Wikipedia:Update/1/Deletion policy changes, July 2009 to December 2009


 * Attack page
 * In the introduction, changed: [An attack page is a page that] "exists" [primarily to disparage its subject] to "was created"


 * Criteria for speedy deletion
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: [... the only substantial content to the page] "and to the associated talk page" [was added by its author]
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, changed: [A recently created article with no relevant page history that] "does not aim to expand upon, detail or improve information" to: "duplicates an existing topic, and that does not expand upon, detail or improve information"
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added information on avoiding deletion of images at Commons
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, changed: [User pages of users that do not exist (check Special:Listusers),] "not including IP addresses." to: "except userpages for anonymous users who have edited, redirects from misspellings of an established user's userpage, and for the previous name of a recently renamed user (which should normally be left as a redirect to the new name for a reasonable time)."
 * In WP:CSD, added: "Note: Criterion T1 was discontinued in February 2009."
 * In WP:CSD, changed: "Any topic ..." to "Any portal ..."


 * Deletion policy
 * New subsection: WP:DEL
 * In WP:DEL, added: [... a soft redirect to a Wiktionary entry] "using the template wi"
 * In WP:DEL, changed: "Under most circumstances," [if there is no rough consensus the page is kept ...] to: "The deletion of a page based on a deletion discussion should only be done when there is consensus to do so. Therefore,"


 * Proposed deletion
 * In WP:PROD, added: [This excludes removals that are clearly not an objection to deletion, such as page blanking] "or obvious vandalism."


 * Wikipedia is not a dictionary
 * The page was added to Category:Wikipedia deletion policies
 * In WP:NOTDIC, removed: [... Wikipedia is not a] "hacker/computer usage or other" [slang and idiom guide.] Removed: "But see also jargon file; articles, even extremely in-depth articles, on hacker culture are very welcome, and insofar as guides to some particularly essential piece of hacker slang is necessary to understand those articles, of course articles on that slang would be great to have."


 * Criteria for speedy deletion
 * In the introduction, changed several instances of "articles" to "pages" or "pages or media". Removed: "To avoid speedy deletion, make sure that articles provide both content and context."
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: [If the sole author blanks a page other than a userspace page] "or category page", [this can be taken as a deletion request.]
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, removed: [This excludes any page that is useful to the project, and in particular: deletion discussions that are not logged elsewhere,] "user and" [ user talk pages, ...]
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: "This applies to articles having essentially the same content as an article on another Wikimedia project"
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: "This criterion does not apply to species of animals, only to individual animal(s)."
 * New anchor, WP:CSD: "Recently created article that duplicates an existing topic. A recently created article with no relevant page history that does not aim to expand upon, detail or improve information within any existing article(s) on the subject, and where the title is not a plausible redirect. This does not include content forks, split pages or any article that aims at expanding or reorganizing an existing one or that contains referenced, mergeable material."
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: "This does not apply to articles and stubs that have been converted into redirects."
 * The entire WP:CSD subsection is now transcluded (mirrored) from Categories for discussion/Speedy criteria.
 * In WP:CSD, added: "An article written in a foreign language or script. An article should not be speedily deleted just because it is not written in English. Instead it should be tagged with notenglish and listed at Pages needing translation into English. It may be reconsidered after translation whether the article merits deletion, retention or improvement by means of a suitable tag."


 * Wikipedia is not a dictionary
 * In WP:NOTDIC, added: "One test is that an encyclopedia article's name can usually easily take many different equivalent forms, whereas a dictionary as a linguistic work that is about the words in the title, cannot usually be easily translated." Also added a reference.


 * Criteria for speedy deletion
 * In WP:CSD, added: [These apply to all namespaces (and so apply to articles,] "redirects," [user pages ...]
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: "(including images intended to misinform)"
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, changed: [This excludes] "articles" [that are not substantially identical to the deleted version] to: "pages"
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: "Exceptions may be sign-posted with the template G8-exempt."
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, made substantial changes


 * Deletion policy
 * New subsection, WP:DEL
 * In WP:DEL, removed: "If a page was deleted via proposed deletion, it should be immediately undeleted by request. To request that an uncontroversially deleted article be restored, ask the deleting administrator or post a request to Requests for undeletion. Be aware that pages restored to articlespace may immediately be subject to a deletion discussion."
 * New subsection, WP:DEL


 * Office actions
 * In WP:OFFICE, added: "Texas Instruments signing key controversy ... Article is available to edit except for inclusion of signing keys. If you'd like to appeal, please contact User:Mike Godwin"


 * Oversight
 * In WP:OS, added: "Vandal user names, including but not limited to those that attack, harass or annoy other editors, may be hidden on request, where this does not disrupt edit histories."
 * Updated lists at WP:OS


 * Criteria for speedy deletion, previous selected version
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: [that contain superfluous] "and blatant" [non-metadata information.]
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, changed "(e.g. .doc, .pdf, or .xls files)" to "Note that the following files are rarely sound, image, or video: .doc, .pdf, .ps, .html, .rtf, .txt, .xls, and .zip files. Examples of image, sound, and video files are: .jpg, .gif, .mpg, and .wav. This is not a comprehensive list of files that can be deleted, nor is an extension alone enough reason to delete, this criteria is based on file content."
 * Under the WP:CSD anchor, added: "User talk pages may in exceptional cases (see right to vanish) be deleted via Miscellany for Deletion; they are not eligible for speedy deletion under this criterion."
 * Added to WP:CSD: "A file that isn't a sound, video, or image file. To be deleted under F10, a file must have no encyclopaedic value and not be used in any articles. Files that are in use or might have encyclopedic value, even if not sound, video, or image, should not be deleted without wider discussion."


