Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 14:22, 7 September 2010

This page documents an English Misplaced Pages policy.It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.

Shortcuts WP:CSD WP:SD WP:SPEEDY

Template:FixBunching

Template:FixBunching

Template:FixBunching The criteria for speedy deletion specify the only cases in which administrators have broad consensus support to, at their discretion, bypass deletion discussion and immediately delete Misplaced Pages pages or media. They cover only the cases specified in the rules below.

Deletion is reversible, but only by administrators, so other deletions occur only after discussion. Speedy deletion is intended to reduce the time spent on deletion discussions for pages or media with no practical chance of surviving discussion.

Administrators should take care not to speedy delete pages or media except in the most obvious cases. If a page has survived a prior deletion discussion, it should not be speedy deleted except for newly discovered copyright violations. Contributors sometimes create pages over several edits, so administrators should avoid deleting a page that appears incomplete too soon after its creation.

Anyone can request speedy deletion by adding one of the speedy deletion templates. Before nominating a page for speedy deletion, consider whether it could be improved, reduced to a stub, merged or redirected elsewhere, reverted to a better previous revision, or handled in some other way. Users nominating a page for speedy deletion should specify which criteria the page meets, and should consider notifying the page creator and any major contributors.

The creator of a page may not remove a Speedy Delete tag from it. Only an editor who is not the creator of a page may do so. A creator who disagrees with the speedy deletion should instead add {{hangon}} to the page and explain the rationale on the page's discussion page. However, if the sole author blanks a page other than a userspace page or category page, this can be taken as a deletion request, and the blank page tagged for deletion with {{db-blanked}} (see G7).

Besides speedy deletion, there are the following methods of deletion:

• Misplaced Pages:Deletion discussions are the normal method of carrying out deletion.
• Misplaced Pages:Proposed deletions, for nominating pages for uncontroversial deletion.
• Misplaced Pages:Office actions, for rare, urgent, and important deletions usually involving legal issues, done by foundation officials.

Criteria

Abbreviations (G12, A3...) are often used to refer to these criteria, and are given in each section, though plain-English explanations are often more appropriate.

Immediately following each criterion below is a list of templates used to mark pages or media file for speedy deletion under the criterion being used. In order to alert administrators of the nomination, place the relevant speedy deletion template at the top of the page or media file you are nominating (within <noinclude>…</noinclude> for templates). Please be sure to supply an edit summary that mentions that the page is being nominated for speedy deletion. All of the speedy deletion templates are named as "db-X" with "db" standing for "delete because". A list of the "db-X" templates can be found at Misplaced Pages:Criteria for speedy deletion/Deletion templates.

If a page falls under more than one of the criteria, instead of adding multiple tags it is possible to add a single {{db-multiple}} tag to cover them all. For example, if an article seems both to be promotional (G11) and also to fail to indicate significance of its subject (A7) then the tag {{Db-multiple|G11|A7}} can be used to indicate both of these concerns. Then the article can be speedily deleted if an administrator assesses it and decides that either or both of the criteria apply.

There is strong consensus that the creators and major contributors of pages and media files should be warned of a speedy deletion nomination. All speedy deletion templates thus contain in their body a pre-formatted, suggested warning template to notify the relevant parties of the nomination for speedy deletion under the criterion used. You can copy and paste such warnings to the talk pages of the creators and major contributors, choose from others listed at Category:CSD warning templates, or place the unified warning template, {{subst:CSD-warn|csd|pagename}}, which allows you to tailor your warning under any particular criterion by replacing 'csd' with the associated criterion abbreviation (e.g. g4, a7).

General

These apply to all namespaces (and so apply to articles, redirects, user pages, talk pages, files, etc):

G1. Patent nonsense.

Pages consisting entirely of incoherent text or gibberish with no meaningful content or history. This excludes poor writing, partisan screeds, obscene remarks, implausible theories, vandalism and hoaxes, fictional material, coherent non-English material, and poorly translated material.

• {{db-g1}}, {{db-nonsense}}

G2. Test pages.

This excludes the sandbox and the users' own user space, as well as pages that were created in error (see G6).

• {{db-g2}}, {{db-test}}

G3. Pure vandalism and blatant hoaxes.

