Wikipedia:Deletion process

For instructions on nominating an article for deletion, see WP:AFD, WP:SPEEDY, or WP:PROD. More information is also available at Wikipedia:Guide to deletion.

The deletion process is the Wikipedia process involved in recording and executing the community's decisions to delete or keep a page. In general, administrators are responsible for closing discussions about deletions, but in practice, the various deletion discussions tend to be badly backlogged, and editors in good standing who have not been made administrators may close deletion discussions under conditions described under non-administrators closing discussions. Closing decisions are subject to review and, if necessary, may be reopened by any administrator. If this happens, take it only as a sign that the decision may not have been as obvious as you may have thought.

People should not close discussions in which they have been involved. To do so presents a conflict of interest.

Speedy deletion

1. Decide whether the page meets one or more of the criteria for speedy deletion.
2. Delete the page with a good comment in the reason for deletion field. (This will be automatically recorded in the Deletion log.)
   • Citing the specific criteria for speedy deletion in the comment is strongly recommended.
   • It may sometimes be helpful to quote page content in the reason for deletion. But in the case of attack pages (CSD G10) please be careful not to quote (potentially libelous) negative comments, so that these do not appear in the log. Likewise, in the case of blatant copyright infringements (CSD G12) please do not quote the copyrighted text.

Articles for deletion page

See also: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion

Visit Wikipedia:Deletion process for a complete listing of deletion and discussion processes.

AFD instructions
close after	7 days (relist if insufficient discussion)
top tag	{{subst:Afd top|'''RESULT'''}} ~~~~
bottom tag	{{subst:Afd bottom}}
retire	remove categorization template
If deleting
delete page incl. reason	[[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Article]]
If keeping
tag talk page	{{Old AfD multi |date= |result= |page= }}
remove	afd tag from article

This page outlines administrator instructions for articles for deletion (AfD) discussions, which are used to determine whether or not an article should be deleted. For more information, please see Wikipedia:Articles for deletion. The XFDcloser script is useful for automating the below process.

Process

Closing the AfD

To process an AFD debate listed on a day page containing debates old enough to be closed:

• If it may take significant time to assess the debate and/or perform the closing edits, consider letting others know that you are in assessing the discussion by adding {{Closing}} to the very top of the page.
• Determine, using the guidelines set forth at Wikipedia:Deletion guidelines for administrators, if there is a consensus to delete the article, and if the associated talk or sub-pages should also be deleted.
• Close the deletion discussion by doing the following:
  • Remove the {{Closing}} tag from the page, if it was placed beforehand.
  • Do the following:

{{subst:Afd top|'''result'''}}. ~~~~	← Add this line at the very top of the page, with the appropriate result in '''bold'''.
===[[Article title]]===	← Leave this line alone.
	← Remove the line containing {{REMOVE THIS TEMPLATE WHEN CLOSING THIS AfD}}.
DISCUSSION	← Body of the discussion stays unchanged
{{subst:Afd bottom}}	← Add bottom template

• If additional explanation is needed as to why you have closed a deletion discussion as a certain result, add additional comments immediately after '''Result'''. on the first line.
• If the AfD has been relisted before, remove each appearance of <noinclude>[[Category:Relisted AfD debates|{{SUBPAGENAME}}]]</noinclude> in the discussion.
• Save the page with an edit summary such as "Closing AfD, result was ..."

After closing, the page should look like this:

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Result‎ [Additional comments]. Example (talk) 11:16, 4 May 2024 (UTC)

PageName

• DISCUSSION THREAD
  

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The page may still contain Category:Relisted AfD debates and possibly Category:AfD debates relisted 3 or more times which can be removed (via HotCat).

Carrying out the AfD close

Depending on the decision, proceed as follows:

Delete:

• Check the article's talk page for any notice that this page's contents had been copied to another page (e.g. {{copied}}). The page history may need to be retained for proper attribution of the copied text to satisfy Wikipedia's licensing.
• Delete the article, adding a link to the deletion discussion [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Article]] to the "Other/additional reason:" box.
  For most administrators using the current deletion interface, the box will automatically contain that.
• Delete the article's talk page per speedy deletion criterion G8, placing the following in the "Other/additional reason:" box:
  [[WP:CSD#G8|G8]]: Page dependent on a deleted or nonexistent page
  For most administrators using the current deletion interface, this can be selected in the drop-down box under "Reason:".
• Go to Special:WhatLinksHere on the deleted article and delete any redirects that point to the deleted article, using speedy deletion criterion G8. Also, if the AfD has shown no current scope to have an article on the subject, edit articles to remove redlinks to the deleted page; use your discretion over whether to delete the text altogether, e.g. from lists. Likewise, remove links found on category and portal pages; links on user and talk pages can be ignored, as can some WikiProject pages.

Keep:

• Click "edit" on the article page and copy the entire {{Old AfD multi}} template that is inside the AfD tag, then paste that entire template onto the article's talk page (normally above the WikiProject tags, if applicable), and then save using an edit summary such as "Adding {{Old AfD multi}}".
  • If the {{Old AfD multi}} is not present in the tag, then the AfD is likely a repeat nomination, and it will need to be manually added to the current {{Old AfD multi}} tag on the article's talk page. Please see Template:Old AfD multi/doc for instructions on how to format it. After adding the current AfD results to the template, save using an edit summary such as "Appending to {{Old AfD multi}}".
• Remove the AfD tag from the article itself; that is, everything between (and including) <!-- Please do not remove ... to <!-- End of AfD message, feel free to edit beyond this point -->. Save using an edit summary such as "Removing AfD tag. Consensus was "keep"."
• If the consensus was to keep and clean up, consider adding the {{Cleanup AfD}} tag on top of the article.

