Wikibooks:Deletion policy
From Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection
Wikibookians are expected to follow this policy when performing deletion-related activities (including undeletion requests).
Only Administrators have the ability to delete and restore pages from the Wikibooks database. Administrative deletion isn't simple content blanking, but it will remove access to that page and its history. The decision to remove a page from the database is not to be taken lightly. It will be easy to lose track if done too casually.
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[edit] Content blanking
An edit action that results in clearing all the visible content of a page (also referred as page clearing/blanking). Except in cases of offensive language or by the owner of a userspace in that space, this action is always objectionable, even if done by the single contributor, it should in every detected instance result in a reversal. After restoring the content the Wikibookian fixing the situation should consider if the page ought to be a target for speedy deletion or RFD and act accordingly. If opposed to the deletion, attempts to come to a consensus on the future of the content should be done primely on the talk page relevant to it, so that others interested are able to express their opinions.
[edit] Speedy deletions
A simplified request for administrative deletion where opposition is not expected or possible. Administrators may either immediately delete candidate for speedy deletion, or proceed as other Wikibookians if they want a second opinion.
Candidate for speedy deletion should satisfy any of the following criteria:
- A page you want deleted is your own user page, talk page, or any subpages thereof
- A page with no meaningful content. Always check the history of the page, as nonsense may have replaced good content. If this is the case, simply revert to the last good version. Notice that what is considered "meaningful" changes for different namespaces.
- A repost of content previously requested for deletion, where the page has not gone through the necessary procedural steps in requests for undeletion.
- Blatant vandalism such as obvious offensive language or completely unrelated content to the Wikibook it is associated with. Make sure that the page that has been vandalized does not have prior history that can simply be reverted. If not then blank the page and add the deletion tag. See also Wikibooks:Dealing with vandalism.
- A page which was created solely for the display of spam, unwarranted advertisements, or other nonsense.
- A page which has been transwikied to more appropriate wiki, and is considered to be against one or more policies here.
- A page that is nominated for deletion by the original author with no other contributors.
- A page that has been nominated for deletion due to a general reorganization of the book by the contributors. In this situation, please note the location of the relevant discussion that occurred regarding the page cleanup.
- A page in a book which clearly does not comply with Wikibooks:What is Wikibooks (if there is some doubt, add the page/book to RfD).
- A redirect page that does not conform with Wikibooks:naming policy, if all links to it have been updated.
- A redirect where it is unlikely that anyone will inadvertently search for a page under that name.
- * Note * When deleting redirect pages, make sure that any links pointing to those redirects have been changed first, including other websites including other Wikimedia projects.
If meeting the criteria, simply add {{delete|<your personal justification for speedy deletion>}} to the top of the offending page, which will look like:
The page will then appear in Category:Candidates for speedy deletion, and will be addressed by an administrator as soon as possible.
[edit] Copyright violations
If you suspect the page to be a copyright violation from another URL or other source (usually determined by running a Google test), add {{copyvio|<source URL or description of source>}} to the top of the page, which will look like:
| POSSIBLE COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT | |
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A Wikibookian believes this work uses copyrighted material without the express permission of the copyright holder(s). You can help by requesting permission from the copyright holders to use their work under our licensing terms. If they grant you permission, please leave a message on the discussion page explaining this. After 7 days, if no permission to use the copyrighted work is obtained, this work may be deleted according to policy. A Wikibookian believes this work infringes on the copyright of:
Please also warn the primary contributors with:
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The page will then appear in Category:Copyright violations. The user who posted the suspected copyright violation has one week from this date to prove that they have permission to post the suspected content, otherwise it will be deleted.
[edit] Requests for deletion
If you believe a work should be deleted that does not satisfy the speedy deletion criteria, or you disagree with the reasoning for a speedy deletion candidate, you may add a new section to the end of Wikibooks:Requests for deletion, using the work's name as the heading title, so that you can discuss why with other community participants. Please sign/date your reasoning and be prepared to defend it.
Next you should add {{rfd}} to the top of the work, which will look like:
The page will then appear in Category:Requests for deletion. At this time, the discussion process begins.
Every registered Wikibooks user can participate in the discussion process to decide what to do with the work in question. Please explain your reasoning, sign/date your comments, and be ready defend your position. For convince please include a discussion icon to help other participants quickly review what the overall position of the participants is. If your reasoning changes, please strikeout (<s>old text</s>) any part of your stance that you wish to change, before (optionally) declaring a different position.
