MicroWiki:Criteria for speedy deletion
 | This page documents an English MicroWiki policy. It describes a widely accepted standard that all editors should normally follow. Changes made to it should reflect consensus. |
Speedy deletion is a deletion process that governs the deletion of articles and media that administrators can delete on sight without further debate. Non-admins can request a page be speedily deleted by adding the relevant speedy deletion template, which will place the page in the category for speedy deletion candidates. The candidates for speedy deletion can be found at Category:Candidates for speedy deletion.
Criteria for speedy deletion
An article can be speedily deleted only if it falls under one of the criteria listed below. If there is any possible doubt as to whether or not a page should be speedily deleted, then the page should be listed under one of the other deletion processes.
General
These apply to every type of page with exclusions listed for specific criteria, and so apply to articles, drafts, redirects, user pages, talk pages, files, etc. Read the specifics for each criterion to see where and how they apply.
G1. Patent nonsense
Gibberish pages that contain no meaningful content, including redlink saviors and Wikipedia articles that have been copied verbatim.
G2. Test pages
Pages created by new users merely experimenting with the wiki. If you would like to experiment with wikitext, please use the public sandbox or create your own.
G3. Pure vandalism and blatant hoaxes
Pages created in an attempt to harm the site, including redirects created by cleanup from page-move vandalism.
- {{Db-g3}}, {{Db-vandalism}}
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as vandalism, Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as hoaxes
G4. Recreation of a page that was deleted per a deletion discussion
This applies to sufficiently identical copies, having any title, of a page deleted via its most recent deletion discussion.[1] It excludes pages that are not substantially identical to the deleted version, and pages to which the reason for the deletion no longer applies. It excludes pages in userspace and draftspace where the content was converted[2] to a draft for explicit improvement (but not simply to circumvent MicroWiki's deletion policy).
- {{Db-g4}}, {{Db-repost}}
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as pages previously deleted via deletion discussion
G5. Creations by banned or blocked users
This applies to content created or uploaded by banned or blocked users in violation of their ban or block.
- Qualifying content must have been created while the user was banned or blocked. Content created before the ban or block was imposed or after it was lifted do not qualify under this criterion.
- When a blocked or banned person uses an alternate account to avoid a restriction, any pages created with the alternate account after the earliest block or ban of any of that person's accounts qualify for G5 (if not substantially edited by others); this is the most common case for applying G5.
- {{Db-g5|name of banned user}}, {{Db-banned|name of banned user}}
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as having been created by blocked or banned users
G6. Technical deletions
This is for uncontroversial maintenance, including:
- Deleting empty dated maintenance categories for dates in the past
- Deleting redirects or other pages blocking page moves. An administrator who deletes a page that is blocking a move should ensure that the move is completed after deleting it.
- Deleting pages unambiguously created in error or in the incorrect namespace.
Templates:
- {{Db-g6|rationale=reason}} – If none of the special tags below applies, this tag should be used with a reason specified in the
|rationale=parameter. - {{Db-copypaste|page to be moved}} – for cut-and-paste page moves that need to be temporarily deleted to make room for a clean page move.
- {{Db-move|page to be moved|reason}} – for pages that are currently holding up a non-controversial or consensual page move.
- {{Db-moved}} – for pages that were holding up a page move, until they were moved out of the way by a page mover.
- {{Db-afc-move|Draft:page to be moved}} – for pages that are currently holding up a non-controversial or consensual page move as a result of an Articles for creation (AFC) review, typically for articles in draft space.
- {{Db-error}} – for pages obviously created in error.
- Category:Candidates for uncontroversial speedy deletion
G7. Author request
- See also: MW:ALIAS
Author deletion requests are only honored in the case that an article might harm the privacy of its subject or contributors, or in situations where an article containing little information will no longer be updated by its few original contributors and can/has been merged with a relevant article so as to prevent a future abandoned page. Articles pertaining to nations will not be deleted simply because the nation (or an aspect of it) is defunct, unless it fits either of the criteria outlined above.
- {{Db-g7}}, {{Db-author}}, {{Db-self}}
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion by user (same category as U1)
G8. Pages dependent on a non-existent or deleted page
Examples include:
- Talk pages with no corresponding subject page ({{Db-talk}}
- Subpages with no parent page ({{Db-subpage}})
- File pages without a corresponding file ({{Db-imagepage}})
- Redirects to targets that never existed or were deleted ({{Db-redirnone}})
- Categories populated by deleted or retargeted templates
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as dependent on a non-existent page, Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as broken redirects
This general-purpose template may be used when a page meets none of the criteria above:
- {{Db-g8}}
G9. Emergency actions
Administrators can speedily delete pages in response to potential legal problems or exceptional controversy.
G10. Attack pages
Pages that serve no useful purpose but to assault their subject.
G12. Blatant copyright infringements
Copyright infringement should be speedily deleted only if
- The article was unquestionably copied from the website of a well-known content provider,
- The article and its entire history, excluding tag inclusions and minor edits, contains only copyright violation material, and
- The editor of the content does not assert that the content was copied with permission nor claims fair use.
- {{db-g12}}
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as copyright violations (same category as F9)
G13. Abandoned Drafts
This applies to any Drafts not edited by a human in six months.
G14. Unnecessary disambiguation pages
This applies to the following disambiguation pages:
- Disambiguation pages that have titles ending in "(disambiguation)" but disambiguate only one extant MicroWiki page.
- Regardless of title, disambiguation pages that disambiguate zero extant MicroWiki pages.
- A redirect that ends in "(disambiguation)" but does not redirect to a disambiguation page or a page that performs a disambiguation-like function.