This includes blatant and obvious misinformation, blatant hoaxes (including images intended to misinform), and redirects created by cleanup from page-move vandalism.

• {{db-g3}}, {{db-vandalism}}, {{db-hoax}}

G4. Recreation of a page that was deleted per a deletion discussion.

A sufficiently identical and unimproved copy, having any title, of a page deleted via a deletion discussion. This excludes pages that are not substantially identical to the deleted version, pages to which the reason for the deletion no longer applies, and content moved to user space for explicit improvement (but not simply to circumvent Misplaced Pages's deletion policy). This criterion also excludes content undeleted via deletion review, or which was deleted via proposed deletion or speedy deletion (although in that case the previous speedy criterion, or other speedy criteria, may apply).

• {{db-g4}}, {{db-repost}}

G5. Creations by (a) banned or blocked user(s).

Pages created by banned or blocked users in violation of their ban or block, and which have no substantial edits by others.

• {{db-g5}}, {{db-banned|name of banned user}}

G6. Technical deletions.

Uncontroversial maintenance, such as temporarily deleting a page to merge page histories, deleting dated maintenance categories, deleting unnecessary disambiguation pages, or performing uncontroversial page moves. This also includes pages unambiguously created in error and/or in the incorrect namespace. If no special tag like {{db-move}} can be used and the reason for deletion is not self-evident, a reason for deletion should be supplied on the talk page or in the edit summary.

• {{db-g6|rationale=reason}}, {{db-histmerge|page to merge history from}}, {{db-move|page to be moved|reason}}, {{db-copypaste|page to be moved}}, {{db-xfd|votepage=link to closed deletion discussion}}, {{db-maintenance}}, {{db-house}}, {{db-disambig}}, {{db-movedab}}

G7. Author requests deletion.

if requested in good faith and provided that the only substantial content to the page and to the associated talk page was added by its author. (For redirects created as a result of a pagemove, the mover must also have been the only substantive contributor to the pages prior to the move.) Note that this does not apply to user talk pages, which are not deleted except under very exceptional circumstances: see WP:DELTALK. If the sole author blanks a page other than a userspace page or category page, this can be taken as a deletion request.

• {{db-author}}, {{db-self}}, {{db-blanked}}

G8. Pages dependent on a non-existent or deleted page.

such as talk pages with no corresponding subject page; subpages with no parent page; image pages without a corresponding image; redirects to invalid targets, such as nonexistent targets, redirect loops, and bad titles; and categories populated by deleted or retargeted templates. This excludes any page that is useful to the project, and in particular: deletion discussions that are not logged elsewhere, user talk pages, talk page archives, plausible redirects that can be changed to valid targets, and image pages or talk pages for images that exist on Wikimedia Commons. Exceptions may be sign-posted with the template {{G8-exempt}}.

• {{db-talk}}, {{db-subpage}}, {{db-imagepage}}, {{db-redirnone}}, {{db-templatecat}}

G9. Office actions.

The Wikimedia Foundation office reserves the right to speedily delete a page temporarily in cases of exceptional circumstances. Deletions of this type should not be reversed without permission from the Foundation.

G10. Pages that disparage or threaten their subject.

or some other entity, and serve no other purpose. These "attack pages" may include slander, legal threats, or biographical material about a living person that is entirely negative in tone and unsourced. These pages should be speedily deleted when there is no neutral version in the page history to revert to. Both the page title and page content may be taken into account in assessing an attack. Articles about living people deleted under this criterion should not be restored or recreated by any editor until the biographical article standards are met.

• {{db-g10}}, {{db-attack}}, {{db-blp}} & {{db-attackorg}}

G11. Unambiguous advertising or promotion.

Pages that are exclusively promotional, and would need to be fundamentally rewritten to become encyclopedic. Note that simply having a company or product as its subject does not qualify an article for this criterion.

• {{db-g11}}, {{db-spam}}, {{db-promo}}

G12. Unambiguous copyright infringement.

Text pages that contain copyrighted material with no credible assertion of public domain, fair use, or a free license, where there is no non-infringing content on the page worth saving. Only if the history is unsalvageably corrupted should it be deleted in its entirety; earlier versions without infringement should be retained. For equivocal cases (such as where there is a dubious assertion of permission, or where free-content edits overlie the infringement), please consult Misplaced Pages:Copyright violations.