No consensus:

• Follow the exact same procedures in keep above, but replace keep with no consensus.

Nomination withdrawn:

• Follow the exact same procedures in keep above, but replace keep with nomination withdrawn.

Redirect:

• Make sure you specify on the AfD page where the article should be redirected to.
• Follow the same procedures as in keep for adding the {{Old AfD multi}} tag to the article's talk page. Normally, WikiProject tags are also removed, unless they support a Redirect-Class, in which case those tags can be modified instead of removed.
• Redirect the article to the target as consensus prescribes.

Merge:

• Follow the same procedures as in keep for adding the {{Old AfD multi}} tag to the article's talk page. Normally, WikiProject tags are also removed, but can be modified to Redirect-class instead of removed.
• Make sure you specify on the AfD page where the article should be merged to.
• On the AfD'd article's page, replace the AfD tag (by removing everything as prescribed in keep above) with the following:

  {{Afd-merge to|destination article|debate name|debate closure date}}

• On the destination article's talk page, add the following (normally above the WikiProject tags):

  {{Afd-merge from|nominated article|debate name|debate closure date}}

Relisting AfDs

If insufficient discussion took place to determine a consensus or lack thereof, the AfD can be relisted by doing the following:

• At the very bottom of the deletion discussion, add {{subst:relist}}
  If additional comments need to be made upon relisting, add {{subst:relist|Comments about the relist}} instead.
• Go to the day the AfD was listed; this can be found by clicking What links here on the AfD page and then clicking the AfD log page (e.g. [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/<date>]]). On that AfD log page, comment out (using <!-- ... -->) the transclusion of the relisted deletion discussion. It should look like this:

  <!-- {{Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Article}} -->

Save that AfD log page with an edit summary such as "[[WP:RELIST|Relisting]] [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Article]]".

• Go to WP:AFD/T and click on the link, Today, which leads to today's AfD log page (e.g. [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/<today's date>]]) Add to the top of the list of AfDs the relisted AfD, adding <!--Relisted--> at the end. It should look like this:

  {{Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Article}}<!--Relisted-->

Save the today's log page with an edit summary such as "[[WP:RELIST|Relisting]] [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Article]]".

Closing out an AfD log page

Every day, the AfD log page (e.g. Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/2024 April 27) that is more than seven days old should be moved to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Old (currently, this is automatically done by User:Mathbot). With few exceptions (e.g., an AFD-nominated article that qualifies for Wikipedia:Speedy keep or deletion under WP:CSD), the decision to keep or delete a page is to be implemented only after this move has been performed.

If all deletion discussions on an AfD log page have been closed, then please go to Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Old and remove that AfD log page (which Mathbot can do automatically by clicking here). Then, go to Wikipedia:Archived deletion discussions and paste that AfD log page at the top in the appropriate month (currently, this is also automatically done by Mathbot).

See also

• Wikipedia:Deletion process#Non-administrators closing discussions
• XFDcloser – A commonly used tool to help quickly and conveniently close deletion discussions.

Miscellany for deletion page

MFD instructions
close after	7 days (unless ongoing discussion)
top tag	{{subst:mfd top}} '''RESULT''' ~~~~
bottom tag	{{subst:mfd bottom}}
archival	automatic by User:RFC bot
notes	log portal discussions here
If keeping
tag talk page	{{oldmfd|date=|result=|votepage=}} or personal note if user page
remove	page's mfd tag

To process a debate listed at Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion after 7 days:

1. If a clear consensus has not emerged, consider relisting the discussion:

   To relist a discussion, do the following:

   • Open the discussion for editing. Add your relisting comments, ideally that will refocus the discussion, or note the date of late publicising of the discussion.
   • Add {{subst:mfdr}} directly below the pagelinks template

   • Subsequent relisting timestamps must be placed above the old

   • Add {{subst:relist}} to the very bottom of the discussion
   • Leave an edit summary noting that the discussion is being relisted along with the date it is being relisted at (i.e. the current date)
   • Save the page
   • The bot that manages MfD will be by shortly to finish the process (i.e. move the transclusion of the discussion to the new day)

   In general, discussions should not be relisted more than twice.

2. Some discussions may take significant time to assess the debate and close. Consider first editing the discussion sub-page and adding {{mfdh}} (or {{closing}}) to the top and {{mfdb}} to the bottom, to notify others that a close is in progress.
3. Determine (using the guidelines) what the consensus was, and whether any associated talk or sub-pages should be deleted.
4. Enter the following text at the top and bottom of the MFD discussion sub-page. (This will create a shaded box around the discussion thread confirming that it has been closed. See the example below.) Note that the header template and closing result go above the top section header.

   Do the following:

   {{subst:mfd top}} '''RESULT'''. ~~~~ ← Add this line at the very top of the page, with RESULT in bold.

   === [[Header]] === ← Leave this line alone.