One week after the last comment if participants have mostly reached consensus about what to do, action will be taken by an administrator. Otherwise discussion may continue until consensus is reached. Deciding whether consensus has been reached and what consensus is should occur according to the decision-making policy for high impact decisions. Per this policy, any position declaration is an aid to discussion and not a vote; the decision isn't based on quantity but on quality.
Discussion may be terminated early and any outcome ignored if the discussion is believed to be the result of vandalism or part of an edit war between two contributors who may not like each other. If later serious objections are raised, discussion may resume.
You should be especially sensitive to discussions about brand-new works, particularly by new contributors to Wikibooks. Unless there are obvious problems that are unlikely to be rectified, your time would be better spent mentoring new contributors and trying to help clean up new works, even if the work is currently a blatant violation of current procedures. Remember you were once a new contributor too.
If the decision is that the page should be deleted, an administrator will do so, and it will show up on the page Special:Log/delete. Either way, the section should be moved to Wikibooks:Requests for deletion/Archive for historical reference.
[edit] Meaningful content
What is considered meaningful content is open to some interpretation and differs depending on the namespace, so you'll have to use your best judgment when nominating or deleting pages under this criteria. If in doubt, put it under a deletion discussion. Content is not meaningful if it does not contribute to the project or add value to readers. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Edit tests, spam, vandalism, and other nonsense. See also dealing with vandalism.
- Very short pages with no definition or context (e.g. "This guy is great!").
- Pages displaying intent, but no actual content (e.g. "This page will describe ..." without the actual description) once the editor has abandoned the project.
You can leave {{query}} on the page to check whether the user is intending to develop the page further.
[edit] What to keep, what to delete
Consider the following recommendations when deciding whether to list a page for RfD
- In general, keep stubs. However, delete stubs that don't even have a decent definition. Also, delete stubs that will never become more than a simple definition. See Find or fix a stub.
- In general, keep modules that need heavy editing, and list them on Modules needing attention. However, consider deleting pages that are just utter nonsense
- In general, delete pages that simply will never become educational resource modules, for example, modules that represent completely idiosyncratic non-topics (e.g. "Teaching 100 monkeys to type the works of Shakespeare").
[edit] Transwiki
First of all, if the page looks okay, but it's just on the wrong wiki (e.g. wrong language, wrong type of content), add {{transwiki|<suggested wiki>}} to the top of the page, which will look like:
The page will then appear in Category:Modules for transwiki.
[edit] Guidelines for admins
Here are some guidelines that those tasked with removing pages from the database can generally be expected to follow in making the decision to delete or not:
- As a general rule, don't delete pages you nominate for deletion if there are a number of comments in favor of keeping. Let someone else do it.
- Simply deleting a page does not automatically delete its talk page or any subpages. Please delete these pages too.
- If another solution has been found for some of these pages than deletion, leave them listed on Wikibooks:Requests for deletion for a short while, so the original poster can see why it wasn't deleted, and what did happen to it. This will prevent reposting of the same item. Alternately, leave a message on their user page explaining the verdict of the deletion process.
- Use common sense and respect the judgment and feelings of other Wikibooks participants.
- When in doubt, don't delete.
- Don't hesitate to turn a speedy delete into a RfD discussion. It is better to get community input on deleting a page than indiscriminate deleting on the part of admins.
- Where the content is such that it might usefully be moved elsewhere (for example, another wiki or that the authors might want a copy for their own records) give some time for them to do this before deleted (or alternatively email them a copy of the text).
- Copyright: See Wikibooks:Copyrights for deletion policy on copyright infringement (and m:Wikipedia and copyright issues and m:Avoid Copyright Paranoia for perspective).
- Administrators necessarily must use their best judgment, attempting to be as impartial as is possible for a fallible human, to determine when rough consensus has been reached. For example, administrators can disregard comments if they feel that there is strong evidence that they were not made in good faith. Such "bad faith" comments include those being made by sock puppets, being made anonymously, or being made using a new userid whose only edits are to the article in question and the voting on that article.
Ideally, when an admin deletes a test page or other page with no useful content, it is a good idea to put a note on the author's talk page explaining things, pointing them to the sandbox in cases of tests. Be friendly! Everyone was new once. In the case of anon IP users this is not as important as they have likely moved on or their IPs changed since that edit.
[edit] Frequently Asked Questions
- Module X is totally biased! What gives?
- See Wikibooks:NPOV dispute. You don't need the RfD page for that.
- This user should be banned.
- Please take the issue up in the administrative assistance reading room.
- Where'd my page go?!
- Check the deletion log and head over to Wikibooks:Requests for undeletion if you believe that a page may have been deleted without proper grounds.
