On Deletions
Welcome to my deletions page. You're probably here because I deleted something that you do not believe should be deleted. I'll try and keep this focused, so you can find what you need to make both our lives easier.
First off, I don't hate you. I don't hate the article I deleted. I'm an administrator, and 99+% of the time when I delete an article, I do so because someone else requested it be deleted. My role varies by process, but I'm never out to "get" your article. If you start out an appeal with "Why do you hate...?" I'll know both that you've failed to read this, and that you didn't assume good faith.
If, after reading the rest of this page, you want to ask for something to be restored, click here, or simply start a new thread at the bottom of my talk page. Please include double square brackets, like this: [[article title]] in your new section heading, so I can quickly link to the article.
This process is pretty straightforward: Someone tags a page with a freeform reason it should be deleted, and if no one else removes the tag, seven days later it shows up on a list of uncontested, expired "prods", at which time it is generally deleted by whichever admin happens to patrol through the list of expired prods. Sometimes, I will not delete a prod, based on my personal knowledge, or because the reason just isn't a good reason to delete it. Articles which have been prod-tagged and de-tagged aren't eligible for prod, nor are articles which have survived a deletion discussion.
If you want a deleted prod back, ask. That's all there is to it. When you ask, please title the request with [[Article Name]] in brackets. That makes it easy for me to go straight to it and undelete it, and means you get it back faster. Please don't include detailed rationales unless I ask for one. I will often ask for detailed explanations if the article was deleted as a BLP, copyvio, hoax, or attack page even if it was done via the PROD process. If it's just a notability issue, you don't need to justify the request unless I ask.
Speedy deletions have a number of criteria. How you approach me should vary by the criteria listed in the deletion log.
- A7 Also {{db-band}}, {{db-club}}, {{db-person}}, and {{db-web}}. Basically this means that the article could be appropriate for Wikipedia, but doesn't make any claim to notability, either per the general notability guide or an appropriate specific notability guide. The most common specific notability guides that people don't measure up against are WP:ATHLETE, WP:CREATIVE, and WP:MUSICBIO. If your article doesn't fit under one of them, feel free to ask which one I think it should measure up against. Note: I almost never delete any article which has one or more links to a reliable, independent source. If your article was deleted as A7, you can feel free to recreate it, addressing the issue. Don't keep adding the same article back unchanged, however.
- Special note: If the topic of an article has an appropriate WP:SNG, and the article clearly fails to assert anything that meets either that SNG (most often, WP:BAND, WP:CREATIVE, or WP:ATHLETE) or the WP:GNG, I typically delete it. If you're a wikilawyer, you might be tempted to come here and argue that there is a way to assert importance without actually asserting anything that meets an SNG. Really, it's better for you to simply recreate the article with an improved assertion of notability, since speedy deletions don't prevent a good-faith re-creation that addresses the issue.
- Note 2: This is retained for historical purposes, but is entirely wrong and I've since changed my mind completely. That is, A7 requires no assertion of importance not no assertion of notability.
- Special note: If the topic of an article has an appropriate WP:SNG, and the article clearly fails to assert anything that meets either that SNG (most often, WP:BAND, WP:CREATIVE, or WP:ATHLETE) or the WP:GNG, I typically delete it. If you're a wikilawyer, you might be tempted to come here and argue that there is a way to assert importance without actually asserting anything that meets an SNG. Really, it's better for you to simply recreate the article with an improved assertion of notability, since speedy deletions don't prevent a good-faith re-creation that addresses the issue.
- A1, A3 Your article was probably too short for me to figure out what was going on. Feel free to recreate it (it's probably faster than asking me for it back) after fixing the issue that got it deleted in the first place:
- Make sure you say what it is you're talking about. Wikilink a few terms in the lead sentence to give it context. That will prevent A1.
- Include something besides templates, external links, and/or one sentence. That will prevent A3.
- G11 If you don't want your article deleted as G11, make sure you don't include future planned products, contact phone numbers, or assertions that good deals can be had.
- G10 Unless I completely misread the article, complaining about my deletion of a G10 that you created is unlikely to give you satisfaction: that indicates you have no comprehension of what Wikipedia is for, nor the expected standards of behavior. If you really don't understand what was wrong with the article after reading WP:BLP, feel free to ask.
- G12 This has been the area where I've found the biggest number of mistakes or issues. I'm pretty aggressive on deleting suspected copyright violations, and really don't give them much benefit of the doubt: if you complain politely about a mistake on my part, I'll be happy to collaborate and fix the problem. WP:IOWN may also be helpful.
- G1, G2, G3 Really, these all mean that both an editor and I have looked at the page and seen nothing keepable about it. If you really can't see what was wrong with it, you might want to ask on my talk page.
- G7, U1 If you change your mind and want something back, just ask. However, if it was going to be speedied under another criteria before you blanked it, I might put it back in your user space ("userified") rather than in mainspace.
- G4, G5, R2 These really aren't negotiable unless I've made a mistake. If I have, feel free to point it out to me politely.
- G6, G8, C1, R3 These are supposed to be non-controversial. If you disagree, let me know where I went wrong, and I'll take appropriate corrective action.
- A2, A5, A9 I don't use these criteria often or at all.
Note to other admins
editFeel free to undelete anything I've deleted without waiting for me. Please just leave a note on my talk page letting me know what you did and why.
Thanks for reading to the end! --User:Jclemens