   DISCUSSION ← Body of the discussion stays unchanged

   {{subst:mfd bottom}} ← Add bottom template

   If additional explanation is needed as to why you have closed a deletion discussion as a certain result, add additional comments immediately after '''RESULT'''. on the first line.

5. If the decision is DELETE, then delete the page. (This action will be recorded in the deletion log.) Remember to paste a link to the discussion in the "Reason for deletion" box (ie add [[Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Page]] ). If appropriate, delete the page's talk page or any associated sub-pages first. Also remember to check "what links here" and either delete any redirects or redirect them elsewhere.
6. If the decision is KEEP (including REDIRECT or USERFY), remove the MFD Header from the page (be sure the MFD Category is also removed). Then put a link to the discussion sub-page on the page's talk page (for user pages a personal note is recommended, otherwise use the template {{old mfd}} for this), so add:

   {{old mfd | date = date of nomination | result =result | votepage = PageName }}

   (always include the votepage as it ensures the link will work if the page is later moved, or if it was a talk page that was nominated)

   (the default result is "keep")

   • Fix double-redirects if the page becomes a redirect.
   • If no consensus was reached, then the page is kept by default, but the decision should generally include a reference to the lack of consensus, in order to minimize ambiguity.
   • If the consensus was USERFY a.k.a. USERSPACE, this is usually done without leaving a redirect behind, unless there's well-supported rationale to retain one. Consequently, non-admin closers who do not have the page-mover bit should not normally close an MfD with a result of USERFY, since they are unable to move pages without leaving redirects behind.
     • Material is mostly userfied when it is inappropriate in projectspace, where someone has been "citing" it as if it's WP:P&G material or a community-accepted major essay. So, a redirect would defeat the point of the userspacing. In USERFY cases, the default is to not retain a redirect.
     • Non-admins should not close with USERFY, but leave it to an admin, if the consensus also entails deleting inappropriate WP:FOO shortcuts, an action non-admins cannot perform.
7. If the decision is MERGE:
   • Mark both pages, add {{mfd-mergeto}} and {{mfd-mergefrom}} to the top of their respective pages as follows. For details, see their respective descriptions.

     nominated page: {{mfd-mergeto|destination page|debate name|debate closure date|talk page of destination page}}
     destination page's talk page: {{mfd-mergefrom|nominated page|debate name|debate closure date}}

8. If the MfD involved a Portal, please log the closure and result at portals for deletion at mfd.
9. There is no need to worry about archiving; this is accomplished automatically by User:One bot.

Header and footer text

After closing the discussion, the page will look like this:

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the miscellaneous page below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the page's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result of the discussion was: result Your signature timestamp

Wikipedia:Example

Wikipedia:Example (edit | talk | history | links | watch | logs)

Nominator's rationale. Nominator's signature timestamp

• DISCUSSION THREAD

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the page's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

See also

• Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion/Speedy redirect
• {{Priorxfd}}

Categories for discussion page

CFD instructions
Close after	7 days (2 if WP:C2 applies)
Top tag	{{subst:cfd top|'''result'''}} ~~~~
Bottom tag	{{subst:cfd bottom}}
If merging, renaming, or deleting
Bot	List it at WP:CFD/W
Manual follow-up	Remove or update backlinks in articles, other categories etc.
If keeping
Bot	List it at WP:CFD/W#Retain
If relisting
See	Template:Cfd relisted

Visit Wikipedia:Deletion process for a complete listing of deletion and discussion processes.

Administrator instructions for Categories for discussion:</noinclude>

When to close

Normally, only close discussions if they have been open to participation for more than a week. However, if speedy criteria for categories apply and the nomination is unopposed, the discussion can be closed after 48 hours.

Closing a discussion

Consider adding {{closing}} just after the section header to indicate that a close is in progress if you expect it to take significant time.

Check that the nominated category pages were tagged. If a listed category was not tagged, your close (in respect of that category) should be "procedural close" as an invalid nomination, after which no action is required. Alternatively, tag the category pages and relist the discussion on the current day's CfD log.

Determine whether consensus to delete or rename has been reached. See: Deletion guidelines for administrators.

A nomination may result in any outcome, e.g. a proposed renaming may end in consensus to delete.

The decision to keep or delete a category is to be implemented only after the discussion for that category has been closed.

Semi-automated implementation of the closure using XFDcloser

For discussions where the result is Keep or No consensus or Procedural close, you can just use XFDcloser, which should handle all required actions. However, please check that the action is correctly recorded in the {{Old CfD}} template, as it is sometimes omitted.

For discussions where the result is Delete, you can use XFDCloser to close the discussion, and then list the name of the category at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working#Empty then delete in the format specified in comments on that page. For some categories additional manual actions are necessary, but nothing will go wrong if the category sits there and you let one of the people who watch that page do the manual work.

Merge results follow the same procedure (with the same caveat), except the section to use is Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working#Merge then delete

Rename results can be done following a similar procedure (using Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working#Move).

The Merge or Rename options in XFDcloser prompt the closer to enter the target category in each case, but currently make no use of this information. It is therefore recommended to use the Custom option instead for merges and renames, followed by "No automated actions". The Custom option can also be used for splits and other outcomes.

Manual implementation of the closure

Closing the discussion at the CfD log page

After the category's section header, add: {{subst:cfd top|'''result'''}} ~~~~ You may state a rationale after the result if desired.

