the option of listing the article at WP:Deletion review , but it will probably only be restored if the deletion was clearly improper. List Discussions WP:Articles for deletion WP:Categories for discussion WP:Copyright problems WP:Deletion review WP:Miscellany for deletion WP:Redirects for discussion WP:Stub types for deletion WP:Templates for discussion WP:WikiProject Deletion sorting WT:Articles for deletion WT:Categories for discussion WT:Copyright problems WT:Deletion review WT:Miscellany for deletion WT:Redirects for discussion WT:Stub types for deletion WT:Templates for discussion WT:WikiProject Deletion sorting

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