This page documents an English Wikipedia deletion guideline. It is a generally accepted standard that editors should attempt to follow, though it is best treated with common sense, and occasional exceptions may apply. Any substantive edit to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on the talk page.

Shortcuts: WP:DPR WP:DELPRO

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 these discussions; however, non-administrators in good standing may close them under specific conditions described under non-administrators closing discussions.

[edit] Speedy deletion

Wikipedia has a style manual for dealing with attack pages and with copyright infringements.

1. Decide which of the criteria for speedy deletion the page meets.
2. Share the reason for deletion. Tag the article with an appropriate "delete because" template, and then add a comment for the deletion log by typing it into the edit summary. Please note:
   • Citing the specific criteria for speedy deletion in the comment is strongly recommended.
   • Quoting page content in the comment is helpful excepting attack content and copyrighted text.

[edit] Articles for deletion page

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.

[edit] Miscellany for deletion page

To process an MFD debate listed on Wikipedia:Miscellany for deletion for more than 7 days, where discussion is not ongoing:

1. If it may take significant time to assess the debate and/or do the closing edits, 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.
2. Determine (using the guidelines) what the consensus was, and whether any associated talk or sub-pages should be deleted.
3. 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.
   • At the top:

     {{subst:mfd top}} '''RESULT''' ~~~~

   • At the bottom:

     {{subst:mfd bottom}}

4. 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.
5. If the decision is KEEP (including any variant such as REDIRECT or MERGE), 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 {{oldmfd}} for this), so add:

   {{oldmfd | 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.
6. If the MfD involved a Portal, please log the closure and result at Portals for deletion at MfD.
7. There is no need to worry about archiving; this is accomplished automatically by User:RFC bot.

[edit] Header and footer text

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

[edit] Categories for discussion page

Every day, the day page (that is, [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/Year Month Day]]) more than five days old should be added to the Discussions awaiting closure list at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working#Closing discussions. The decision to keep or delete a category is to be implemented only after the discussion for that category has been closed.

[edit] Process

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 category and adding {{Closing}} just after the section header, to notify others that a close of the particular discussion is in progress.
2. Determine whether or not consensus to delete or rename has been reached. See: Deletion guidelines for administrators.
3. After the category's section header, add:

   {{subst:Cfd top}} '''result'''. ~~~~

   (where result is usually either Delete or Keep)

   If the debate was about a user category, then use {{subst:Ucfd top}} instead of {{subst:Cfd top}}.

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

   {{subst:Cfd bottom}}

6. If the decision is Keep (including any variant such as "Redirect" or "No Consensus"):
   1. Add a link on the category's talk page to the discussion sub-page.
      • The template {{Cfdend}} is recommended for this, so add one of:

      {{Cfdend | section heading | date = date of nomination | result = result}}

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

      {{Cfdend | date = date of nomination}}

      (the default section heading is the category 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 category is kept by default, but the decision should generally include a reference to the lack of consensus, in order to minimize ambiguity.
   2. Remove {{Cfd}} or other Cfd template from the category (be sure the Cfd category is also removed).
   3. If the page becomes a redirect, fix double redirects.
7. If the decision is Delete, Merge, or Rename:
   1. List it under the appropriate section of Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working, or Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Working/User if it was a user category. Be sure to include the link to the CFD day page above the listing. If you are a non-admin, the /Working page is protected, so please do not close discussions that require any of the above 3 actions.
   2. To rename a category, copy the introductory text and paste it to the new category name. If the category has a talk page the talk page can be moved to the new name. Also, any significant history of the category introductory text should be pasted into the new category talk page.
   3. All references to the category in articles (and other pages) must be changed to the new name, or removed, as the case may be. A variety of bots have at times been able to help with this task.
   4. After all instances of the category used in pages have been removed, the category can be deleted by an administrator.
8. If the proposal includes an addition or change to Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories) which has consensus, make the indicated change to the consensus page.

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.

[edit] Header and footer text

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

[edit] Category:example category

or this:

[edit] Category:example user category

[edit] Templates for discussion page

Every day, the day page (that is, [[Wikipedia:Templates for deletion/Log/Year Month Day]]) more than seven days old should be removed from Wikipedia:Templates for discussion. The decision to keep or delete a template is to be implemented only after the discussion for that template has been closed.