(result should usually be Delete, Merge, Rename, Keep or No consensus)

At the end of the category's section, but before the next category's section header, add: {{subst:cfd bottom}}

After closing the discussion, the section will look like this:

Category:Example category

The following is an archived discussion concerning one or more categories. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on an appropriate discussion page (such as the category's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the discussion was: RESULT. my name date

• DISCUSSION THREAD

---

The above is preserved as an archive of the discussion. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the category's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section.

Rarely, CFD discussions are arranged at multiple levels on the daily CFD log page. To avoid confusing AnomieBOT, which automatically updates the count of open discussions at WP:CFDAC, use {{cfd top}} at the top of a (4th-, 5th-, or 6th-level) section to close it and all its subsections, and {{cfd-bottom}} at the bottom of the section as a whole to wrap all the subsections. Alternatively, if a section will not be closed because its subsections will be closed individually, enter <!-- CFDClerk: This section heading isn't a discussion --> at the top of that section.

Implementing a keep, no consensus or procedural close

WP:CFD/W#Retain may be used to automate this task if multiple pages were nominated simultaneously. Otherwise proceed manually as outlined below.

Add a link on the category's talk page to the discussion sub-page, preferably using {{Old CfD}}:

{{old cfd | section heading | date = date of nomination | action = action proposed by nominator | result = result }}

• the default section heading is the category name, so that parameter can often be omitted
• date should be added in the same format as on CfD daily subpages, i.e., Year Month Day
• the default action is "delete", but it can also be "merge", "rename" or something else
• the default result is "Keep", so that parameter may be omitted, but it can also be "No consensus" or "Procedural close" or something else

Edit the category page and remove the script that was inserted when the {{cfd}} or other Cfd template was substituted.

If the category page becomes a redirect, fix double redirects.

Implementing a rename, merge or delete

NOTE: If the decision or decisions affect a large number of articles (thousands), don't list the close in the normal sections. Instead, list them at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working/Large. The bot will process these separately.

Otherwise proceed as follows:

• List it under the appropriate section of Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working. Include the link to the CFD day page above the listing.
• Go to the old category and check "what links here". If there are links or redirects to it, update them. Start with any navbox templates; also update category pages, articles, and manually-edited pages such as sub-pages of portals and active WikiProjects, but ignore "article alert" subpages, user pages and talk pages. If you cannot detect where the link comes from it is probably from a template transcluded on the page, and if you have updated the template then the link on the page will be updated automatically after a while, so you can safely ignore the link; you can test this by making a null edit to force the update.
• To Rename:
  1. Move the category page to the new name and enter a link to the discussion in the log, including brackets [[ ]]. The "move" command has a few options, one of which leaves a {{category redirect}} at the old name; un-tick this if the redirect will not be useful (most cases). The option to move the category talk page to the new name should usually be ticked. After moving the page, edit the new category page to remove the CFD template and make any other necessary changes including sort keys. Then go back to the old category name, and update each of the member pages or sub-categories.
  2. Renaming over an existing redirect: check the page history at the new name, and decide if it is significant. If the page history is not worth keeping, manually move the current category page to the new name and delete the existing redirect. Otherwise, manually update the pages, then update the Wikidata link (see below).
  3. Where the old name was ambiguous: check whether categories exist for other meanings, and if so use {{category disambiguation}} at the old page.
• To Merge:
  1. Consider moving page content from the nominated category to the target category e.g. explanations, portals and other navigation links, and especially – if appropriate – additional parent categories. In addition, merge any relevant content from the old talk page to the target talk page. The old category page will have to be manually deleted after the contents have been moved, unless it should be redirected.
  2. With a downmerge (when a category is merged to its own sub-category), the bot transfers the parent categories incorrectly. So before the merger, at the page of the target subcategory, replace the nominated category by the parent categories of the nominated category.
  3. Where the category page is moved, bots automatically update interwiki links to corresponding categories in Commons and other language Wikipedias via Wikidata. For merges, consider if this should apply. If "Wikidata item" appears in the "Tools" menu on the old category page, use it to update the enwiki link and English title at Wikidata. If both old and new pages have Wikidata items, consider merging them.
• To Delete:
  1. After links have been fixed, delete the category and/or remove it from the Working page.

Some special cases populated by templates

• Eponymous or Works categories for musicians are automatically populated if they exist by Albums and Songs sub-categories. Therefore, first delete the category page, then perform null edits on the albums & songs subcat pages.
• Chronology categories e.g. (dis)establishments, years & decades generally use templates such as {{EstcatCountry}} that automatically generate parent categories. Sometimes these parent categories would only contain a few sub-cats, so it may be undesirable to create them. Instead, create a category redirect at that page to an appropriate target, e.g. using the succeeding country name; in most cases the templates will then resolve the redirect, i.e. they will populate the target category instead.
• Categories for redirects from fictional elements, e.g. Category:Police Woman episode redirects to lists, will likewise resolve category redirects. So will various templates used on image file pages, such as {{Non-free logo}}. Just leave a redirect at the old category name, and there will be no need to edit the member pages.
• Military award categories may be partly populated using {{MilAward}}. In this case, remove the category name from Module:MilAward/data.
• Categories of Wikipedians by ethnicity and nationality and Wikipedians by interest in a region are often populated by intricate templates that call {{User in region}}. Follow the instructions in the templates very carefully, or list such cases at WP:CFD/W/M to be manually implemented by an experienced admin.