Remember to check that the suspected source of the copyright violation is not itself a Misplaced Pages mirror, and to notify the page's creator when tagging a page for deletion under this criterion; the template {{nothanks-sd}} is available for this. For images and media, see the equivalent criterion in the "Files" section below, which has more specific instructions.

• {{db-g12|url=source URL}}, {{db-copyvio|url=source URL}}

Articles

A1. No context.

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." This applies only to very short articles. Context is different from content, treated in A3, below. Caution is needed when using this tag on newly-created articles.

• {{db-a1}}, {{db-nocontext}}, {{db-short}}

A2. Foreign language articles that exist on another Wikimedia project.

This applies to articles having essentially the same content as an article on another Wikimedia project. If the article is not the same as an article on another project, use the template {{notenglish}} instead, and list the page at Misplaced Pages:Pages needing translation into English for review and possible translation.

• {{db-a2}}, {{db-foreign}}

A3. No content.

Any article (other than disambiguation pages, redirects, or soft redirects) consisting only of external links, category tags and "see also" sections, a rephrasing of the title, attempts to correspond with the person or group named by its title, a question that should have been asked at the help or reference desks, chat-like comments, template tags and/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. Similarly, this criterion doesn't cover a page with an infobox with non-trivial information. Caution is needed when using this tag on newly-created articles.

• {{db-a3}}, {{db-nocontent}}, {{db-contact}}, {{db-empty}}

A5. Transwikied articles.

Any article that consists only of a dictionary definition that has already been transwikied (e.g., to Wiktionary), a primary source that has already been transwikied (e.g., to Wikisource), or an article on any subject that has been discussed at articles for deletion with an outcome to move it to another wiki, after it has been properly moved and the author information recorded.

• {{db-a5}}, {{db-transwiki}}

A7. No indication of importance (individuals, animals, organizations, web content).

An article about a real person, individual animal(s), organization (e.g. band, club, company, etc., except schools), or web content that does not indicate why its subject is important or significant. This is distinct from verifiability and reliability of sources, and is a lower standard than notability. This criterion applies only to articles about web content and to articles about people, organizations, and individual animals themselves, not to articles about their books, albums, software, or other creative works. This criterion does not apply to species of animals, only to individual animal(s). The criterion does not apply to any article that makes any credible claim of significance or importance even if the claim is not supported by a reliable source or does not qualify on Misplaced Pages's notability guidelines. The criterion does apply if the claim of significance or importance given is not credible. If the claim's credibility is unclear, you can improve the article yourself, propose deletion, or list the article at articles for deletion.

• {{db-a7}}, {{db-person}} – for people, {{db-band}} – for bands, {{db-club}} – for clubs, societies, groups, and organizations, {{db-inc}} – for companies and corporations, {{db-web}} – for websites, {{db-animal}} – for individual animals

A9. No indication of importance (musical recordings).

An article about a musical recording that does not indicate why its subject is important or significant and where the artist's article does not exist. This is distinct from questions of verifiability and reliability of sources, and is a lower standard than notability. This criterion does not apply to other forms of creative media, products, or any other types of articles.

• {{db-a9}}, {{db-album}}, {{db-song}}

A10. Recently created article that duplicates an existing topic.

A recently created article with no relevant page history that duplicates an existing English Misplaced Pages topic, and that does not expand upon, detail or improve information within any existing article(s) on the subject, and where the title is not a plausible redirect. This does not include split pages or any article that expands or reorganizes an existing one or that contains referenced, mergeable material. It also does not include disambiguation pages. (When the new title is a reasonable term for the subject, converting the new article to a redirect may be preferable to deletion.)

• {{db-a10}}, {{db-same}}

For any articles that are not speedy deletion candidates, use Misplaced Pages:Articles for deletion or Misplaced Pages:Proposed deletion.

Redirects

R2. Redirects from the article namespace,

to any other namespace except the Category:, Template:, Misplaced Pages:, Help: and Portal: namespaces. If the redirect was the result of a page move, consider waiting a day or two before deleting the redirect. See also Misplaced Pages:Cross-namespace redirects.

