Help:Deletion Policy
Deletion of a page from D&D Wiki removes the current version and all previous versions from public view. Only administrators can perform deletion, view deleted pages, and reverse ("restore") any deletion. All such actions are recorded in the deletion log. If in doubt as to whether there is consensus to delete a page, administrators are expected to not delete it. These administrator abilities are exercised in accordance with policy and consensus.
Any user may use {{Delete}} to propose a page be deleted, but in doing so is expected to provide a reason to delete the page.
Proposed Deletion
Although only an administrator can delete a page outright, any user can propose a page for deletion by using {{delete}}. Deletion proposal should be performed reasonably and responsibly.
To nominate a page for deletion add the code below to the top of that page. Please do not remove any content from the page when adding this template. The discussion about its deletion should take place on its talk page.
{{delete|~~~~~|Insert here at least one reason why this article should not be present on D&D Wiki.}}
Any pages with {{delete}} on them will appear in Candidates for Deletion, and remain there until the {{delete}} is removed or the page is deleted.
If the page's reason for deletion is only reason #1, not enough information to be playable/improved upon, then discussion using the talk page is preferred over deletion proposal. When proposing deletion for an incomplete page, please ensure it is not being actively improved upon. It is courteous to wait a minimum of 24 hours after a page's creation before proposing its deletion, unless it warrants Speedy Deletion.
Fourteen days after the deletion proposal, an administrator will decide if deletion is appropriate, and will take action accordingly. The administrator should consider any changes made to the page, as well as any comments on its talk page addressing the deletion proposal. If a page's only reason for deletion is #1, then it should only be deleted if there has been no improvement since its deletion proposal. If at least some improvements have been made since then, the 14 day countdown effectively begins again from the date of the improving edit, rather than when the {{delete}} was placed.
If the page is a victim of vandalism, the best response and the only response needed is to mention this on User talk:Admin. If using deletion proposal anyway, the page should have both a {{delete}} and a {{needsadmin}} placed on it.
The administrator who deletes a page is accountable for its proper deletion, not the user who added {{delete}}.
If an administrator places a {{delete}} on a page, that administrator should not also be the one to formally delete it. This limitation does not apply to Speedy Deletions.
Other deletion reasons: Sole contributor requests deletion. See User Request under Request of sole significant contributor.
Speedy Deletion
"Speedy Deletion" refers to the act of an administrator deleting a page without the use of {{delete}} or the normal Proposed Deletion process. The reasons to delete above specify when this is appropriate, but these are again summarized below.
- Nonsense. This applies to pages consisting entirely of incoherent text or gibberish with no meaningful content or history. It does not cover poor writing, nor does it apply to user sandboxes or other pages in the user namespace. In short, if it is understandable, this reason does not apply.
- Test pages. See Test Pages under Other Reasons to Delete.
- Vandalism. See vandalism under Reasons to Delete.
- Verbatim recreation of a page that was deleted via Proposed Deletion. Discussion of restoration is the preferred method of recreating a page. The most appropriate place for this discussion is User talk:Admin. A page can be recreated if it sufficiently different to the point it no longer violates reason(s) for deletion, but recreation should still be first discussed on User talk:Admin or another suitable page.
- Creations by banned or blocked users. This applies to edits or pages created by a banned or blocked user in violation of the ban or block.
- Technical deletions. This includes uncontroversial maintenance, such as the deletion of empty categories, disambiguation pages with one or fewer entries, pages unambiguously created in error, and other similar pages.
- Pages dependent on a non-existent or deleted page. This includes talk pages associated with a page that has since been deleted, as well as pages that are part of a deleted campaign setting or sourcebook.
- Unambiguous copyright infringement. See copyright violation under Reasons to Delete.
- No content. This includes pages that only include a "preload" or other empty template not written by the user.
- Snowball clause. If an administrator judges that an article doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of surviving the normal deletion process, that administrator may decide to speedily delete the article and bypass the normal deletion process. This criterion should be used sparingly and with caution, as it can be very demotivating for an editor to have their page deleted for this reason; thus this criterion should be used only for pages with both extremely low quality and extremely low effort.
When a user proposes a page for deletion using {{delete}}, the contributor can also specifically request Speedy Deletion using one of the previous reasons. Speedy Deletion can also be requested on User talk:Admin, but this method should only be used if a rapid response is important, or in response to vandalism.
Even if a page warrants Speedy Deletion, an administrator has the option of using {{delete}}, and thereby pushing content through Proposed Deletion instead. If the deletion has any reasonable chance of being controversial or contested, Proposed Deletion is preferred. The sole exception to this is clear and unambiguous vandalism. An administrator is always expected to counteract vandalism immediately.
