Wikipedia talk:Page blanking

Please discuss any major proposed changes to this guideline on this page, as well as any questions about the guideline.

Image blanking?
Can something be added to prevent "image blanking"? That's what I call it when a user tries to "blank" an image by uploading an empty file on top of it. It happens every so often- my bot has noticed this a few times in the past month or so. It's obviously inappropriate, and deserves a mention here. I'd be happy to write it up, but thought I'd mention it here first. Staecker 12:21, 6 May 2007 (UTC)


 * Image blanking is clearly inappropriate, but I'd suggest not including any mention in this guideline. The guideline is primarily of historical interest, now, and it has to do with a sort of "place-holder" (full article intended to follow ... ).  By contrast, blanking an image in the way you describe seems more like vandalism.


 * May I suggest instead that you take the matter to Village pump (proposals), as a recommendation that the wiki software be changed so that it checks file uploads and block empty uploads? (I suspect that, or even a bot to do this, would be much more productive than changing a guideline, which I doubt that blank-file-uploaders will read, or care about, and which doesn't help other editors spot this kind of inappropriate action in any case.)  -- John Broughton  (♫♫) 00:06, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

Userpage/Usertalk blanking
Does this policy cover Userpages and Usertalk pages? Nat Tang talk to me! 14:35, 23 June 2007 (UTC)


 * That's what I'm wondering... Nigel Louis 12 keeps blanking his talk page, but I can't find anything saying it's not allowed. UnsignificantEditor (talk) 09:53, 27 January 2019 (UTC)
 * , They are allowed to remove most things from their talk page. See WP:BLANKING for the policy on blanking user talk pages.  About the only thing that can not be removed in denied unblock requests while the user is still blocked.  Since  is not blocked they can keep their user talk page and user page blanked.  ~ GB fan 11:17, 27 January 2019 (UTC)

Exceptions to the rule?
Hi.

I think there should be some exceptions to this rule, as in a few cases blank pages may be appropriate. For example, an attack page against a real, living person containing potentially libelous material or something that might lead to imminent real world damage should be able to be dealt with by non-administrators without having to wait for an administrator to speedy delete the page, which can still take time. Although such exceptions would likely be rare, if a non-administrator sights something that could have very immediate bad consequence being on Wikipedia, and there is no way to save the page (ie. whole page is trouble) then blanking it should be allowed, and held until an administrator can fully delete the page. Ie. blanking as an "emergency" measure when absolute urgency is needed. mike4ty4 03:19, 18 July 2007 (UTC)


 * If that's the case, just replace the page with db-vandalism or another appropriate deletion tag. However, simply tagging the page for deletion is good enough for most cases.  --Sigma 7 04:49, 18 September 2007 (UTC)


 * Added. Andjam (talk) 01:08, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Blanking
I don't disagree with image or talk pages, but in the matter of articles, I would prefer that, instead of deleting, a very short article to be created, because anonymous can contribute to stubs but cannot create them. However, I have seen admins deleting very small stubs because they were just too small. -- ReyBrujo 13:53, 18 September 2007 (UTC)

Pure wiki deletion
I recommend we allow experimental use of page blanking in accordance with Experimental_Deletion/XD1 and Experimental Deletion/XD1/Example and Pure wiki deletion. A code or configuration change might be needed to implement red-linking of blanked pages. Ron Duvall (talk) 00:00, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

MoS naming style
There is currently an ongoing discussion about the future of this and others MoS naming style. Please consider the issues raised in the discussion and vote if you wish GnevinAWB (talk) 21:00, 25 April 2010 (UTC)

Section blanking
Section blanking redirects here so is it o.k. if I create a section for it with something like this: "Section blanking is likely vandalism and is monitored by software (a bot) which leaves the message (Tag:section blanking) in the edit summary. If the edit looks like vandalism please revert it." Jim Derby (talk) 23:25, 9 January 2014 (UTC)

Can a User's Talk page be blanked?
I have noticed someone blanking his own talk page. Is that allowed? --  Cristian  ]   Yes?  15:53, 15 October 2019 (UTC)


 * , as mentioned above by : They are allowed to remove most things from their talk page. See WP:BLANKING for the policy on blanking user talk pages. About the only thing that can not be removed in denied unblock requests while the user is still blocked. Melofors (talk) 22:03, 15 November 2019 (UTC)

Page Blanking
Wouldn't it be funny if someone (not me, I don't want to get into trouble) page blanked this article? Also, can I do that in my sandbox, if so, how? Username142857 (talk) 08:52, 12 February 2022 (UTC)

Remove See also: User:Samuel Blanning/Blanking
I propose removing the link to from the WP:Page blanking section.


 * It was moved from WP to User space soon after its creation in 2006, with no major edits since then and only vandalism and reverts since 2012.
 * User:Samuel Blanning's last sustained activity was in 2007 with a final edit in 2018.
 * Special:PageInfo/User:Samuel Blanning/Blanking returns 17 views in the past 30 days. There was a spike on 17 April 2022 that corresponds with a spate of vandalism.

I also propose retargeting from that user essay to here. Flatscan (talk) 04:24, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
 * I posted a notification at User talk:Samuel Blanning/Blanking. Flatscan (talk) 04:29, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Seeing no objections in over a week, I removed the link and retargeted the redirect. Flatscan (talk) 04:36, 23 June 2022 (UTC)

Content removal versus page deletion
To emphasize the difference between content removal and page deletion (WP:Deletion policy), I propose inserting "and removing its content" into the first sentence. I also propose matching "remove" and "delete" to their respective actions precisely. There is one instance of "removed" in the third paragraph that will increase repetition when replaced. Also see WT:Content removal (essay) and User talk:Samuel Blanning/Blanking (user essay). Flatscan (talk) 04:37, 17 June 2022 (UTC)
 * Seeing no objections in a week, I inserted the clause and replaced the one instance. Flatscan (talk) 04:33, 25 June 2022 (UTC)

Looking for a guideline about blanking of pages in other namespaces
After coming across this edit (about which I have notified the editor in question, so no worries there), I came to this page expecting to find a guideline about blanking of pages in Template and other namespaces. I was surprised to find no such guidance, unless I missed it when I read this page twice just now. Is there a a separate guideline page about blanking pages that are not articles, user pages in your own user space, or user talk pages? — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jonesey95 (talk • contribs) 20:44, 6 November 2023 (UTC)