Wikipedia:WikiProject Military history/Academy/Deleting an article

Wikipedia is an encyclopedia. This means that content should have encyclopedic value. It is also a crowd-sourced resource, which can be edited by anyone. This means that sometimes inappropriate content will be uploaded. When this happens, the community may move to delete a page. Deleting a page involves terminating a page, its history, its information, and anything else that has ever been added to or subtracted from the page, effectively returning an article, list, or in some cases image to the red link that it was before its creation. In most cases, though, deletion requires that consensus be obtained through a discussion of the article and the reasons why one or more editors feel that article should no longer be on Wikipedia.

All deletions on Wikipedia are carried out by administrators acting either on established consensus to delete a page or on their own authority and understanding of which articles should and should not be on Wikipedia as set forth by Wikipedia's deletion policy, which describes how pages that do not meet the relevant criteria for content of the encyclopedia are identified and removed from Wikipedia. In the normal operations of Wikipedia, approximately 5,000 pages are deleted each day through the processes outlined below.

Deletion of a Wikipedia article removes the current version and all previous versions from public view. Unlike page blanking, which can be performed (or reverted) by any user, deletion can be performed only by administrators. Administrators can also view deleted pages and reverse ("undelete") any deletion. All such actions are logged. Because deletion is a big deal, many users (particularly new users or those who are going through a first-time deletion) tend to take the matter personally. This essay will serve as a guide to understanding deletion and offer options on how to respond when a page is nominated for deletion.

Before deletion

One of our key goals on Wikipedia is to expand our coverage. As such, deletion should be seen as a last resort. In this regard, there should be some indication along the way that the article in question is of concern to the community. Typically, when an article is judged to be either unneeded or in need of help, some level of discussion will take place regarding the prospect of either merging the article into another article or improving the article so that it meets the standards to stay on Wikipedia. It is at this stage that the article in question should be considered on probation, and if you are the primary contributor to the article your next move at this stage should be to think seriously about improving the article as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Warning signs at this stage include, but are not limited to, cleanup or citation needed tags, and NPOV, notability or merge templates. While any of these templates independently may not be of immediate concern, two or more should imply that the article is in trouble. At this point, if you are the article's main contributor, or are just interested in keeping the article, you may want to start looking into improving the article by adding citations, toning down the POV, and taking other measures to improve the quality of the article. You may wish to consider a peer review at this stage to get wider input on how the article can be improved; our members are very good at suggesting points for fixing up, and they may hit on things you may not have thought of. Putting an article up for peer review can also help get more editors involved with helping to improve your article.

The road to deletion

There are three basic processes for deletion and two to review and overturn the outcome of these processes and other deletions: speedy deletion, proposed deletion and articles for discussion (or if the content is not an article, another form of deletion discussion). Reasons for deletion include, but are not limited to, the following (subject to the condition that improvement or deletion of an offending section, if practical, is preferable to deletion of an entire page):

• Content that meets at least one of the criteria for speedy deletion
• Copyright violations and other material violating Wikipedia's non-free content criteria
• Vandalism, including inflammatory redirects, pages that exist only to disparage their subject, patent nonsense, or gibberish
• Advertising or other spam without relevant content (but not an article about an advertising-related subject)
• Content forks (unless a merger or redirect is appropriate)
• Articles that cannot possibly be attributed to reliable sources, including neologisms, original theories and conclusions, and articles that are themselves hoaxes (but not articles describing notable hoaxes)
• Articles for which thorough attempts to find reliable sources to verify them have failed
• Articles whose subjects fail to meet the relevant notability guideline (WP:N, WP:BIO, WP:MUSIC, WP:CORP and so forth)
• Articles that breach Wikipedia's policy on biographies of living persons
• Redundant or otherwise useless templates
• Categories representing overcategorization
• Files that are unused, obsolete, or violate the Non-free policy
• Any other use of the article, template, project, or user namespace that is contrary to the established separate policy for that namespace.
• Any other content not suitable for an encyclopedia

Speedy deletions

Admins are always watching the information superhighway on Wikipedia, so when content that clearly doesn't belong shows up the admins are usually pretty quick to pounce on it.

The first of the deletion options is speedy deletion. Speedy deletion is reserved for the worst of the worst, the articles that are judged to be so far beyond salvation that they meet the criteria for speedy deletion (CSD), and as a result should be deleted quickly. These tags are usually issued within the first few minutes of an article's creation, and are intended to attract any administrator on Wikipedia to the article. Once a CSD tag has been added to an article, it should not be removed, even if you object to it. If you object, you should add your rationale to the talk page. Once an admin arrives at the article they will review the talk page for any objections and will then do one of two things: agree with the tagged rationale for the article and delete it, or decline the request.

Speedy deletion is rare in our project. As its purpose is to aid the recent change patrol we do not see Milhist articles tagged with CSD templates all that often. If your page was deleted on CSD grounds, check the rationale behind the deletion before recreating the article or the article will meet the same fate. If you are unsure as to exactly why the article you created got deleted, then you may ask the admin who deleted the article or post a message on the main Milhist talk page. Someone will eventually attempt to answer your question(s).