Reasons to Delete
- Not enough information to be playable/improved upon
- Vandalism
- Copyright violation
- Talk of a deleted page
- Part of a deleted campaign setting
- Spam
- Redundant content
- Obsolete
- Merger
- Error correction
- Deletion of own user subpage
- Request of sole significant contributor
- Other or additional reasons
Whenever an administrator deletes a page, it is expected of them to provide at least one of these reasons via a drop-down menu. The reason or lack thereof is forever recorded in the Deletion Log.
Not enough information to be playable/improved upon
More than anything else, D&D Wiki hosts user-generated homebrew content. At times, a user may contribute homebrew content that is practically unusable in an actual game of Dungeons & Dragons.
Deletion is not the preferred method for incomplete or unusable homebrew content. See Help:Improving, Reviewing, and Removing Templates for further information about the various tools and methods we use to improve pages on D&D Wiki.
Unaddressed maintenance templates only warrant a Proposed Deletion from a third party if the content is unusable—unbalanced, confusing, vague, or otherwise problematic to the point of being unusable in a campaign without undue effort by the DM—and there are no signs of the content improving anytime in the near future. Designating a page as Abandoned can be used as a check to see if the content will improve in the near future, and it is a preferred response over a Proposed Deletion for content that has a great deal effort or detail put into it but remains unusable.
What content does or doesn't deserve deletion under this reasoning has been subject to controversy, as what content should be considered "unusable" will always be subjective.
Unusable content may be subject to an Abandoned template or a Proposed Deletion, but should never be subject to Speedy Deletion unless another reason for deletion applies.
Vandalism
Anyone can edit this wiki, which also means anyone can vandalize its pages. Any clear and apparent vandalism is subject to Speedy Deletion.
Vandalism usually takes the form of individual edits, but can also take the form of created pages. Blanking a page outside of your user space is considered vandalism. An administrator is able to delete selected revisions of a page from its page history. This ability should be enacted in response to vandalism, but rarely if ever should it be otherwise applied.
In response to vandalism, any contributor is encouraged to directly notify an administrator of its occurrence so responsive action can be taken as soon as possible. A user can notify admins by editing User talk:Admin, or by using {{needsadmin}}.
Copyright violation
Even though this is a Dungeons & Dragons wiki, most content from Dungeons & Dragons proper cannot be posted on this wiki for legal reasons. This includes images, verbatim descriptions, and sometimes names from published works such as the Dungeon Master's Guide. See Help:Legal for further details.
All contributions to D&D Wiki are considered to be released under the GNU Free Documentation License 1.3 unless otherwise stated.
Images, text, or other content which violates this license, or potentially violates copyright law otherwise, may be deleted. Generally, any copyright material that appears on this wiki that isn't released under this license or another open license, isn't in the public domain, and doesn't fall under "fair use" is subject to Proposed Deletion. If the violation is clear and unambiguous, the content is also subject to Speedy Deletion.
- Open License. Any content released an open license (such as the GNU Free Documentation License used by D&D Wiki) is generally not a copyright violation. This includes Source Reference Documents (e.g. SRD and 5e SRD) published by Wizards of the Coast, and generally any other Open Game Content (OGC). In these cases, the content page must clearly include the license information and attribution to the source. If you are unsure whether the work you wish to post is appropriately licensed, consult Help:Legal, or ask on User talk:Admin.
- Public Domain. Images or other material in the public domain can be used without violating copyright. Public domain can be complicated, and different legal bodies have different standards for it at different times. As a general guideline, material is public domain if its legal owner declares it to be public domain.
- Fair Use. The fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or records or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. All other types are an infringement of product copyright, and those images are to be proposed for deletion.
Talk of a deleted page
If a page is deleted, its corresponding talk page or "discussion page" should be deleted as well. Not doing so can potentially cause problems.
Part of a deleted campaign setting
Campaign settings often have many supplemental pages. If a campaign setting is deleted, some or all of its supplemental pages may be deleted simultaneously. Supplement pages that can survive as useful standalone articles are preferably not deleted, but instead reworked into standalone content.
This reasoning can be used for other content with supplemental pages, such as sourcebooks and sometimes variant rules.
Spam
Advertisements outside of user pages are subject to Speedy Deletion. On D&D Wiki, advertisements outside of the user namespace are typically treated as vandalism.
Redundant content
In the case of multiple exact or nearly exact instances of the same content, any duplicates are subject to Proposed Deletion.
Obsolete
Content that once served a purpose but no longer does may be deleted. Infrastructure pages, such as redirects and categories, that no longer server a purpose may be subject to Speedy Deletion. Content pages which no longer serve a purpose are subject to Proposed Deletion.
Merger
If multiple pages are merged into one, the pages leftover from the merge should usually become redirects. For technical reasons, leftover pages may instead be speedily deleted.
