Tsunamihelp:Policies and guidelines/Speedy deletion

From Tsunamihelp

Current list: Category:Speedy deletion

There are a few, limited, cases where admins can delete Wikipedia pages "on sight". Non-admins can ask for an admin to delete such a page, either by listing it on speedy deletions, or by adding either a {{delete}} or {{deletebecause|Reason}} header.

If listed on Tsunamihelp:votes for deletion, or a related page, such pages may be deleted before the usual "lag time" (see deletion policy).

Table of contents

1 When may a page be speedily deleted? 1.1 Articles 1.2 Redirects 1.3 Other pages 2 Notes 3 See also

When may a page be speedily deleted?

Admins may immediately delete a page, so long as it satisfies one of the following criteria. Always check the page history first to see if any previous version can be restored, such that deletion is not necessary.

Articles

For any articles that are not speedy deletion candidates, use Tsunamihelp:Votes for deletion.

1. No meaningful content or history (e.g. random characters). See patent nonsense.
2. Test pages (e.g., "Can I really create a page here?").
3. Pure vandalism (see also dealing with vandalism).
4. Very short articles with little or no context (e.g., "He is a funny man that has created Factory and the Hacienda. And, by the way, his wife is great.")
   • Turning such pages into relevant redirects may sometimes be appropriate if any potential context can be found.
   • Be aware that some articles are contributed from Wikipedias, or by non-fluent English speakers, which may lead to misunderstanding of the content.
5. Reposted content that was deleted according to Tsunamihelp deletion policy.
   • Caution should be used if the prior deletion was a speedy delete. Re-creation of the article may in some cases be evidence that the topic deserves the opportunity to expand for a short time, and later, the full VfD discussion.
6. Articles created and edited solely by a banned user after they were banned, unless the user has been unbanned. This is slightly controversial!
7. Foreign language articles that already exist on another Wikimedia project, as a result of having been copied and pasted in to Wikipedia after their creation elsewhere, or as a result of having been moved via the transwiki system.
8. Temporarily deleting a page in order to merge page histories after a cut and paste move.

Of course, the Sandbox is exempt from these rules and should not be deleted even though it may satisfy some of the criteria.

Redirects

Redirects can be immediately deleted if they have no useful history and

1. They refer to non-existent pages. Before deleting a redirect, check to see if the redirect can be made useful by changing its target.
2. Were created by moving user pages out of the article space. (Sometimes new editors accidentally create user pages in the main article space. Move them into the user space using the "Move this page" tool to preserve their history, and consider waiting a day or two before deleting the resultant redirect.)
3. Consensus is that it should be removed to make way for a non-controversial page move.
4. Were created very recently as a result of a typo (during a page move or as a proactive measure). This does not include common mis-spellings, as those are considered useful.
5. Are the result of vandalism (e.g. renaming a page to a nonsense title; when the page is moved back to its correct name, a redirect will be left behind).

Other pages

1. An image which is a redundant (all bits the same or scaled-down) copy of something else on Wikipedia and as long as all inward links have been changed to the image being retained.
2. Personal subpages, upon request by their owner
3. Talk pages of already deleted articles
4. User talk pages of non-logged in users where the message is no longer relevant (This is to avoid confusing new users who happen to edit with that same IP address.)
5. Empty categories (no articles or subcategories) whose only content has consisted of links to parent categories
6. Empty categories (no articles or subcategories), 24 hours after blanking
7. User and talk pages on request of the user, where there is no significant abuse, and no administrative need to retain the page. A redirect (to the user's new name) should be created to avoid red links and confusion.

Notes

Opinions differ as to the correct approach to pages with only external links, and also to pages that are perceived as purely trolling.

Note that copyright problems are not candidates for speedy deletion unless they meet one of the above criteria.

Ideally, when a sysop deletes a test page or other page with no useful content, it is a good idea to put a note on the author's talk page explaining things, and preserving the deleted content, pointing them to the sandbox in cases of tests. Be friendly! Everyone was new once.

See also

• Tsunamihelp:Deletion policy
• Wikipedia:Deletion guidelines for administrators