STOWiki:Policy/Deletion/Old

Deleting a page
When a page is obvious spam, is deprecated by a new page and has no need to be redirected, or for some other reason you think it should be removed from the wiki, then you can mark it as a candidate for deletion. Please use discretion when doing this as it is a direct violation of the spirit of a wiki if not the policy of this wiki — it destroys the atmosphere of trust and collaboration. If you still think it is best for the article to be removed, then there are several steps you must take. (See below for some exceptions).


 * If a page has had useful content, but it has been moved somewhere else (because of merging, fixing naming, etc) it is normally best to redirect it!
 * Outside sources (including search engines) keep old links into STOWiki — it is in our best interest to keep them working!

Steps to mark a page for deletion
If you have decided, for one reason or another, that a page needs to be deleted, there are several steps you should take.
 * 1) Place the candidate for deletion template tag at the very top of the article - type exactly  as the very first line of the article.
 * 2) *This will place a large banner at the top of the page, notifying visitors that it is a candidate for deletion, and that their vote on the talk page would be appreciated.
 * 3) *This will also place the article in Category:Candidates for deletion.
 * 4) Save the article.
 * 5) Place the deletion candidate talk template tag at the very top of the article's talk page - type exactly  as the very first line of the page.
 * You may also provide a reason directly:
 * 1) *You will automatically be registered as the first vote to delete.
 * 2) *This will place a large banner at the top of the talk page, explaining to visitors how to vote.
 * 3) *This will also add the voting booth to the page, where visitors can place their actual votes.
 * 4) *Finally, this will add the talk page to Category: Votes in progress so that members wishing to participate in the democratic process can find it among the lists of votes in progress..
 * 5) Save the talk page.
 * 6) You are done! Tell your friends to go vote their heart on the article, and see below to know when to mark it terminate and / or remove the delete candidate listing!
 * 7) It is not good Wikiquette to decrease the quality of, or remove all links pointing to, an article undergoing a deletion vote, and it is especially bad Wikiquette to use that as evidence for deletion.

What to do next
Now that the page is marked for deletion, you wait for enough members to vote before anything actually happens:


 * When either side (for or against deletion) is winning by a three (3) vote margin, the vote is pending closure.


 * Once a vote is pending closure, you wait five (5) days from when the last vote was cast (look at the timestamps on the votes). During this time you can change the   tag at the top of talk page to   to mark that the vote is in this period.
 * If the losing side does not get within three (3) votes of the winning side within the five (5) days, then the vote is closed.
 * If, however, the losing side gets within three (3) votes, the page leaves the pending closure state until one side is winning by a three (3) vote margin again. If the   tag is on the talk page it should be replaced with the   tag again.

Once the vote closes
Once a vote is closed, the action for the appropriate side is taken:


 * If the Delete votes have it:
 * Replace  tag in the talk page with  . The voting booth and associated votes are left for the admin to review.
 * Replace  tag in the article page itself with   tag to mark the article as one that an admin needs to delete.
 * Check What links here and remove links to the article being terminated from live articles (do this as soon as possible).
 * The article will be removed the next time and administrator comes on and checks Category:Terminated articles for new articles to remove.


 * If the Keep votes win:
 * Remove  from the article page itself.
 * In the talk page, replace  with.
 * Leave the vote in for future reference.

Speedy deletion
If you still feel a page should be deleted quickly, and probably doesn't need a vote, you can use the speedy deletion process. Basically, you only need to tag the page with a  tag, and an admin will decide if it is safe to delete the page or if it needs a regular deletion vote.

Any user can remove the  tag and replace it with a standard deletion vote in accordance with this policy if they feel the page should not be deleted without a vote.


 * Review the Speedy deletion policy for more information. Misuse could be construed as vandalism

Templates

 * Template:Delete
 * Template:Delete/Talk - Use  instead of simple template pull.
 * Template:Delete/Vote - Do not use directly. Gets pulled in automatically by Delete/Talk.
 * Template:Delete/Closing
 * Template:Terminate
 * Template:Willkeep
 * Template:Speedydelete