Wikipedia:Content removal
This is an essay. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints. |
This page in a nutshell: When removing content from a page, it is important to be sure there is consensus to do so. |
Content removal is the removal of material that provides information from an article, without deleting the article itself. While an entire page can be deleted only via the
Removing a section of an article needs to be at least explained and in some cases discussed. Unexplained content removal (UCR) occurs when the reason is not obvious; the edit is then open to being promptly reverted.
Changes which remove one or more words without affecting the content need not be explained, though for all but the most minor ones it is a good idea to at least describe them in the edit summary.
Minor edits
A
For example, suppose the original text says:
- There is an the fish in the bowl.
This is ungrammatical, and should be changed to:
- There is a fish in the bowl.
The edit removes one word and shortens another. But since everyone wants to see proper grammar, there is no need for a discussion.
Types of content removal
There are various forms of content removal. When removing content from an article, whether it be a whole section or even just a single word, if the removal is likely to be opposed by one or more other editors, it is important to make sure there is clearly a consensus to remove the content. When in doubt, discuss prior to removal.
If you boldly make the removal, and it is then reverted by another editor, it is especially important that you discuss it prior to making a second removal.
Some examples of content removal are:
Single word
- Old version: The mixture is made from water, clay, sand, and gravel.
- New version: The mixture is made from water, clay, and gravel.
Sentence
- Old version: The elephant lives on the prairie. It walks over three miles to get some water. It spends hours drinking. Then it goes home and goes to sleep.
- New version: The elephant lives on the prairie. It walks over three miles to get some water. Then it goes home and goes to sleep.
The above examples show how removing just a small amount of text under these circumstances can change the meaning of what is stated. This does not mean it should never be done. It just means that when it is done, it should be done with a good reason, should be explained, and if need be, should be discussed with others.
It is not practical in this essay to show comparisons for larger amounts of text involving multiple paragraphs. But given how easily meaning can be changed in the above examples, how much more necessary is it to seek consensus when removing a full paragraph or section from an article?
Reasons for content removal
There are various reasons for removing content from an article. Regardless of the reason, it should be described in the
Unsourced information
Wikipedia's
If you think a source can be found, but you do not wish to supply one yourself, you can add the template {{
Contentious unsourced or poorly sourced information about living people shall be removed immediately, as per
Inaccurate information
Information that is inaccurate beyond reasonable doubt and not attributed to a reliable source should be removed immediately. Unless it is clearly a
If a statement might possibly be accurate, but uncertainty exists, insert the template {{dubious}} after it. This adds [dubious - discuss] to the displayed page, encouraging readers and editors to discuss the matter.
Inaccurate information about
Information moved to another article
Sometimes whole blocks of text need moving from one article to another: for example, when
When transferring text, you are strongly recommended to save edits for the page you are moving it to before those for the page you are removing it from. This applies to all pages, but is especially important for ones with a high volume of readership. (See
Saving this way round is necessary because someone may visit the target page during the unavoidable interval between the two edits. If they are looking for the moved information and the source page was saved first, they won't find it in either article.
You should follow this even if you intend making one edit immediately after the other and expect the interval to be very minimal. Some of the most popular articles are read thousands of times in a day. An article that is read 4320 times in one day is read on average every 20 seconds! And it may take longer between the two edits.
Even if the article is unpopular and the likelihood it'll be read during that time is very low, it is still necessary to save the target page first. Though it is possible no one will want to read that information during that brief period, you may personally get interrupted. For example, you may get a message from another editor and be distracted by that. You may get an email and be notified by your browser. You may get interrupted by a phone call or unexpectedly lose your internet connection. Any of these complications may render you unable to finish the dual-page editing operation for several hours or days, or may cause you to forget about it altogether.
Irrelevant information
Information that clearly has no relevance to the subject named in the article should be removed. For example, if in the article
Inappropriate content for Wikipedia
Information that falls under any guideline listed under
- Any unverifiable speculation.
- Text that is intended to give one's personal point of view of the subject. If an editor's opinion on the quality of a product is found in the article on that product, this shall be removed.
- Text that is intended to promote the subject. For example, if an advertisement for a company is found in an article on that company, it shall be removed.
- Text that is intended to attack or disparage the subject. For example, if something derogatory is found in an article about a person using a pejorative term against that person's ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc., it shall be promptly removed.
- Wikipedia's external link guidelineshall be removed.
- How-to instructions. Cabinetmaking, text is found on how to build a cabinet, it can and should be removed.
- Vandalism. Any test edit, even if not intentional vandalism, shall be removed on these grounds.
- Spam. Whether in the form of an external link or simply as text added to promote one's own interest, it shall be promptly removed.
- Copyright violations. Text that copied and pastedmaterial from external sites, shall be promptly removed.
Author's own additions
Editors can remove information that they personally added, provided that it has not since been significantly changed or used to support other information in the article. Once it has been modified, or the text is valuable in supporting other information, it should not be removed without good reason.
Consensus on removal
If an
It is preferable that good-faith additions remain in the article pending consensus, unless:
- The article is a biography of a living person, and the material is potentially harmful
- The neutralityof the material may be in question
- The copyright statusof the material is in question
- One or more external linksare in question
Material clearly not added in good faith should be removed pending consensus.
How consensus will prevail
If there are two editors who have a dispute over the presence of content, either can be guilty of a
Still, consensus is
It is also important to remember that
See also
- Wikipedia:Template index/User talk namespace/Multi-level templates#Blanking/Removal of content (warnings)
- Wikipedia:Wikipedia is not censored
- Wikipedia:Edit warring (policy)
- Wikipedia:Three-revert rule(policy)
- Wikipedia:Arguments to avoid in edit wars (essay)
- Wikipedia:Not editing because of Wikipedia restriction (essay)
- Wikipedia:Editing policy#Try to fix problems
- Wikipedia:Inclusion (disambiguation page)
External links
- Deletionism - meta.wikimedia.org
- Inclusionism - meta.wikimedia.org
- Mergism - meta.wikimedia.org
- Separatism - meta.wikimedia.org