Wikipedia:Deletion policy

Wikipedia administrators have the ability to permanently delete pages within the system. Administrators necessarily must use their best judgment in making this decision.

Admin deletion removes not just the present content of a page (which is something that anyone can do--but also something that anyone can restore) but also the page's history. Deleted pages can be restored by administrators, but if deletions are made too casually, it is easy to lose track. Hence, the decision to permanently delete an article is not to be taken lightly.

Procedure for deletion

Pages (and images) to be deleted should be listed on Wikipedia:Votes for deletion for a week before deletion takes place. That way, other Wikipedians can have a chance to argue for and against the removal of the page. There are a few, limited, exceptions to this rule:

1. No meaningful content or history (eg "sdhgdf"). See patent nonsense
2. Test pages (eg "Can I really create a page here?").
3. Pure vandalism (see dealing with vandalism).
4. Very short pages with little or no definition or context (eg "He is a funny man that has created Factory and the Hacienda. And, by the way, his wife is great.").
5. Reposting previously deleted content, where the page was not listed on votes for undeletion.
6. Pages created and edited solely by a banned user, after they were banned. (see bans and blocks). This is slightly controversial!
7. Personal subpages that have been listed on Personal subpages to be deleted.

In these cases, sysops may choose to delete the page without it being listed on VfD, or after it has only been listed on VfD for a day or two, rather than the full week.

Opinions differ as to the correct approach to pages with only external links. Copyright infringement is not an exception to the seven day rule: see below.

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, pointing them to the sandbox in cases of tests. Be friendly! Everyone was new once.

"Listed for deletion" notice

When you list a page on Wikipedia:Votes for deletion that you think will be listed for the entire 7 days -- i.e., a page that won't be deleted immediately -- please place the following notice above the page's content:

''This page has been listed on [[Wikipedia:Votes for deletion]]. Please see that page for justifications and discussion.''

Hopefully, this notice will prevent new users from becoming confused as to why their page was removed. Please note that this text should not be used in the case of a possible copyright violation. In that case, please use the "Copyright infringement notice" text from Wikipedia:Boilerplate text.

Some Wikipedians object to this rule. As such, it is considered optional, but someone else may add the notice if you choose not to.

What to keep, what to delete

When deciding whether to keep a page, or list it on VfD, consider the following recommendations:

• Keep stubs. However, delete stubs that don't even have a decent definition. Also, delete stubs that will never become more than a simple definition. See Find or fix a stub.

• Keep articles that need heavy editing, and list them on Pages needing attention, adding a NPOV dispute, etc. However, consider deleting articles that are just patent nonsense.

• Keep redirect pages, except when the problems they cause outweigh their advantages. For more info, see our recommendations on deleting redirects.

• Delete pages that simply will never become encyclopedia articles. For example, articles that represent completely idiosyncratic non-topics, articles that could never be more than dictionary definitions, etc.

• Don't delete source texts, but replace them with an external link and a stub. Alternatively, add an external link to a related article and redirect the pages for source texts there.

These recommendations also apply to admins deciding whether or not to delete a page that has been listed on VfD for a week.

Guidelines for admins

Here are some guidelines that those tasked with permanently deleting pages can generally be expected to follow in making the decision to delete or not:

1. As a general rule, don't delete pages you nominate for deletion. Let someone else do it.
2. Simply deleting a page does not automatically delete its talk page or any subpages. Please delete these pages first, and then the main page. Also, if you delete a page, remove it from this list as well.
3. If another solution has been found for some of these pages than deletion, leave them listed on Wikipedia:Votes for deletion for a short while, so the original poster can see why it wasn't deleted, and what did happen to it. This will prevent reposting of the same item.
4. Use common sense and respect the judgment and feelings of Wikipedia participants.
5. When in doubt, don't delete.
6. Do not delete a page containing a personal essay or other content from the main article namespace without first posting a copy elsewhere (e.g., in a different namespace or on the meta), unless the content is simply vandalism. We reject the notion that Wikipedia must become a repository for all manner of nonsense that happens to be posted. To be clear, however, a good faith attempt to write an encyclopedia article, no matter how poorly worded, biased, or otherwise flawed, will not be considered vandalism.
7. Copyright: See Wikipedia:Copyrights for deletion policy on copyright infringement (and m:Wikipedia and copyright issues and m:Avoid Copyright Paranoia for perspective).
8. When deleting articles, consider whether they should be on our list of requested articles.

FAQ

X redirects to Y, which obscures the existence of A, B, and C - it should be deleted.

It should be turned into a disambiguation page. You don't need the VfD page for that -- do it yourself.

Article X is totally biased!

Take it to pages needing attention or NPOV dispute. You don't need the VfD page for that.

This user should be banned.

Take it to vandalism in progress (for pure vandalism) or problem users (for annoyances).

See the Wikipedia:Deletion log for pages that have been recently deleted. See Wikipedia:Votes for undeletion if you are concerned that a page may have been wrongly deleted.