• {{db-r2}}, {{db-rediruser}}

R3. Implausible typos.

Recently created redirects from implausible typos or misnomers. However, redirects from common misspellings or misnomers are generally useful, as are redirects in other languages. This criterion also applies to redirects created as a result of a page move of pages created with an implausible title. However, it does not apply to articles and stubs that have been converted into redirects.

• {{db-r3}}, {{db-redirtypo}}, {{db-redirmisnomer}}

For any redirects, including soft redirects, that are not speedy deletion candidates, use Misplaced Pages:Redirects for discussion. Redirect pages that have useful page history should never be speedy deleted. In some cases it may be possible to make a useful redirect by changing the target instead of deleting it. Redirects that do not work due to software limitations, such as redirects to special pages or to pages on other wikis, may be converted to soft redirects if they have a non-trivial history or other valid uses.

For reversal of redirects, use {{db-move}}, a special case of {{db-g6}}

Files

These apply to files, images, and other media

F1. Redundant.

Unused duplicates or lower-quality/resolution copies of another Misplaced Pages file having the same file format. This excludes images in the Wikimedia Commons; cf. criterion 8 below.

• {{db-f1|replacement file name.ext}}, {{db-redundantfile|replacement file name.ext}}, {{isd|replacement file name.ext}}

F2. Corrupt or empty image.

Files that the MediaWiki software is unable to read or generate resized thumbnails of, or that contain superfluous and blatant non-metadata information. This also includes empty (i.e., no content) image description pages for Commons images.

• {{db-f2}}, {{db-nofile}}

F3. Improper license.

Media licensed as "for non-commercial use only" (including non-commercial Creative Commons licenses), "no derivative use", "for Misplaced Pages use only" or "used with permission" may be deleted, unless they comply with the limited standards for the use of non-free content. Files licensed under versions of the GFDL prior to 1.3, without allowing for later versions, may be deleted.

• {{db-f3}}, {{db-noncom}}

F4. Lack of licensing information.

Media files that lack the necessary licensing information may be deleted after being identified as such for seven days if the information is not added. Be aware that editors sometimes specify their source in the upload summary.

• {{db-f4}}, {{db-unksource}}, {{subst:nld}}

F5. Unused unfree images.

Images and other media that are not under a free license or in the public domain, that are not used in any article, may be deleted after being identified as such for more than seven days, or immediately if the image's only use was on a deleted article and it is very unlikely to have any use on any other valid article. Reasonable exceptions may be made for images uploaded for an upcoming article.

• {{db-f5}}, {{db-unfree}}, {{subst:orfud}}

F6. Missing non-free use rationale.

Non-free files claiming fair use but without a use rationale may be deleted after being identified as such for seven days. The boilerplate copyright tags setting out fair use criteria do not constitute a rationale. This criterion does not apply to situations where a use rationale is provided but is disputed.

• {{db-f6}}, {{db-norat}}, {{subst:nrd}}

F7. Invalid fair-use claim.

• Non-free images or media with a clearly invalid fair-use tag (such as a {{Non-free logo}} tag on a photograph of a mascot) may be deleted immediately.
• Non-free images or media that have been identified as being replaceable by a free image and tagged with {{subst:rfu}} may be deleted after two days, if no justification is given for the claim of irreplaceability. If the replaceability is disputed, the nominator should not be the one deleting the image.
• Invalid fair-use claims tagged with {{subst:dfu}} may be deleted seven days after they are tagged, if a full and valid fair-use use rationale is not added.
• {{db-f7}}, {{db-badfairuse}}, {{subst:dfu}}

