DDO wiki:Deletion policy

=Overview= The DDOwiki deletion policy describes how pages that do not meet the relevant criteria are identified and removed from DDOwiki. In the normal operations of DDOwiki, very few pages get deleted; generally only the occasional spam or typo in a file name.

Deletion of an article/file doesn't actually remove the file/page from the server. It simply removes the current version and all previous versions from public view - administrators may still fully review all revision, and if desired fully restore them at any time. Our pages are never purged; even pages deleted several years ago are still always stored on the server.

Unlike page blanking, which can be performed (or reverted) by any user, deletion can be performed only by administrators. If in doubt as to whether there is consensus to delete a page, administrators should normally not delete it.

Why delete anything?
In general, there is very little incentive to do so. The DDOwiki is not in any danger of running out of space, and rarely gets too many off-topic articles added. And given the potential for harm is high, every deletion should be extremely carefully considered.

Cons:
 * Regular users may not view the content.
 * May upset users who enjoyed reading said content
 * May create red links
 * May break many pages which might have transcluded the deleted content
 * Even if a page seems unused, deleting it may break previous revisions of many pages. This is especially true for many templates and some files. Maintaining complete and accurate history on the game is a very important part of our wiki as DDO is a game that is constantly changing, and many users come here to learn what's new, and compare against what they once knew.
 * Disk space is not saved; in fact more is used up as a deletion record needs to be created, while all revision remain stored.

Pros:
 * Regular users may not view the content. This may be preferable to the alternatives for certain criteria such as spam.

In most cases, the alternative is erasing the content from the page in question, even if it means blanking the whole page and/or redirecting it elsewhere, which will be the preferable course of action; this is much more easily reverted and rectified if need be, with the similar result of the content being not visible to the average users (most viewers are unaware of the history function) is achieved.

Policy for deletion
If after you fully understand all the risks you still believe for one reason or another, that a page needs to be deleted, you must follow these steps:


 * 1) Place the Review 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:Flagged for Deletion.
 * 4) Save the article.
 * You may also provide a reason directly in your edit summary:
 * 1) *You will automatically be counted as the first vote to delete.
 * 2) You are done. You may request that your friends/administrators review your request and vote on it by posting on the pages talk page.

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


 * For the deletion to be confirmed and done, at least 2 administrators or 5 regular registered users must agree the page should be deleted.
 * If enough votes are made for deletion, the page will be deleted in seven days assuming no objections, or not enough objections, are made.
 * Should any administrator disagree, the page may undergo a longer review, and not be deleted until at least a 3+ vote margin is made for deletion. (By administrators and/or regular users, including at least two other administrators)
 * If at least 2 administrators or 5 regular registered users agree the page should not be deleted, the tag will be immediately removed. Further escalation of the request for deletion will be discouraged.
 * If no consensus is reached after two weeks, the tag will be removed and the page kept intact and improved if possible.


 * In all cases, Administrators have the final say on if a page is deleted or not.

Criteria for Instant deletion
In some cases a page/file may be criteria to be instantly deleted, without using the above voting process. Generally this should only be used for a few reasons only:
 * Particularly offensive page names.
 * Obvious spam/automated bot content
 * Page name/file name typos where the typo is unlikely to be repeated by other users (and thus not useful as a search result).
 * Author request (and you're the only author) - A page you created that you believe will no longer be needed and meets all of these criteria:
 * No one else has ever edited it.
 * It's not the exact name of any item, spell, feat, etc that exists in the game.
 * You strongly feel it won't be useful to anyone in the future.

In cases such as this, administrators may instantly delete these pages at their discretion.

If you as a regular user feel a page should be deleted instantly, and probably doesn't need a vote, you can use the instant 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.

Invalid delete reasons
The following are not valid reasons to vote to delete a page, so pages tagged for these reasons will quickly be untagged.
 * Outdated and/or Unused: Simply because a page is unused doesn't mean it's not relevant or important. These types of pages very rarely should deleted, but instead the vast majority of the time - improved, or at least tagged appropriately so other users may help improve them. EG: An outdated page may need the tag so it can be brought up to date. An unused page may simply need some other pages to link to it. Or have it redirect to another more useful page. A similar valid delete reason may be if all of the following three are true:
 * A file (Files can't be directly moved)
 * Outdated (A newer superior revision exists elsewhere)
 * Unused (The older revision isn't relevant to the history of the game, isn't included in any other pages (older revision included) and it also exists elsewhere)


 * Deprecated template: Deprecated templates are very frequently in use in older revisions of many pages. Especially item description templates. Given how often items changes and how many times our templates have changed over the years, older deprecated templates are almost always in use in older revisions of item templates. These older revision can be of particular use to users wishing to discover the stats on an item they have, which may not be the latest version, as items are most often not retroactively changed. So instead of deleting such templates, simply put them in the Category:Deprecated template category and tag them appropriately, so they still function, but aren't accidentally re-used.


 * Common page name typos. If users frequently come to the wiki and search for a frequently misspelled topic, having a page with the misspelling redirect to the correct spelling can be very helpful in improving the results of our search engine. Only delete page name typos that are very unlikely to be repeated.


 * Non-empty categories that have invalid names. Deleting these doesn't really improve anything, the members remain in them and you create a bunch of red links. Instead, clean out the category and mark it as invalid. Deleting it rarely helps as it may automatically get re-created due to how our templates function. Having it marked as invalid can make fixing these template errors in the future faster and painless.

Valid delete reasons

 * Making room for move (This one will automatically show up when a page is moved over another)


 * Copyright violation
 * In the case of most game content, it may be used under Fair-use. In the game of content created outside the game, by users other then yourself, in most cases you must first ask for permission or it may end up deleted as a copyright violation.


 * Page name typo
 * As explained above. This is OK, but only for typos that are not likely to be frequently repeated.


 * Vandalism / Spam-bot
 * Fair reason, and also the primary valid reason for Instant deletion.