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. See: Deletion guidelines for administrators.
3. After the template's section header, add:

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

   (where Result is usually either Delete 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. 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 {{Tfdend}} is recommended for this, so add one of:

      {{Tfdend|section heading|date=date of nomination|result=result}}

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

      {{Tfdend|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 section heading 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 {{Tfd}} or {{Tfm}} from the template (be sure the Tfd category is also removed).
   3. If the page becomes a redirect, remember to fix double-redirects.
7. If the decision is Delete, then either remove all calls for the template and delete the template or list it under the appropriate section of Wikipedia:Templates for discussion/Holding cell. Be sure to include the link to the Tfd day page above the listing. On the template page, change {{Tfd}} to {{being deleted|YYYY Month DD}}. After all instances of the template used in pages have been removed, the template can be deleted by an administrator. Mere links to a template on a talk page or in project space may be retained if they are important to understanding historical conversations.
8. There is no such thing as quorum. If after the normal time period, there are no objections to deletion of a template, it can simply be deleted.
9. 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.

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.

[edit] Header and footer text

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

[edit] Template:example template

[edit] Redirects for discussion page

• Policy suggests a week of discussion before closure. However, exceptions may be made for items qualifying for speedy deletion.
• Enter the following text at the top and bottom of the RFD discussion section. (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. ~~~~

  • 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 deletion 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.
• For those redirects kept after the discussion, add {{Oldrfd}} to the redirect talk page.

[edit] Header and footer text

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

[edit] RedirectName → TargetArticle

[edit] Stub types for deletion page

• 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.
• 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.

[edit] Header and footer text

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

[edit] {{Template-stub}} / Cat:Category stubs / {{Template stub}} (redirect)

[edit] Files for deletion page

Every day, the day page (that is, [[Wikipedia:Files for deletion/Year Month Day]]) more than seven days old should be removed from Wikipedia:Files_for_deletion#Recent_nominations and a wikilink to the day page placed at Wikipedia:Files_for_deletion#Old_discussions. The decision to keep or delete a file is to be implemented only after the discussion for that template has been closed.

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 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.
7. If the decision is Keep (including any variant such as "Redirect" 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.

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.

[edit] Header and footer text

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

[edit] File:File_name.jpg

[edit] Wikipedia:Deletion review discussions

Deletion Review discussions are typically closed after 7 days of discussion. Due to the nature of these discussions, the standards are very different from the standards followed in 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|links|watch|logs)	← 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====.
• When the daily log is closed, the headers should be removed by hand for archiving.
• When deleting or undeleting a page, make sure to link to the deletion review discussion in your log.
• User:Lifebaka/closedrv.js is a script to automate the DRV close process.

[edit] Special situations

[edit] Relisting discussions

The intent of the deletion process is to attempt to determine consensus on whether an article should be deleted.

However, if at the end of the initial seven-day period, the discussion has only one or two commenters (including the nominator), and/or it seems to be lacking arguments based on policy, it may be appropriate for the closer to relist it, to get further discussion to determine consensus. It may be closed once consensus is determined without necessarily waiting a further seven days.

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

Relisting debates over and over in the hope of getting sufficient participation is not recommended, and while having a deletion notice on a page is not harmful, its presence over several weeks can become disheartening for its editors. Therefore, no debate may be relisted more than twice — if consensus has not formed in three weeks of debate, there is by definition no consensus and the discussion should be closed accordingly. Users relisting a debate for a second time are encouraged to write a short explanation (in addition to the {{relist}} template) of why they did not consider the debate sufficient.

Note that relisting is rare at the stub types for deletion page; there are not many discussions, so they are usually simply left open at the bottom of the page for further comment.

When a no-consensus result is due to lack of participation, the closer may specify no prejudice against speedy renomination. In such cases, if anyone wants to immediately nominate the article a second time, he/she is free to do so.

Note that some discussions (such as for categories, redirects, stub types, and images and media) can be closed in favour of the nominator's stated proposal (usually delete; sometimes merge or rename), 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. Several scripts or other user tools automate the process to a greater or lesser extent.

[edit] 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}}

[edit] 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, containing a message and link to the full discussion. If you close one of these:

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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Non-administrators closing discussions

In general, administrators are responsible for closing discussions about deletions. However, at times the many 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, please, avoid closing discussions.
  • Non-administrators should not close "delete" decisions at all, as they lack the technical ability to actually delete pages.
  • Close calls and controversial decisions are better left to an administrator.
  • In cases where an administrator has deleted a page but forgotten to close the discussion, his or her 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 or the closure may be challenged as unfair. 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 obvious as you thought.

[edit] 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
• List of policies to cite in deletion debates
• Overzealous deletion
• Undeletion policy
• No blank pages