F8. Images available as identical copies on the 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 image's license and source status is beyond reasonable doubt, and the license is undoubtedly accepted at Commons. To avoid deletion at Commons, please ensure the Commons page description has all of the following.
  • Name and date of death of the creator of the artistic work represented by the file, or else clear evidence that a free license was given. If anonymous, ensure the page description provides evidence that establishes the anonymous status.
  • Country where the artistic work represented by the file was situated, or where it was first published.
  • Date when the artistic work represented by the file was created or first published, depending on the copyright law of the origin country.
  • All image revisions that meet the first condition have been transferred to Commons as revisions of the Commons copy and properly marked as such.
  • The image is not marked as {{do not move to Commons}}.
• All information on the image description page is present on the Commons image description page, including the complete upload history with links to the uploader's local user pages (the upload history is not necessary if the file's license does not require it, although it is still recommended).
  • If there is any information not relevant to any other project on the image description page (like {{FeaturedPicture}}), the image description page must be undeleted after the file deletion.
• If the image 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 image is not protected. DO NOT DELETE PROTECTED IMAGES, even if there is an identical copy on Commons. They are usually locally uploaded and protected here since they are used in the interface or in some widely used high-risk template.
• {{c-uploaded}} images may be speedily deleted as soon as they are off the Main Page.

{{db-f8}}, {{db-nowcommons}}, {{db-nowcommons|name of file on Commons.ext}}

F9. Unambiguous copyright infringement.

Images (or other media files) that are claimed by the uploader to be images with free licenses when this is obviously not the case. A URL or other indication of where the image originated should be mentioned. This does not include images used under a claim of fair use, nor does it include images with a credible claim that the owner has released them under a Misplaced Pages-compatible free license. This includes most images from stock photo libraries such as Getty Images or Corbis. Blatant infringements should be tagged with the {{db-filecopyvio}} template (or, for image files, the {{db-imgcopyvio}} template). Non-blatant copyright infringements should be discussed at Misplaced Pages:Possibly unfree files.

• {{db-f9|url=URL of source}}, {{db-filecopyvio|url=URL of source}}

F10. Useless media files.

Files uploaded that are neither image, sound, nor video files, are not used in any article, and have no foreseeable encyclopedic use. Note that the following files are rarely sound, image, or video: .doc, .pdf, .ps, .html, .rtf, .txt, .xls, and .zip files. Examples of image, sound, and video files are: .jpg, .gif, .mpg, and .wav. This is not a comprehensive list of files that can be deleted, nor is an extension alone enough reason to delete; this criterion is based on file content.

• {{db-f10}}, {{db-badfiletype}}

F11. No evidence of permission

If an uploader has specified a license and has named a third party as the source/copyright holder without providing evidence that this third party has in fact agreed, the item may be deleted seven days after notification of the uploader. Acceptable evidence of licensing normally consists of either a link to the source website where the license is stated, or a statement by the copyright holder e-mailed or forwarded to permissions-en@wikimedia.org. Such a confirmation is also required if the source is an organization that the uploader claims to represent, or a web publication that the uploader claims to be their own. Instances of obvious copyright violations where the uploader would have no reasonable expectation of obtaining permission (e.g. major studio movie posters, TV screenshots) should be speedily deleted per "Unambiguous copyright infringement" above, unless fair-use can be claimed.

• {{db-f11}}, {{db-nopermission}}, {{subst:npd}}

For any images and other media that are not speedy deletion candidates, use Misplaced Pages:Files for deletion.

Categories

From 20 November 2009 to 4 December 2013 the policy page Misplaced Pages:Criteria for speedy deletion transcluded the criteria for deletion of categories from a discussion page instead of having them directly coded in the policy page. To see the history of that section of the speedy deletion policy during that period, see the editing history of Misplaced Pages:Categories for discussion/Speedy/Criteria. For current discussion page for the same material see Misplaced Pages:Categories for discussion/Speedy#Speedy criteria.

User pages

U1. User request.

Personal user pages and subpages (but not user talk pages) upon request by their user. In some rare cases there may be administrative need to retain the page. In exceptional cases user talk pages may be deleted via Miscellany for Deletion (see right to vanish); they are not eligible for speedy deletion under this criterion.

• {{db-u1}}, {{db-userreq}}

U2. Nonexistent user.

User pages of users that do not exist (check Special:Listusers), except userpages for anonymous users who have edited, redirects from misspellings of an established user's userpage, and for the previous name of a recently renamed user (which should normally be left as a redirect to the new name for a reasonable time).

• {{db-u2}}, {{db-nouser}}

U3. Non-free galleries.

Galleries in the userspace that consist mostly or entirely of "fair use" or non-free images. Misplaced Pages's non-free content policy prohibits the use of non-free content in userspace, even content that the user has uploaded; use of content in the public domain or under a free license is acceptable.