Implementing a split

It is recommended to rename the nominated category into one of the two (or three) target categories. For the procedure for renaming see above (whether or not using XFDCloser). If there are interwiki links, check at the end that the most appropriate category is linked at Wikidata.

Before that happens, the other target category/categories need to be created and populated manually.

Alternatively the closer may ask the nominator to implement the split, and/or the closer may list the nomination at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working/Manual#Split and tag the category with {{Cfd manual}}. In the latter case any editor can implement the split at a later date.

Non-admin closures

Non-admins are not able to use the WP:CFD/W page which is regularly referred to above, because that page is protected. Therefore they cannot close discussions that require any actions unless they are prepared to manually implement those actions, or to get help from an admin e.g. by listing the close at WT:CFDW. User:Qwerfjkl/scripts/CFDlister is frequently used for this purpose. Manual implementation requires recategorizing articles in the category in case of a rename, merge or delete closure; it is important to include a link to the CFD discussion in every edit summary.

To request deletion of a category manually emptied for a merge/delete result by a non-admin, tag the page with {{db-xfd|votepage=Log/year_month_day}}, e.g. {{db-xfd|votepage=Log/2022_July_10}}. Do not use this for renaming, as the page should generally be moved to preserve the page history.

Stub types

In general, a stub type consists of a stub template and a dedicated stub category. Before closing a discussion about a stub type:

• Read and understand guidance for creating stub types and stub type naming conventions.
• Review the list of existing stub types—be advised, this list may not be comprehensive.

When documenting the close, add:

{{subst:cfd top|stub=yes}} '''result'''. ~~~~

(where result is usually either Delete, Merge, Rename, Keep or No consensus)

At the end of the discussion, but before the next section header, add:

{{subst:cfd bottom|stub=yes}}

If the decision affects:

• A stub category—follow the instructions above for the category.
• A stub template, and the decision is:
  • Keep or No consensus—remove the {{sfd-t}} or {{sfr-t}} notice from the template.
  • Delete—replace all transclusions of the template with more appropriate stub types, and then delete the template.
  • Rename—move the template to its new name (leaving a redirect) and remove {{sfr-t}}. Check incoming links to the old page, and update links from WikiProject and index pages (ignore links from talk pages and discussions). Tag the newly created redirect using {{R to stub template}} (unless you decide to update all the pages that transclude it, in which case you can delete it).

See also

• Wikipedia:Category redirects that should be kept (essay)

Templates for deletion page

TFD instructions
Close after	7 days
Top tag	{{subst:Tfd top|'''Result'''}} Reasoning. ~~~~
Bottom tag	{{subst:Tfd bottom}}
Archive	If that was the last discussion for that day, remove the day from WP:TFD
If deleting
Orphan	Remove transclusions or move to holding cell
Also delete	Sub-templates (e.g. /doc) and matching categories
If keeping
Tag talk page	{{Old TfD}}
Remove Tfd tag

Every day, the TfD discussions more than seven days old should be closed. This relies on the discretion and common sense of the user closing a debate. If you disagree with a decision, please discuss it with that user before contesting the deletion.

Note that by using Wikipedia:XFDcloser the following steps will be semi-automated, but at certain times manually closing a discussion may be necessary. For example, with batch nominations the full list of templates may be hidden or listed on a separate page, at which point XFDcloser may not be able to determine which pages need updating.

Closing the discussion

1. If it may take significant time to assess the debate and/or do the closing edits, consider first editing the discussion section for the template and adding {{Closing}} just after the section header, to notify others that a close of the particular discussion is in progress. This helps to avoid edit conflicts during the close.
2. Determine whether or not a rough consensus to delete has been reached.
3. After the template's section header, add:

   {{subst:Tfd top|'''Result'''. Reasoning.}} ~~~~

   (where Result is usually either Delete, Merge or Keep)

4. Remove {{Closing}} if you added it earlier.
5. At the end of the template's section, but before the next template's section header, add:

   {{subst:Tfd bottom}}

6. Update or delete the related pages according to the relevant subsection below.

Keep, Redirect, or No consensus

If the decision is Keep (including any variant such as Redirect or No Consensus):

1. Add a link on the template's talk page to the discussion sub-page.
   • The template {{Old TfD}} is recommended for this, for example:

   {{Old TfD|disc=section heading (if different than article name)|result=result}}

   {{Old TfD|date=date of nomination|result=result}}

   {{Old TfD|date=date of nomination}}

   (N.B. the date must be in the format: yyyy_Month_dd in other words, the month must be written out, it must be in year month day sequence, and the date must not be wikilinked)

   (the default disc is the template's name, so that parameter may be omitted entirely)

   (the default result is "Keep", so that parameter may be omitted)

   • If the discussion failed to reach consensus, then the template is kept by default, but the decision should generally include a reference to the lack of consensus, in order to minimize ambiguity and future confusion.
2. Remove {{Template for discussion/dated}} or {{Tfm/dated}} from the template
3. If the page becomes a redirect, remember to fix double-redirects. Ensure page protection for the redirect matches that of the template which the page now redirects to, and that page protection for the target template is appropriate for the number of transclusions which may have increased after the redirection.

