BoroondaraWiki:Deletion policy

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The aim of the BoroondaraWiki Deletion Policy is to provide a framework within which wiki staff, editors and readers can work within and clarify the various aspects of content deletion.

Purpose

All content on BoroondaraWiki must meet a certain standard of quality. This includes encyclopædic prose, content layout, and copyright. Content that is capable of abiding by these standards can usually be improved upon by editing. However, when content is incapable of meeting inclusion criteria or is in breach of site policy, it is liable to be removed.

Powers

At this stage, only administrators have user rights to delete files or articles. This is to ensure accountability and prevent potential abuse of such powers.

Process

There are two main ways that content can be deleted: speedy deletion and proposed deletion.

After a user decides which process is right for the article involved, they place the appropriate template on the top of the page with the reason why they feel that the page should be deleted. People may comment on the request during the lag time before deletion either on the talk page of the page being deleted or on the message board where the deletion was proposed.

Process	Required lag	Template used	Description
Speedy deletion	None	{{SpeedyDeletion}}	For pure vandalism, patent nonsense, or other pages that can be instantly deleted.
Proposed deletion	Seven Days	{{Deletion}}	For pages that can uncontroversially be deleted, but do not fall under one of the criteria for speedy deletion

Proposals that do not fit into one of the above categories, such as batch deletions, can be proposed to administrators on their talk pages.

Please note that using such a template is not required for speedy deletions, and staff are able to delete such content regardless of whether a template is present or not.

Speedy deletion

Speedy deletion is a deletion process that governs the deletion of articles and media that administrators can delete on sight without further debate. Non-admins can request a page be speedily deleted by adding the tag {{speedydeletion}} and an explanation onto the top of an article, which will place the page in the category for speedy deletion candidates. The candidates for speedy deletion can be found at Category:Articles marked for speedy deletion.

Criteria for speedy deletion

An article can be speedily deleted only if it falls under one of the criteria listed below. If there is any possible doubt as to whether or not a page should be speedily deleted, then the page should be listed under one of the other deletion processes.

1. Pure vandalism that was created in attempt to harm the site, including redirected created from page moves.
2. Patent nonsense and gibberish pages that contain no meaningful content.
3. Test pages created by new users merely experimenting with the wiki.
4. Redlink saviours, pages that contain only a few words and are made just to "cover" a "red link".
5. Author request, but only if it can harm the privacy of someone - generally this happens with articles about people.
6. Attack pages that serve no useful purpose but to assault their subject.
7. Wikipedia articles that have been copied verbatim.
8. Blatant copyright infringements should be speedily deleted only if
   1. The article was unquestionably copied from the website of a well-known content provider,
   2. The article and its entire history, excluding tag inclusions and minor edits, contains only copyright violation material, and
   3. The editor of the content does not assert that the content was copied with permission nor claims fair use.
9. Redirects should be speedily deleted if they are orphaned and meet at least one of the following criteria:
   1. The redirect was created as a result of a typo;
   2. The redirect is broken, meaning that it links to an article that does not exist or was deleted; or
   3. The redirect is in the main namespace, was recently created, and contains no significant history (i.e., no history other than redirect creation and deletion proposals).
10. Emergency actions. Administrators can speedily delete pages temporarily in response to potential legal problems or exceptional controversy.

Images

1. Corrupted or empty images.
2. Redundant images that have another copy that is of the same or better copy and of the same image file format.
3. Unused images - BoroondaraWiki is not a hosting provider.

User Pages

1. User request. User sub pages can be speedily deleted upon request from the user whose user space the page lies under.
2. Non-existent users, when there is a user page or user talk page and no user to match these pages.

Proposed deletion

Proposed deletion is a deletion process for the deletion of uncontroversial pages that do not meet the criteria for speedy deletion. The purpose of this process is to provide a chance for other editors to look over the proposal and ensure that reasons to keep the page have not been overlooked.

To propose an article for the proposed deletion process, add the {{Deletion}} tag onto the top of the article, together with an explanation. These pages can be deleted after seven days without a full debate — as long as no one objects. If anyone has an objection to the deletion, the page can "survive" until an agreement is reached, so long as it is not breaking the deletion policy. A non-admin deleting the "proposed deletion" tag without explanation is not permitted.

The candidates for proposed deletion can be found at Category:Articles marked for deletion.

Procedure for administrators

The deleting administrator has final authority to determine whether or not an article should be deleted. Because of this, staff also have the responsibility to verify the legitimacy of a request and the support of the request before deleting the article.

If you are the deciding administrator in determining whether or not a page should be deleted:

1. Check the history to see if the article has been marked for an appropriate length of time.
2. Review the article's discussion page/deletion review entry and ensure that all votes are legitimate and check for contests.
3. If you agree that the article should be deleted, delete the article giving an informative reason for deletion and noting the deletion process used.
4. If you disagree that the article should be deleted, remove the tag and consider proposing the article for improvement or merge with another article.

Administrators who intend to delete articles that they proposed for deletion can delete them, as long as they provide a proper explanation for their actions.

Restoring a deleted article

When an administrator deletes an article, it does not become lost forever – it simply becomes archived so that only administrators can see them. Because undeletion requests are uncommon, there is no official process for requesting undeletion. For this reason, undeletion requests should be made on an administrator's talk page. An administrator can either undelete an entire article or partially undelete an article.