Wikipedia talk:Deletion policy/ATD RfC draft 2023

Previous discussions
Feel free to add links. I am considering converting these lists to tables. Flatscan (talk) 04:23, 3 November 2023 (UTC)


 * WT:Articles for deletion/Archive 61 (2011)
 * WT:Deletion policy/Archive 46 (2015–2016)
 * WT:Deletion policy/Archive 48 (2018)
 * WP:Administrators' noticeboard/Archive331 (2021)
 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2021 February 27
 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2021 February 27
 * WP:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Conduct in deletion-related editing/Workshop (2022)
 * WP:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Conduct in deletion-related editing/Workshop
 * WP:Arbitration/Requests/Case/Conduct in deletion-related editing/Workshop
 * WP:Administrators' noticeboard/Archive345 (2022)
 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2022 July 15
 * WT:Deletion policy (October 2023, the impetus for this draft)

DRVs


 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2022 January 28
 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2022 May 15
 * WP:Articles for deletion/Egyptian influence in popular culture (January 2023)
 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2022 November 8
 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2022 December 19
 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2023 January 15
 * WP:Redirects for discussion/Log/2023 February 9
 * WP:Deletion review/Log/2023 October 11

Venue
The obvious potential venues are WP:Village pump (policy) and WT:Deletion policy. At VPP, editors reading other discussions may stop by to participate. On the other hand, the histories of all its current discussions will be interleaved and more difficult to follow. WP:Talk pages project sends pings for new comments, but I haven't tried it. Flatscan (talk) 05:20, 6 November 2023 (UTC)

Launch
Are there any concerns about who launches the RfC or exactly when it happens? My main requirement is quorum for proceeding among all the drafters. Flatscan (talk) 04:27, 31 October 2023 (UTC)


 * 1) Copy and paste
 * 2) Edit to activate rfc and
 * 3) List on centralized discussion

Should there be a pause for outside input before drafters are allowed to participate? Flatscan (talk) 04:27, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Publicizing the RfC
WP:Publicising discussions is the relevant how-to guide.


 * 1) WP:Requests for comment/Wikipedia policies and guidelines
 * 2) WP:Centralized discussion
 * 3) I'm leaning toward removing WP:Requests for comment/Wikipedia proposals, as the draft RfC statement doesn't make a clear proposal, and the other RfC list is sufficient.
 * 4) WP:Village pump (policy), if it's not the venue
 * 5) WT:Deletion policy, if it's not the venue
 * 6) WT:Deletion process?
 * 7) WT:Criteria for speedy deletion – significant impact, as pointed out by Cryptic
 * 8) WT:Articles for deletion
 * 9) WT:Deletion review
 * 10) Other XfDs? They feel less relevant to me.
 * 11) WT:New pages patrol/Reviewers? My impression from WP:New pages patrol is that they use CSD tags frequently. Are they expected to support a specific option, leading to WP:Canvassing (guideline, shortcut WP:VOTESTACK) concerns?

Flatscan (talk) 05:28, 7 November 2023 (UTC)

Close
I would like to avoid a random closer whose close may not be the best. Options include a committee close or agreeing on an uninvolved and fair closer in advance. Flatscan (talk) 04:27, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Organization
Each numbered section is intended to be written and "owned" by supporters of that option. My hope is to reduce back-and-forth arguing. Note that their orders alternate in the interest of fairness. The corresponding sections below are meant for collaboration. Flatscan (talk) 04:27, 31 October 2023 (UTC)

Options

 * 1) My initial draft kept the options concise. Expanding them slightly would be acceptable, but more than 1–2 sentences feels too long and risks diluting the core question.
 * 2) They should be similar to or parallel each other to facilitate comparison.

Flatscan (talk) 05:36, 8 November 2023 (UTC)

Background
Flatscan (talk) 04:39, 1 November 2023 (UTC)
 * 1) "WT:Articles for deletion/Archive 61 (2011) established consensus for equal weight among keep, merge, redirect, and delete recommendations." The option sections can emphasize their desired points: that it's old or hasn't been overturned.
 * 2) Excerpting the current policy would provide context, but I suspect we won't reach an agreement on what to include.
 * 3) Since we will distill the best arguments, previous discussions – especially DRVs – won't add much beyond demonstrating that there is a dispute. I added an ATD background appendix section where they could go.

WP:Deletion policy history
Similar to quoting the current policy (item 2 above), we may not agree on which changes to mention or how to present them. Summarizing them as "stable with few changes" could work. Flatscan (talk) 05:33, 9 November 2023 (UTC)
 * Feel free to add diffs. Flatscan (talk) 05:26, 10 November 2023 (UTC)


 * 1) Special:PageHistory/Wikipedia:Deletion policy
 * 2) Special:Diff/116262957: Rewrite of whole page, 2007
 * 3) Special:PageHistory/Wikipedia:Deletion policy/Draft
 * 4) Special:Diff/218353102: Reasons for deletion section, qualify reasons, 2008
 * 5) Special:Diff/286569300: Editing subsection, add, 2009
 * 6) Special:Diff/576987280: Editing and discussion subsection, revise first sentence, 2013
 * 7) Special:Diff/849406536: Editing and discussion subsection, add  2018