Error correction
The page was created in error, or its creation was erroneous. Among other possibilities, this includes:
- A contributor creates several identical or nearly identical pages, as the contributor may have misspelled the title and be unaware of the option to move a page.
- Edit conflicts cause one user to move or rename a page, while another user edits the old version (or redirect) of the page.
- A user unfamiliar with how to use D&D Wiki accidentally creates a page. This can be assumed if a page is created with one of D&D Wiki's preloads, but no content otherwise.
This reason is sometimes used over "other reason" to include uncontroversial maintenance, including the deletion of empty categories, disambiguation pages with one or fewer entries, and other similar pages. Uncontroversial maintenance is subject to Speedy Deletion.
Deletion of own user subpage
Your user page and any user subpages you create are generally considered your own domain, and free from some standards and restrictions that apply to other pages. An administrator has the liberty of speedily deleting subpages in their userspace.
Request of sole significant contributor
The sole significant contributor of a page can request its deletion using the CfD process. A statement from the sole significant contributor of the article requesting that this page be removed from D&D Wiki, using {{delete}}, is a valid reason for the page's deletion. After two weeks, provided no one objects to the deletion or has edited the article, an administrator may delete it. This deletion criterion is very fragile; all it takes is one non-trivial edit from another user and this criterion is invalid.
Other reasons
The preceding reasons are the most common, but other possible reasons include:
- Not English. D&D Wiki uses the English language. Any page written solely in another language is subject to Proposed Deletion, as it may be impossible for administration to recognize vandalism or other problematic content in a language other than English. If the page includes a clear English translation, the page is not subject to deletion for this reason alone.
- Indecipherable nonsense. This applies to pages consisting entirely of incoherent text or gibberish with no meaningful content or history. It does not cover poor writing, nor does it apply to user sandboxes or other pages in the user namespace. In short, if it is understandable, this reason does not apply. Indecipherable nonsense is subject to Speedy Deletion.
- Test pages. Among others, this includes "sandbox" pages. Test pages are subject to Speedy Deletion after their purpose has been served.
Any reason not otherwise listed may fall into this category as well, but an administrator should be particularly careful when not giving a reason specified above. Deletion missing a reason listed on this page warrants exceptional scrutiny. An administrator is expected to always give a deletion reason to persist in the Deletion Log even after the deleted page has been removed from general viewing.
Alternatives to Deletion
Improving
When feasible, it is preferable to edit and improve a page to the point any reason to delete no longer applies. Potential improvements can be discussed on the relevant talk page, or boldly edited into the page itself.
This is preferred for pages which fall solely under deletion reason #1, not enough information to be playable/improved upon.
Abandoned
If a page has no other deletion reason other than #1, not enough information to be playable/improved upon, it is reasonable to place an {{abandoned}} template on the page.
To mark a page as abandoned, add the code below to the top of that page. Please do not remove any content from the page when adding this template.
{{abandoned|~~~~~}}
A page can be designated as abandoned if it has enough of a framework to be completed, but is currently incomplete and qualifies for deletion reason #1. If the page has a substantial amount of detail or effort into it but remains unusable, the use of {{abandoned}} is preferred over a Deletion Proposal using {{delete}}.
If at least one year has passed since the placement of {{abandoned}} with no forward progress, it is expected for the page to undergo formal Deletion Proposal.
Moving to a user subpage
A user's userspace is considered their own domain. Generally, a user is free to copy a page to their userspace, where it is safe from deletion so long as it follows policy, is not clear and apparent vandalism, and does not violate governmental laws.
Merging
In some cases it is more effective to take a page to be deleted and combine some or all of its contents into another page. This process is usually called a merge. It can be suggested using {{merge}}.
Redirecting
In some cases it is reasonable to turn a page into a redirect page or a disambiguation page. This is often the most appropriate course of action with a redundant page.
Deletion Log
Deleted pages and the annotated reasons for deletion are listed in Special:Log/delete, including the date/time deletion and the administrator responsible.
Deleted pages are not truly erased forever, but merely removed from general viewing. An administrator is able to view a page that has been previously deleted. An administrator is also able to restore or "undelete" almost any page that has been previously deleted.
The deletion log also lists any previously deleted pages that have been restored.
Deletion review
If a user believes a deleted page should not have been deleted, that user is encouraged to bring this up on User talk:Admin, and provide reasoning for why the page should be restored. Pointing out the exact page from the Deletion Log would only help this discussion.
Revision Deletion
RevisionDelete (also known as RevDel or RevDelete) is a feature that allows administrators to remove individual entries in a page history or log from public view. It is used for "selective deletion", largely replacing the prior method (delete and partial undelete) which should no longer be used except for history merges and occasional other technical cases where it is needed. D&D Wiki follows Wikipedia's policy on this, which can be read in full at WP:RevDelete.