Delete

If the decision is Delete, the template can be deleted by an administrator after all instances of the template used in pages have been removed.

1. If easily done, remove all calls for the template and delete the template and its subpages. Otherwise,
   1. List the template under the "To orphan" section of Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Holding cell; use {{tfdl|template name|date|section=section heading}}
   2. On the to-be-deleted template page, replace {{Tfd}} or {{Tfm/dated}} with <noinclude>{{being deleted|YYYY Month D}}</noinclude>. For YYYY Month D, use Year, Month, Day date of the nomination (with no leading zero on the day).
   3. Include an edit summary such as "Per close at [[(Link to TfD discussion)]], added {{being deleted}}".
2. Look at the categories used by the template. If the template has a matching category that is not used for other purposes (for example, {{cleanup}} and Category:Wikipedia cleanup), delete the category as well.
3. In general, no action is required by the closing user for mere links to a template on a talk page or in project space.

Merge, Review, Convert, or Substitute

If the decision is or includes Merge into another template, or Review, Convert, Substitute, etc.,

1. List the template under the appropriate section of Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Holding cell; use {{tfdl|template name|date|section=section heading}}
2. On the to-be-merged template page, replace {{Tfd}} or {{Tfm/dated}} with <noinclude>{{being deleted|YYYY Month D}}</noinclude>. For YYYY Month D, use Year, Month, Day date of the nomination (with no leading zero on the day)
3. Include an edit summary such as "Per close at [[(Link to TfD discussion)]], added {{being deleted}}".
4. If the page becomes a redirect, remember to fix double-redirects. Ensure page protection for the redirect matches that of the template which the page now redirects to, and that page protection for the target template is appropriate for the number of transclusions which may have increased after the redirection.

Relisting

If after seven days there is no consensus or little participation the closing editor may, at their discretion, choose to relist the discussion. When relisting a discussion:

1. Copy the discussion to the current day's nomination page and add {{subst:relist}} to the end of the discussion
2. Close the old discussion (see § Close above, using Relisted as the result), leaving a link to the new discussion location and then remove or collapse the discussion
3. Update the |link= parameter in the {{Template for discussion/dated}} or {{Tfm/dated}} on the nominated template so that it points to the new location.

Header and footer text

After closing the discussion, the section will look like this:

Redirects for discussion page

RFD instructions
Close after	7 days
Top tag	{{subst:rfd top|'''result'''.}} ~~~~
Bottom tag	{{subst:rfd bottom}}
Archive	If that was the last for that day, remove the day from RFD.
If deleting
Remember	Do not delete redirs with relevant history; histmerge or move
If keeping
Tag talk page	{{Oldrfd}}
Remove rfd tag
If relisting
See	Template:Rfd relisted

• Policy suggests a week of discussion before closure. However, exceptions may be made for items qualifying for speedy deletion.
• For instructions on how to relist a discussion, see Template:Rfd relisted.
• Enter the following text at the top and bottom of the RFD discussion section. Consider applying boldface to the result. (Together, these two templates will create a shaded box around the discussion thread confirming that it has been closed.)

• After the redirect's section header:

{{subst:rfd top|'''result'''.}} [Additional comments.] ~~~~

• At the bottom:

{{subst:rfd bottom}}

• Note: Sometimes a redirect has history, and the history is significant - i.e. contains information about the addition of text. (This often happens because someone did a cut-and-paste "move", instead of using the "Move this page" button.) If this is the case, do not simply delete the redirect page, which we need to keep for copyright reasons. There are two ways to deal with such pages.

• For cut-and-paste moves, the "right" way to handle them is to merge the history into the appropriate page, using the procedure outlined here. This is a procedure fraught with peril, however, and on rare occasions doesn't work correctly. Once done, it cannot be undone without a lot of exceptionally tedious gruntwork. So don't pick this option unless it's definitely the right one for the case at hand.
• Another option, useful for pages which were merged (for example), is for redirect pages with significant history to be archived into a talk namespace, and a link to them put into an article's talk page.

• If you delete a redirect, don't forget to delete the accompanying talk page, if applicable. Make sure to add a link to the deletion discussion in your deletion log.
• When you remove an entry from this page because people decided to keep it, don't forget to remove the {{Rfd}} tag from the page (alas, this has to be done manually). It's worth periodically checking either Category:Redirects for discussion and Special:Whatlinkshere/Template:Rfd to see if any pages missed this step. Checking either of these regularly has the side-benefit of finding pages where people added the {{Rfd}} tag to the page, but didn't realize they needed to edit RfD as well.
• Add {{old rfd}} to the redirect's talk page when you close the RfD, unless the outcome was delete.
• Many of the above steps can be automated using the XFDcloser gadget.

Header and footer text

After closing the discussion, the section will look like this:

RedirectName

The following is an archived discussion concerning one or more redirects. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on an appropriate discussion page (such as the redirect's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the discussion was result. [Additional comments.] Example 11:16, 4 May 2024 (UTC)

• RedirectName → TargetArticle
  

DISCUSSION THREAD

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the discussion. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page.

