Administrator instructions for Articles for deletion:

Every day, the day page (i.e. [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/Year Month Day]]) that is more than seven days old should be moved here. The decision to keep or delete a page is to be implemented only after this move has been performed.

[edit] Process

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

1. If it may take significant time to assess the debate and/or perform the closing edits; consider first editing the sub-page and adding {{AfDh}} (or {{Closing}}) to the top and {{AfDb}} to the bottom, to notify others that a close is in progress.
2. Determine (using the guidelines) if there was a consensus to delete the article, and if the associated talk or sub-pages should also be deleted.
3. Remove the line saying {{REMOVE THIS TEMPLATE WHEN CLOSING THIS AfD|something}}. This will decategorise the debate from the active AfD categories.
4. Remove {{Closing}} if you added it earlier.
5. Enter the following text at the top and bottom of the AFD discussion sub-page. (This will create a shaded box around the discussion thread confirming that it has been closed. See the example below.) Additional usage options are also outlined at Template:At.
   Note that the header template and closing result go above the top section header, not below it.
   • At the top:

     {{subst:at}} '''RESULT''' ~~~~

   • At the bottom:

     {{subst:ab}}

6. Following the result, the closer is recommended to give a rationale as to how he/she weighed the arguments.
7. If the decision is DELETE, then delete the article (this action will be recorded in the deletion log). Remember to paste a link to the discussion in the "Reason for deletion" box (i.e. add [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Article]]); a short explanation is also appreciated, if applicable. If appropriate, delete the article's talk page or any associated sub-pages first. Also check "what links here" and either delete any redirects or redirect them elsewhere. If a given title should never have an article, then remove links to it (though not from its deletion discussion page).
8. If the decision is KEEP (including any variant such as NO CONSENSUS, REDIRECT, or MERGE):
   • Remove the AFD Header from the article (be sure the AFD Category is also removed), and put a link to the discussion sub-page on the article's talk page; the template {{oldafdfull}} is recommended for this, so add:

     {{oldafdfull | date = dateOfNomination | result = result | page = articleName }}

     If this was not the first nomination, use {{oldafdmulti}} instead to consolidate the references to all previous nominations:

     {{oldafdmulti | date = | result = '''result''' | page = articleName | date2 = | result2 = '''result''' | page2 = articleName (2nd nomination) | small = yes | collapse = 1-10 or yes | numbered = yes }}

   • Fix double redirects if the page becomes a redirect.
   • If the decision is to merge, use {{Afd-mergeto}} and {{Afd-mergefrom}} to mark the ADD'd page and merge target talk page (respectively):

     {{afd-mergeto|destination article|debate name|debate closure date}}
     {{afd-mergefrom|nominated article|debate name|debate closure date}}

   • If no consensus was reached, then the article is kept by default unless it regards a living person (see below). The decision should generally include a reference to the lack of consensus, such as No consensus - default to keep, in order to minimize ambiguity.

     For BLP deletions, the deletion policy states "Discussions on relatively unknown, non-public figures, where the subject has requested deletion and there is no rough consensus may be closed as delete".

   • The template {{cleanup-afd}} is available for discussions that close as KEEP AND CLEANUP. To use, simply add the template (without subst:) to the kept article. If the AFD discussion is under a different name to the article, use {{cleanup-afd|(name of article in the discussion title)}}. For example, if the article is Asdf but the deletion discussion is Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Qwertyuiop, then add {{cleanup-afd|Qwertyuiop}} to Asdf.
9. If not enough discussion took place to determine a consensus or lack thereof, add {{subst:relist}} below the last comment and relist the AFD subpage on the listings for the current date. Do not forget to remove the AFD listing from the log for the original date (if the debate is left on the old log, the "ready for closing" list at Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Old is broken). See Wikipedia:Deletion process#Relisting discussions for details on when to relist.
10. If that was the last open entry on that day's page of deletion discussions:
    1. Edit the old day pages list and remove the link for the day, which will look like [[Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Log/Year Month Day]].
    2. Go to the archive of debates and paste the link at the top in the appropriate month.

[edit] Header and footer text after closing

After closing, the page will look like this:

[edit] Practical advice

There are admin tools available that automate much of this process. One commonly used tool is at User:Mr.Z-man/closeAFD. Other tools may be available. Try contacting admins who frequently close AfDs, and ask them what they use.

To find pending AfDs that are awaiting closure, check WP:AFD/OLD.