User:Buffs/MfD essay

I've started this page because there are a few categories of things that come up in MfD that could use some consistent guidance. Perhaps these will someday be implemented as policy or guidelines or they may forever stay as my own thoughts.

Drafts of articles
There are a few types of these and each should be treated accordingly

Copyright violations
Remove Anything copied verbatim from a copyrighted source and contained on a user page should be removed as soon as possible. These are generally not salvageable as a articles and violate Wikipedia policy (exceptions noted). If the entire page is plagiarized, then the page should be Blanked. If the subject is not notable, Delete.

...have been worked on in any substantive manner in the past 6 months
Keep These articles are ones that can potentially be salvaged for Wikipedia use. The subject need not be significant, but notable. Given that it is a work in progress, references aren't specifically necessary, though will be needed to keep such information in an article. The article in question must also meet the criteria outlined in WP:USER

...have been sitting idle for 6 months or more
Blank If you aren't going to work on it and it's staying in your user space (where others aren't generally going to work on it), then we don't really need it. Blanking it allows restoration if you decide to work on it again with no admin approval. The article in question must also meet the criteria outlined in WP:USER

Articles which have no hope of ever being an article
Delete Shameless self-promotion, articles which are no more than an advertisement, articles "about my band", or any of a number of other inappropriate uses with no capacity for an article should be deleted as soon as possible.

Pages critical of other users
Keep...but... More often than not, pages such as these are viewed as "attack pages" when, in fact, the user creating them is trying to bring about change in another person's behavior which they view as disruptive, uncivil, or simply not conducive to building an encyclopedia. Pages like this are generally intended for some form of the WP:DR process and  are explicitly permitted  by WP:USER guidelines: "The compilation of factual evidence (diffs) in user subpages, for purposes such as preparing for a dispute resolution process, is permitted provided the dispute resolution process is started in a timely manner. Users should not maintain in public view negative information on others without very good reason."

As such, I will !vote for Keep on any such pages provided the following conditions exist:
 * It is not exclusively an attack page: This means the content is specifically directed at another users actions/contributions, but not at the individual.
 * Acceptable: "User:NOBODY uploaded five copyrighted images: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and claimed he made all of them."
 * Unacceptable: "User:NOBODY is a communist nazi and likes having unsuspecting sheep all alone."


 * The page explicitly states the WP:DR process in which it is intended to be used: This means that the page must have an intended function within the WP:DR process. It need not be isolated to a specific process, such as WP:RfC or WP:ArbCom, but can be more than one. Given the formats for each forum and the requirements for each, the same basic page layout is not applicable to each, so make sure to tailor such a page appropriately.


 * The page has a limited timeframe: These pages do take time to create, so they aren't going to happen overnight, so keeping them for a certain length of time is appropriate. Personally, I think 30 days should be the max, but there is nothing codified anywhere stating what "provided [it] start[s] in a timely manner" means and interpretations vary wildly. Should anyone desire to create such a page, the page should explicitly state how long the page should be kept and, in a sign of good faith, the person creating it should self-nominate it for speedy deletion after the given timeframe using.


 * The page is not linked elsewhere by its creator: You are supposed to be building a draft, not smearing someone across Wikipedia. You cannot control the actions of others, but don't do anything to publicize its existence either.

Accordingly, I recommend cutting and pasting  at the top of the page and fill in  with your intended forum(s) for submission (wikilink at your own discretion).