Proposed deletions

Proposed deletions are the second method by which an article can be deleted. This method involves the addition of a proposed deletion template to an article that does not look like it belongs here, but may have potential to exist if merged into an article. Proposed deletion nominations last for a week, during which any user may remove the template to indicate that they object to the deletion. After a PROD has expired, without a valid objection, the article may be deleted by an admin at any time, or an admin may choose to decline the PROD if they do not agree with its rationale. Once a PROD has been removed, it should not be re-added, and if deletion is still considered necessary, it should be sent to AfD instead. Proposed deletions are managed on the article itself, with comments being added to the article's talk page if necessary, and are usually limited to those who are involved with the article to a greater or lesser degree. These are official, but comparatively informal, and are considered binding for all parties, although they can be appealed through a process known as deletion review.

Articles for deletion

The final and most common method by which an article may be deleted is the Articles for Deletion process. This process starts with the tagging of the article with an AfD template. Within the template, a bold blue link leading to the deletion discussion can be found, and clicking that link takes you to the deletion discussion. The discussion seeks consensus for the deletion of the article on the grounds that are laid out at the top of the article. Often, but not always, policy or guideline grounds are cited as the reason for the deletion of the article in question. Below the deletion rationale, those who patrolled the page and those who have an opinion on the deletion will either leave delete or keep comments, along with their reasons. These deletion discussions last about a week, at the end of which the article is either kept or deleted based on the consensus of the discussion.

This is the most frequent method of deletion within our project and it occurs on a daily basis. When articles are nominated for deletion they are placed before the community as a whole, and therefore, the decision of whether keep the article lies outside the project. If no consensus is reached during the deletion, the decision defaults to keep. If the deletion discussion fails to generate the needed input for consensus to be reached, it will be relisted to generate more input on the matter.

What to do if your article is tagged for deletion

There is a fundamental difference between a protest and a riot. A protest is usually for a redress of grievances, and is an acceptable form of expressing one's opinion in a matter consistent with policies and guidelines. As the picture aptly demonstrates, a riot accomplishes nothing, adds to the stress and drama already on Wikipedia, leaves a path of destruction in its wake, and in some cases can lead to the departure of one or more Wikipedians who feel strongly on the matter.

If your article is tagged for deletion, remain calm and weigh your next words and actions with care. Deletion is NOT the end of the world, and having your article tagged for deletion only means that one or more Wikipedians are under the impression that the article is not needed. It does not mean that the article will definitely be deleted.

If the article is tagged as a proposed deletion candidate, think about the context of the tagging and the article. Bear in mind that in some cases, such as popular culture and war crimes articles, our project MoS explicitly lays out guidelines for the inclusion or exclusion of the material, so debating these points with the nominator is likely to be unproductive. If the article is tagged under articles for deletion guidelines then go to the AfD page and carefully read the rationale behind the deletion request. If the request for deletion is flawed or has an obvious hole (for example, requesting deletion of the article World War II because it violates size requirements) then do not read too much into the deletion request. In all likelihood, the article will be kept, because the community can see that the request is flawed.

If the AfD request is genuine and there are no holes in the deletion debate, your next step should be to formulate a reply to the allegations given for the deletion. Weigh your words with care, and cite guidelines or policies when doing so. If this is your first AfD experience, you are strongly encouraged to read arguments to avoid in deletion discussions and common notability arguments. These essays will help you to formulate a cogent response.

Do not, for any reason whatsoever, post to multiple talk pages to garner support for your position during the article deletion debate. On Wikipedia, this is considered canvassing, and it is not acceptable. Those who canvass in an effort to gain as much support for their article as possible often end up the subject of intense scrutiny from the AfD community, and owing to previous experiences this behavior may result in your being blocked or banned from Wikipedia. The reason for this extreme response to canvassing is twofold. First, canvassing defeats the purpose of consensus because consensus is not a vote. Having 30 votes for keep and 29 for delete may look on paper like a victory for the keep camp, but if 20 of the 30 votes were gained through canvassing and do not address the issues highlighted in the deletion nomination, then the article should, and very likely will, be deleted. The other reason for such an extreme response is that previous canvassing attempts have in fact been orchestrated by sockpuppets during deletion debates, and inappropriate editing of this nature is one of the fastest ways to get your account on Wikipedia permanently blocked.

As is the case for most projects, Milhist has a deletion monitoring page which is run jointly between Milhist and WikiProject Deletion Sorting. The page is located here. When an article is up for deletion, it should be added to this list. From here, our members may pen opinions on the material under deletion consideration.

If your material is deleted

A deleted page as seen through the "eyes" of an admin account.

If your material is deleted, you may still be able to get it back. In instances where you disagree with a deletion decision, you may be able to file a request for a review. Deletion review occurs on the deletion review page. It is typically reserved for material that was deleted when consensus may have been hard to discern or in cases where the material is thought to have been deleted in error. If you decide to pursue deletion review, you should first read through Wikipedia's deletion policy and be prepared to explain in detail why the article should be undeleted.

In situations where you choose not to file a deletion review, you may still be able to access your material to allow you to further develop it where appropriate. Because many deleted articles are found to contain defamatory or other legally suspect material, deleted pages are not permitted to be generally viewed. However, they remain in the database and are accessible to administrators, along with their edit history (unless they are oversighted). If you wish to obtain a copy of your work, you can contact the deleting administrator and politely request that a copy of your material be added to a user space page. Please note that this is not an option for material that has been found to be a copyright violation. Alternatively, you may consider starting from scratch and rewriting the entire article in draft space to see if better sourcing, referencing, citations, and coverage will permit the article to stay on Wikipedia. Be aware that recreation of deleted material is grounds for speedy deletion. If you do decide to take this route, make sure that the article, when reposted, is vastly superior to the version that was deleted.