• {{db-u3}}, {{db-gallery}}

For any user pages that are not speedy deletion candidates, use Misplaced Pages:Miscellany for deletion.

Templates

T2. Misrepresentation of policy.

Templates that are unambiguous misrepresentations of established policy. This includes "speedy deletion" templates for issues that are not speedy deletion criteria and disclaimer templates intended to be used in articles.

• {{db-t2}}, {{db-policy}}

T3. Duplication and hardcoded instances.

Templates that are not employed in any useful fashion, and are either: substantial duplications of another template, or hardcoded instances of another template where the same functionality could be provided by that other template, may be deleted after being tagged for seven days.

• {{db-t3|~~~~~ | OtherTemplate}}, {{db-duplicatetemplate|~~~~~ | OtherTemplate}}

For any templates that are not speedy deletion candidates, use Misplaced Pages:Templates for discussion.

Portals

P1. Any portal that would be subject to speedy deletion as an article.

• {{db-p1}}

P2. Underpopulated portal.

Any portal based on a topic for which there is only a stub header article or fewer than three non-stub articles detailing subject matter that would be appropriate to present under the title of that portal.

• {{db-p2}}, {{db-emptyportal}}

For any portals that are not speedy deletion candidates, use Misplaced Pages:Miscellany for deletion.

Non-criteria

• WP:NOTCSD

Commonly denied CSD reasons

The following proposals for new speedy deletion criteria are frequently raised, but have repeatedly failed to gain consensus:

• How-to articles
• Essay articles
• Expansion of A7, A9 and A11 to include books, software, schools and/or other subjects
• Neologisms
• Unsourced articles

A7, A9 and A11 scope

A7, A9 and A11 do not apply to any other subject that does not indicate importance. Expanding the scope of A7, A9 and A11 to different subjects (such as products, software, books, schools, etc.) have been proposed several times in the past and failed to gain consensus. Amongst the reasons for those rejections were that such subjects are not created often enough to require speedy deletion (such articles can be handled by proposed deletion or by listing the article at articles for deletion), that such subjects cannot be objectively covered in A7, A9 and A11's wording and that admins are not able to assess claims of importance for certain subjects. Before proposing a change to A7, A9 and A11 to expand their scope, please check whether your proposal has not already been discussed on the talk page (archives).

The following are not by themselves sufficient to justify speedy deletion.

1. Reasons based on Misplaced Pages:What Misplaced Pages is not. Misplaced Pages is not: "a dictionary", "an indiscriminate collection of information", "a crystal ball", "a how-to list", etc.
2. Hoaxes. If even only remotely plausible, a suspected hoax article should be subjected to further scrutiny in a wider forum. Note that "blatant and obvious hoaxes and misinformation" are subject to speedy deletion as vandalism.
3. Original research. It is not always easy to tell whether an article consists of material that violates the policy against novel theories or interpretations or is simply unsourced.
4. Neologisms. New specialized terms should have a wider hearing.
5. Notability. Articles that seem to have obviously non-notable subjects are eligible for speedy deletion only if the article does not give a reasonable indication of why the subject might be important or significant.
6. Failure to assert importance but not an A7 or A9 category. There is no consensus to speedily delete articles of types not specifically listed in A7 or A9 under those criteria.
7. Author deletion requests made in bad faith. Author deletion requests made in bad faith, out of frustration, or in an attempt to revoke their GFDL contributions are not granted. However, anyone may request deletion of pages in their userspace.
8. Author deletion requests after others have contributed substantially. If other editors have substantially edited an article (i.e. more than just minor corrections or maintenance tagging), the original author may not request deletion under G7 because the work of others is involved.
9. Very short articles. Short articles with sufficient content and context to qualify as stubs may not be speedily deleted under criteria A1 and A3; other criteria may still apply.
10. Copies that are not copyright violations. If content appears both here and somewhere else (possibly in modified form), consider the possibility that Misplaced Pages's is the original version and the other site copied from us. Alternately, the same author may have written both versions, or the original may be free content.
11. PNGs/GIFs replaced by JPEGs. JPEG encoding discards information that may be important later. Do not delete the original PNG/GIF files.
12. Questionable material that is not vandalism. Earnest efforts are never vandalism, so to assume good faith, do not delete as vandalism unless reasonably certain.
13. User and user talk pages of IP addresses. Although users are encouraged to create Misplaced Pages accounts, unregistered users are still allowed to edit Misplaced Pages, and are identified by their IP addresses. If an unregistered user has a static IP address, it may have a user page and/or user talk page associated with it, and even for non-static IP addresses, the history can contain important discussions or information which may be of interest.
14. Reasons based on essays. Misplaced Pages:Listcruft, Misplaced Pages:Obscure topics, Misplaced Pages:Deny recognition etc. are not valid reasons for speedy deletion.
15. A file that isn't a sound, video, or image file. To be deleted under F10, a file must have no encyclopaedic value and not be used in any articles. Files that are in use or might have encyclopedic value, even if not sound, video, or image, should not be deleted without wider discussion.
16. An article written in a foreign language or script. An article should not be speedily deleted just because it is not written in English. Instead it should be tagged with {{notenglish}} and listed at Misplaced Pages:Pages needing translation into English. It may be reconsidered after translation whether the article merits deletion, retention or improvement by means of a suitable tag.