Stub types for deletion page

SFD instructions
Close after	7 days unless ongoing discussion
Top tag	{{subst:sfd top|RESULT}} ~~~~
Bottom tag	{{subst:sfd bottom}}
Archive	Add to log subpage
If deleting
De-list	Remove from stub types list
If keeping
Remove sfd tag	from top of template and category

• Because stub type deletions often involve simultaneous discussion on both a category and a template, a separate process page is used for stub types.
• The actual deletion process is generally handled by administrators who are associated with Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting, since re-sorting of stubbed articles will often require these articles to be moved into several different stub categories. Any interested administrator is welcome to help though. It is important for consistency, and to avoid confusion on the parts of stub-sorters that stub types be removed from the stub type list when they are deleted. Please don't leave red links on Wikipedia:WikiProject Stub sorting/Stub types!
• Policy suggests a week of discussion before closure. However, exceptions may be made for items qualifying for speedy deletion.
• Discussions which are still in process, or where strong cases have been made for both keeping and deleting stub types, are often kept longer than a week.
• Note that decisions to rename stub templates usually result in the deletion, rather than redirection, of the previous name. This is due to strict naming guidelines for stub templates - most renaming of stub templates is due to infringement of these guidelines in the original names.
  • When the result is redirection, please add the templates to the list at Wikipedia:AutoWikiBrowser/Template redirects#Stub templates; entries in that section should be kept in alphabetical order by target. Please also note that if other templates are listed as being replaced with that one, to remove the old rule and add the source templates to the new rule.
• Enter the following text at the top and bottom of the SFD discussion section. (Together, these two edits will create a shaded box around the discussion thread confirming that it has been closed.)
  • After the stub's section header:

    {{subst:sfd top|result}}

  • At the bottom:

    {{subst:sfd bottom}}

• When deleting, make sure to link to the deletion discussion in your deletion log.
• Archived deletion discussions are entered on the appropriate subpage of Wikipedia:Stub types for deletion/Log.
• When archiving the discussion for a kept stub type, don't forget to remove the deletion discussion templates from the top of the stub template or category.

Files for deletion page

FFD instructions
Close after	7 days unless ongoing discussion
Top tag	{{subst:ffd top|RESULT}} ~~~~
Bottom tag	{{subst:ffd bottom}}
No quorum	delete if no objections
If deleting
If Commons	Ensure Commons version is permissible
If keeping
Tag talk page	{{oldffdfull|date=date of nomination}}
Remove ffd tag	from file page

Express closure guidelines

These are applied when there has been a nomination to delete the file but no subsequent debate, or when all contributors agree with deletion, or when deletion is the plainly obvious outcome.

1. Delete the file. Using the link in the FFD page will normally pre-fill the deletion reason box with a link to the FFD discussion; otherwise you should insert a link.
2. That's it. Bots such as AnomieBOT and ImageRemovalBot will automatically close the discussion as delete and remove all instances of the image within a few hours.

Note: If the file was deleted due to licensing issues that will be moot at some future date (for example, once the file enters the public domain in the United States) and that future date is known, please list the file at Category:Future copyright expiration.

Standard closure guidelines

These are applied when there has been debate or discussion, when the consensus is not completely obvious, and for all outcomes that do not involve deleting the file.

1. If it may take significant time to assess the debate and/or do the closing edits, consider first editing the discussion section for the file and adding {{Closing}} just after the section header, to notify others that a close of the particular discussion is in progress. This helps to avoid edit conflicts during the close.
2. Determine whether or not a rough consensus to delete has been reached. See: Deletion guidelines for administrators.
3. After the file's section header, add:

   {{subst:ffd top|'''Result'''}} ~~~~

   (where Result is usually either Delete. or Keep.)

4. Remove {{Closing}} if you added it earlier.
5. At the end of the file's section, but before the next file's section header, add:

   {{subst:ffd bottom}}

6. If the decision is DELETE, then delete the page. (This will be automatically recorded in the Deletion log.) Remember to paste a link to the discussion in the "Reason for deletion" box (ie add [[Wikipedia:Files for discussion/Page]] ). If appropriate, delete the page's talk page or any associated sub-pages first. Also remember to check "what links here" and either delete any redirects or redirect them elsewhere.
7. If the decision is Keep (including any variant such as "Remove from some pages", "Tag as free" or "No Consensus"):
   1. Add a link on the file's talk page to the discussion sub-page.
      • The template {{oldffdfull}} is recommended for this, so add one of:

      {{oldffdfull|date=date of nomination|result=result}}

      {{oldffdfull|date=date of nomination}}

      (the default result is "Keep", so that parameter may be omitted)

      • If the discussion failed to reach consensus, then the file is kept by default (however, see #8 below), but the decision should generally include a reference to the lack of consensus, in order to minimize ambiguity and future confusion.
   2. Remove {{ffd}} (and if applicable {{ffdc}}) from the file (be sure the FfD Category is also removed).
   3. If the page becomes a redirect, remember to fix double-redirects.
8. There is no such thing as quorum. If after the normal time period, there are no objections to deletion of a file, it can simply be deleted. (This also applies to discussions about non-free files proposed to be removed from every page; this results in the file being deleted.)

When deleting files because they are now at the Wikimedia Commons, ensure that the Commons version is completely permissible. Among other things, check that:

1. All relevant revisions of the file have been moved to the Commons, not just the most recent one.
2. The Commons version is as good as or better than the local one.
3. The Commons version is under a free license, and properly tagged and attributed.

