User:Hydronium Hydroxide/AFD Notes and Thoughts

Here be ranting.

Nominations

 * A bad WP:AFD nominates on how the article currently is rather than what it could be, however WP:Deletion is not cleanup.
 * A bad AFD nomination where the WP:BEFORE process hasn't been followed is far more harmful than letting an article of marginal notability remain since it uses up a bunch of editor and admin time that could be spent on other things such as good AFDs.
 * A good AFD nomination indicates why a subject appears non-notable, and ideally refers to guidelines that the nominator has considered and indicates that they have performed WP:BEFORE checks (whether implicitly or explicitly).

Votes

 * A good vote adds value to the AFD.
 * If there's only 1-2 votes and the AFD is reaching a close, then an extra vote is helpful. If there's a bunch of votes all the one way, then an additional vote had better add something new and worthwhile to consider. Otherwise it's just a pile-on, and why bother.
 * Bad votes give no indication what the voter considered. Terrible votes explicitly show that the voter is working from gut feel without actually searching for or even considering presented evidence.
 * Providing comment but not voting is an option.
 * Ideally if there's ever another AFD or review, then the quality of the previous AFD should significantly assist future voters.
 * The interesting AFDs are where there are valid good-faith arguments for different outcomes.

Marginal Notability

 * Wikipedia is a hyperlinked encyclopedia. The threshold for keeping an article with marginal notability that naturally (and correctly) bridges a bunch of other articles should be lower than for articles that are likely to remain orphans, dead-ends, or walled gardens.
 * Where an article is part of a series of articles -- particularly where there are succession boxes as standard -- the more members of the series that are notable, the lower the threshold should be for retention of the remaining members. Redlinks of series members agreed to be non-notable should be avoided since redlinks invite article creation.