Wikipedia:What to do if your article gets tagged for speedy deletion
This is an essay on the deletion policy. 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. |
My article was tagged for speedy deletion!
If you're reading this, it's probably because a page you created was tagged for deletion based on Wikipedia's
What does a "Speedy Deletion" tag look like?
A Speedy Deletion (CSD) tag looks something like this:
This project page may meet Wikipedia's CSD .
If this project page does not meet the criteria for speedy deletion, or you intend to fix it, please remove this notice, but do not remove this notice from pages that you have created yourself. If you created this page and you disagree with the given reason for deletion, you can click the button below and leave a message explaining why you believe it should not be deleted. You can also visit the talk page to check if you have received a response to your message. Note that this project page may be deleted at any time if it unquestionably meets the speedy deletion criteria, or if an explanation posted to the talk page is found to be insufficient.
Note to administrators: this page has content on its talk page which should be checked before deletion. Administrators: check links, talk, history (last), and logs before deletion. Consider checking Google.This page was last edited by XenonNSMB (contribs | logs) at 14:33, 6 September 2022 (UTC) (18 months ago) |
The contents inside the tag will differ according to the
So why was my article tagged for deletion?
There are four major reasons why an article gets tagged for speedy deletion: it is asserted to be non-encyclopedic, a copyright violation, an advertisement or spam, or an attack page, hoax or other form of vandalism.
Non-encyclopedic pages
The most basic standard for inclusion in Wikipedia is
If your subject has been written about elsewhere, you have to say why. Creating an article that just says "Paul is a really good cook" doesn't provide a starting point for other editors to build on. Who is Paul? What kind of food does he cook? Who says he's good? How do we find out more about him? Now, an article that says "Paul Prudhomme is a world-class cajun chef who hosts the show Paul Prudhomme's Always Cooking! on PBS"... that gives you something to sink your teeth into!
And finally, articles which just can't become articles – articles with random text or no content.
Applicable Speedy Deletion Criteria |
A7 (no assertion of importance)
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Related Policies and Guidelines |
Notability of internet content
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Copyright violations
Sadly, all the notability in the world can't save a copyright violation. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia, and as such we must use free content (with a
Applicable Speedy Deletion Criteria |
G12 (blatant copyright violation)
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Related Policies, Guidelines, and Resources |
Advertisements or spam
Wikipedia is not an advertising service, and the community is very sensitive to being treated as one. If you wrote an article that reads like
Surprisingly enough, this includes companies you may not be associated with. An overenthusiastic analysis of a company by a genuine fan can be mistaken for something drafted by that company's marketing department (after all, it's not that difficult to fake). If this is the case, then I'm sorry your article was deleted but you simply need to tone it down next time. Also, see reason one above about Notability. If no one else, outside of Wikipedia, has written about your company yet, it's highly unlikely that Wikipedia will be willing to be "Your Big Break".
Applicable Speedy Deletion Criteria |
G11 (blatant advertising)
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Related Policies and Guidelines |
Wikipedia is not an advertising platform
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Attack pages or other forms of vandalism
Writing an article saying "Damian is a jerk" will lead to deletion. So will writing an article comparing his gaming skills to a sloth. Wikipedia
Applicable Speedy Deletion Criteria |
G10 (attack pages)
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Related Policies and Guidelines |
Vandalism
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So what now?
If you contest the speedy deletion, stop and think. Why shouldn't the article be deleted? If you can think of a valid reason why the article shouldn't be deleted, go ahead and click the button. Then replace "(your reason here)" in the edit field that appears, with your reason. Then click save. If the reviewing administrator thinks your reason is valid enough, they won't delete the page straight away, but will give you time to edit the article first — go on, now's your chance! On the flip side, if your reason is not good enough, or the page will never meet policy, then the reviewing administrator may just delete the page anyway.
But don't despair!
My article was speedily deleted. What does this mean?
If you want your article back, it's definitely possible. Reading this far is a good first step and means you're serious about it. Keep in mind though, you need to ask a
References
- ^ "Your" article, in the sense that the article is the result of your work, not in the sense that you own the article.
See also
- Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted?
- Wikipedia:Why I Hate Speedy Deleters
- Wikipedia:Field guide to proper speedy deletion
- Wikipedia:So your article has been nominated for deletion