If you disagree with a decision, please discuss it with the closing editor and, if necessary, request deletion review.

Note: If the file was deleted due to licensing issues that will be moot at some future date (for example, once the file enters the public domain in the United States) and that future date is known, please list the file at Category:Future copyright expiration.

Relisting

If, after seven days, there has been discussion but it has not led to a consensus, the closing administrator may, at their discretion, choose to relist the discussion. If you decide to relist:

1. Leave a record on the nomination page and then remove or collapse the discussion there.
2. Copy the discussion to the current day's nomination page.
3. Add {{relist}} to the end of the discussion (should be subst'd).
4. Update the log parameter in the {{Ffd}} on the nominated file so that it points to the new location's date.

Note that at FFD, an unopposed nomination to delete a file results in a delete outcome.

Header and footer text

After closing the discussion, the page will look like this:

File:File_name.jpg

The following is an archived discussion concerning one or more files. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the file's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the discussion was: RESULT. my username date

File:File_name.jpg (delete | talk | history | logs) - uploaded by Example (notify | contribs).

DISCUSSION THREAD

The above is preserved as an archive of the discussion. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the file's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this section.

Wikipedia:Deletion review discussions

Deletion review discussions typically are closed after 7 days of discussion. Due to the nature of these discussions, the standards followed in deletion review discussions differ from those of other discussions. Closers must be very familiar with the standards and outcomes used in the deletion review process.

To archive a DRV discussion:

====[[Header]]====	← Replace with {{subst:DRV top|[[Header]]|RESULT}}
Header (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)	← If this is missing from the discussion it should be included for archiving.
DISCUSSION	← Body of the discussion stays unchanged
{{subst:DRV bottom}}	← Add bottom template

• Section headers, ====[[Header (closed)]]====, should remain until the daily log is archived.
• The default for RESULT is "Decision endorsed".
• Both {{DRV top}} (shortcut: {{drt}}) and {{DRV bottom}} (shortcut: {{drb}}) need to be substituted for the time stamp to work properly. The signature is included in this template, so you don't need to add one.
• The wikilink brackets [[ ]] around the header should remain so the current status of the article is easily visible (they're not part of the template since not all the text in the headers is always wikilinked, e.g. ====[[Header]] and related articles====.
• 24 hours after all the discussions on a daily log have been closed, a bot will remove the headers for archiving.
• When deleting or undeleting a page, make sure to link to the deletion review discussion in your log.

Special situations

Some deletion discussions require a few extra steps to close completely.

Relisting discussions

The intent of the deletion process is to attempt to determine the consensus of whether an article should be deleted or not.

However, if at the end of the initial seven day period, an XFD discussion has only one or two commenting editors (including the nominator), and/or if it seems to the closer to be lacking arguments based on policy, it may be appropriate for the closer to relist the discussion, with a goal of obtaining further sufficient discussion in order to determine consensus, and with the understanding that it may be subject to being closed once consensus can be determined, without necessarily waiting a further seven days.

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

If a debate has already been relisted once, the closer should consider carefully if a no-consensus close would be more appropriate than a second relisting. If further discussion is unlikely to bring consensus, then the discussion should simply be closed.

Note that some deletion discussions (such as for categories, redirects, and images and media) can be closed as delete, rather than relisted, if nobody other than the nominator comments.

When relisting a discussion, it should be removed from the log for its original date and moved to the current date's log where the discussion will continue.

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}}

Untranscluded discussions

Sometimes, AFD discussions become excessively long and are temporarily untranscluded from the day's AFD page. This is most often done through the creation of a /temp page for the AFD discussion. If you close one of these very large discussions:

1. Edit the AFD day page to re-transclude the long discussion.
2. Delete the /temp page.

All others

• If a separate discussion page was created, follow the AFD procedures above.
• If no separate discussion page was created, please consider creating one. If you choose not to, at least copy the discussion onto the article's Talk page.

Non-administrators closing discussions

See also: Wikipedia:Non-admin closure

In general, administrators are responsible for closing discussions about deletions. However, at times the various deletion discussions become backlogged. Editors in good standing who have not been made 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, it is best that you only close discussions with unambiguous results.
  • Non-administrators should not close even unanimous "delete" decisions, as they lack the account feature to delete pages (that feature is only turned on for admins).
  • Close calls and controversial or ambiguous decisions should be left to an administrator.
  • In cases when an administrator has deleted a page and overlooks closing the discussion, the administrator's name and deletion summary should be included in the closing rationale.
• Closing discussions in which you have offered an opinion or for a page that you have edited heavily presents a conflict of interest and 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.

Non-administrators closing deletion discussions are recommended to disclose their status in the closing decision. Decisions are subject to review and may be reopened by any administrator. If this happens, take it only as a sign that the decision was not as unambiguous as you thought.

See also

• Template:afd top
• Template:afd bottom
• Speedy keep
• Alternative outlets to recreate deleted articles
• Arguments to avoid in deletion discussions
• Deletion common outcomes
• Deletion debates
• Deletion guidelines for administrators
• Deletion policy
• Deletion review
• Deletion review guide
• Guide to deletion
• Introduction to deletion process
• Undeletion policy
• No blank pages