If a disambiguation page links to only one article and does not end in (disambiguation), it should be changed to a redirect, unless it is more appropriate to move the linked page to the title currently used for the disambiguation page. G14 also applies to pages that perform a disambiguation-like function (such as set index articles or lists).
- {{db-14}}, {{db-disambig}}
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as unnecessary disambiguation pages
Articles
A1. No context
This applies to articles lacking sufficient context to identify the subject of the article. Example: "He is a funny man with a red car. He makes people laugh." It applies only to very short articles. Note that context is different from content, treated in A3. This excludes coherent non-English material, and poorly translated material. If any information in the title or on the page, including links, allows an editor, possibly with the aid of a web or local search, to find further information on the subject in an attempt to expand or edit it, A1 is not appropriate. Do not tag under this criterion in the first few minutes after a new article is created.[3]
A2. Foreign-language articles
This applies to any new articles or subpage translations. Articles from language variants clearly marked as undergoing translation with {{Being translated}} or similar are exempt.
- {{Db-a2}}, {{Db-foreign}}
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as existing on foreign MicroWiki projects
A3. No content
This applies to articles of little to no content, and includes but is not limited to those consisting only of external links, category tags or "See also" sections, a rephrasing of the title, attempts to correspond with the person or group named by its title, questions that should have been asked at the helpdesk, chat-like comments, template tags, or images. However, a very short article may be a valid stub if it has context, in which case it is not eligible for deletion under this criterion. This criterion covers pages pages having only an infobox (in which case it should be moved into a draft), unless its contents also meet another speedy deletion criterion. This criterion excludes poor writing, coherent non-English material, and poorly translated material.
- {{Db-a3}}, {{Db-nocontent}}, {{Db-contact}}
- {{Db-empty}} – context-specific version: calls {{Db-c1}} for categories, and {{Db-a3}} everywhere else.
- Category:Candidates for speedy deletion as empty articles
A7. No indication of importance
- See also: MW:NOTBLOG
This applies to any article about, including but not limited to, a real person, individual animal, commercial or non-commercial organization, physical or digital product or content, artistic work, music recording, film, or event that does not indicate why its subject is important or relevant to the scope of the encyclopedia. Relevancy to micronationalism is distinct from verifiability, and articles with blatantly false or exaggerated claims of relevancy to micronationalism may be submitted for speedy deletion as a hoax instead. The burden of proof of relevancy to micronationalism rests upon an article's author, and the final say on the matter shall be decided upon by administrators.
Redirects
These criteria apply to redirects, including soft redirects, in any namespace, with exclusions listed for specific criteria. For any redirects that are not speedy deletion candidates, use MicroWiki:Redirects for discussion.
R2. Cross-namespace redirects
This applies to any redirects from the main namespace to any other namespace except the Category:, Template:, MicroWiki:, Help: and Portal: namespaces, and to broken redirects that would qualify for this criterion if they were fixed.
- {{Db-r2}}
R3. Implausible typos
This applies to redirects from implausible typos or misnomers. This criterion does not apply to redirects created as a result of a page move,[4] unless the moved page was also recently created. It also does not apply to articles and stubs that have been converted into redirects, including redirects created by merges, or to redirects ending with "(disambiguation)" that point to a disambiguation page.
Files
These apply to files, images, and other media.
F1. Redundant
Files that have another copy that is of the same or better quality and/or of the same image file format.
- {{Db-f1}}
F2. Corrupt, missing or empty file
Files that are corrupted, missing, or empty, or contain superfluous and blatant non-metadata information.
F8. Files available as identical copies on Wikimedia Commons
Provided the following conditions are met:
- The Commons version is in the same file format and is of the same or higher quality/resolution.
- The file's license and source status is beyond reasonable doubt, and the license is undoubtedly accepted at Commons.
- If the file is available on Commons under a different name than locally, all local references to the image must be updated to point to the title used at Commons.
- The file is not protected. Do not delete protected images, even if there is an identical copy on Commons, unless the image is no longer in use (check what links here). They are usually locally uploaded and protected here since they are used in the interface or in some widely used high-risk template. Deleting the local copy of an image used in the interface does break things. More about high-risk images.
- {{Db-f8}}
- Category:MicroWiki files with the same name on Wikimedia Commons, Category:MicroWiki files with a different name on Wikimedia Commons
Categories
C1: Unpopulated categories
This does not apply to tracking categories or disambiguation categories.
- {{Db-c1}}
- {{Db-catempty}}
User Pages
U1. User request
User sub pages can be speedily deleted upon request from the user whose user space the page lies under.
U2. Non-existent users
When there is a user page or user talk page and no user to match these pages.
Notes
- ↑ The result of the most recent deletion discussion controls. This means that if the most recent discussion was "keep" or a default to keep through no consensus, G4 does not apply. Likewise, an article that was deleted through its most recent discussion, but was kept in earlier discussions, is subject to the criterion and may be deleted.
- ↑ A conversion to draft is when a page from a different namespace is moved, or its content copied, as a draft.
- ↑ Consensus has developed that in most cases articles should not be tagged for deletion under this criterion moments after creation as the creator may be actively working on the content; though there is no set time requirement, a ten-minute delay before tagging under this criterion is suggested as good practice. Please do not mark the page as patrolled before that delay passes, to ensure the article is reviewed at a later time.
- ↑ Page moves are excluded because of a history of improper deletions of these redirects. A move creates a redirect to ensure that any external links that point to MicroWiki remain valid; should such links exist, deleting these redirects will break them. Such redirects must be discussed at MicroWiki:Redirects for discussion before deletion. However, redirects that were obviously made in error can be deleted as G6, technical deletions.