Procedure for administrators

Make sure to specify the reason for deletion in the deletion summary. Also, in some cases the article's creator should be notified.

Before deleting a page, check the page history to assess whether it would instead be possible to revert and salvage a previous version. Also:

• The initial edit summary may have information about the source of or reason for the article.
• The talk page may refer to previous deletion discussions, or have ongoing discussion relevant to including the article.
• The page log may have information about previous deletions that could warrant SALTing the article or keeping it on good reason.
• 'What links here' may show that the subject of the article is an oft-referred part of the encyclopedia, or may show other similar pages that warrant deletion. For articles that should not be re-created, incoming links in other articles should be removed.

Appendices

Deprecated criteria

Deprecated criteria include:

• A4 (merged with and superseded by "No content")
• A6 (superseded by "Attack pages")
• A8 (superseded by "Unambiguous copyright infringement")
• R1 (superseded by "Pages dependent on a non-existent or deleted page")
• C3 (superseded by "Pages dependent on a non-existent or deleted page")
• T1 (repealed); "Attack pages" may be applicable. Otherwise, use Misplaced Pages:Templates for discussion.

See also

• Misplaced Pages:Proposed deletion
• Category:CSD warning templates
• Category:Speedy deletion
• Category:Candidates for speedy deletion
• Misplaced Pages:Criteria for speedy deletion/Deletion templates
• Misplaced Pages:Criteria for speedy deletion/Explanations
• Misplaced Pages:Criteria for speedy deletion/Overturned speedy deletions
• Misplaced Pages:No blank pages
• Misplaced Pages:Template messages/User talk namespace (Grid of warning messages)
• Misplaced Pages:Deletion of newly created pages and {{newpage}}
• Alternative outlets
• Undeletion policy
• Deletion guidelines for administrators
• AfD Common outcomes
• Archived delete debates
• Policy consensus discussions

Footnotes

1. In this context, "speedy" refers to the simple decision-making process, not the length of time since the article was created.
2. For example, "G12" refers to criterion 12 under general (copyright infringement) and "U1" refers to criterion 1 under user (user request). These abbreviations can be confusing to new editors or anyone else unfamiliar with this page; in many situations a plain-English explanation of why a specific article was deleted is preferable.
3. ^ 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 prior to that suitable delay passing, so that the wait does not result in the article escaping review at a later time.
4. It is irrelevant whether the claim of notability within the article falls below the notability guidelines. If the claim is credible, the A7 tag can not be applied.
5. This does not apply to images duplicated on Wikimedia Commons, because of license issues; instead see "Images available as identical copies on the Wikimedia Commons".
6. Before deleting this type of image, verify that the MediaWiki engine cannot read it by previewing a resized thumbnail of it. Even if it renders, if it contains superfluous information that cannot be accounted for as metadata directly relating to the image data, it may be deleted. It is always possible for the uploader to correct the problem by uploading an image that contains only a good image plus acceptable metadata.

• Misplaced Pages policies
• Speedy deletion
• Misplaced Pages deletion policy