 * Deletion policy
 * Added to WP:DEL: [dicdef should be either considered for deletion or turned into] "a disambiguation page or a" [soft redirect to a Wiktionary entry.]
 * Added to WP:DEL: "To request that an uncontroversially deleted article be restored, ask the deleting administrator or post a request to Requests for undeletion."
 * Added to WP:DEL: [... in the judgment of the community] "or the Arbitration Committee," [may potentially cause harm: ...]


 * Oversight
 * On Sept 29, made significant changes throughout from the August 31 version


 * Proposed deletion
 * In WP:PROD, changed "Notify the article's creator and" [significant contributors that you have proposed an article for deletion] to "Consider notifying the article's creator or". Removed footnote: "Common sense applies – if the editor was a vandal, sockpuppet, was otherwise acting in bad faith, or was blocked, they need not be notified."
 * In WP:PROD, changed "Notify the editors" to "Consider notifying the editors". Added: "It will then be listed at Category:Past Proposed Deletion Candidates for easy tracking."


 * Criteria for speedy deletion, selected version
 * In the introduction, added:
 * Besides CSD, there are the following methods of deletion:
 * Deletion discussions are the normal method of carrying out deletion.
 * Proposed deletions, for nominating pages for uncontroversial deletion.
 * Office actions, for rare, urgent, and important deletions usually involving legal issues, done by foundation officials.


 * In WP:CSD, made substantial changes throughout from the July 31 version
 * In WP:CSD, removed "If not obviously ridiculous," [new specialized terms should have a wider hearing.]
 * Removed section, WP:CSD. July 31 version.
 * Added section, WP:CSD:
 * Deprecated criteria include:
 * A4 (merged with and superseded by "No content") [link to discussion missing!]
 * A6 (superseded by "Attack pages")
 * A8 (superseded by "Unambiguous copyright infringement")
 * R1 (superseded by "Pages dependent on a non-existent or deleted page")
 * C3 (superseded by "Pages dependent on a non-existent or deleted page")
 * T1 (repealed); "Attack pages" may be applicable. Otherwise, use Templates for deletion.


 * Office actions
 * In WP:OFFICE, removed: [When in doubt, consult the user applying the protection/template,] "Jimbo" [or the Wikimedia Foundation.]
 * In WP:OFFICE, a lot of text was removed from the July 31 version, and some copies of emails were converted to links.


 * Oversight
 * Moved WP:OVERSIGHT up, and changed the advice on vandalism to: "Removal of vandalism. Suppression may be occasionally used to remove vandalism that can not be removed by normal administrative measures. Such cases should be handled with suppression, rather than with the Oversight tool, so that they may be reversed if needed, and should be discussed in advance on the Oversight mailing list unless they are urgent or time-sensitive, in which case they should be discussed on the mailing list afterward. The strict policy at m:Oversight (items 1–3 above) was originally adopted to ensure that a minimum number of revisions were Oversighted and only for extraordinary reasons, as it is very difficult to restore Oversighted revisions, restoration requires the intervention of a developer, and is never done in actual practice. A slightly less restrictive policy (item 4 above) has been adopted for Suppression using RevisionDelete, as suppressed edits are easily reversible."
 * Moved WP:OVERSIGHT up.
 * Two new entries in the table at WP:OVERSIGHT:
 * Suppression of entire page || Only by suppressing each revision in turn as a whole, however many revisions there may be. Last revision on a page cannot be suppressed. || All revisions of the page are set to fully suppressed. Effectively a shortcut to quickly suppress the username, edit summary, and text, on each revision, when the entire page and all revisions are in breach.
 * Suppression of latest or only revision on a page || Last or only revision cannot be suppressed. || Last or only revision can have various fields suppressed but not the entire edit.
 * Removed section, WP:OVERSIGHT
 * Changed WP:OVERSIGHT substantially from the July 31 version
 * In WP:OVERSIGHT, updated list, and added footnote: "Although this user has the oversight tool, he uses it only for review and does not actually oversight edits himself."


 * Proposed deletion
 * Substantial changes throughout from the July 31 version


 * Criteria for speedy deletion
 * Changed substantially from the June 30 version


 * Oversight
 * Added to lead section: [It is used within strict limits] "to hide the username, revision content, and/or edit summary in order" [to remove defamatory material, to protect privacy, and sometimes to remove serious copyright violations.]
 * Added to WP:OS: [RevisionDelete ... Scope ...] "file revisions"
 * Updated WP:OS


 * Deletion policy changes, December 2008 to June 2009