SmashWiki:Deletion policy

This page documents an official SmashWiki policy, a widely accepted standard that all users should follow. When editing this page, please ensure that your revision reflects consensus. If in doubt, consider discussing changes on the talk page.

As a wiki, SmashWiki will contain some pages that should not belong. Pages that are inappropriate for this wiki may be nominated for deletion. All users are invited to participate in the discussions as to whether these articles should be deleted or not. The pages listed will be voted on to reach a consensus. Once a consensus has been reached or a length of time has passed, an administrator will review the discussion and decide what action should be taken.

The deletion policy dictates what should and shouldn't be deleted from this wiki.

Rules

Before tagging an article, is there anything that can be done to fix the article? If it can be cleaned up ( {{cleanup}} ), merged ( {{merge}} ), redirected ( #REDIRECT ), or lengthened ( {{stub}} ) to reach quality standards, please do that instead. Deletion should be a last resort if an article cannot be improved.

Some reasons why pages should be tagged for deletion are if the page is:

1. Trivial and does not contribute much to the Smash Bros community
2. A joke article, spam, or an advertisement
3. Not related to the Smash Bros universe (even if it's from a game/series that's related)
4. A page that has already been voted on, deleted, and has been recreated without a good reason.

How to list an article

Add {{delete|"reason for deletion"}} at the top of the page to be deleted. Remember to include the reason for deletion.

If you are nominating an article for deletion and your primary reason is a lack of notability, use {{notable|"additional reason"}} instead; this will utilize a specialized variant of the template.

If you are nominating a template for deletion, be sure to surround the delete template in <noinclude> tags to avoid showing the deletion notice everywhere the template is used. Depending on the template, it may be advisable to add an unobtrusive notice to the template itself, so long as it does not interfere with the functionality of the template.

Candidates for deletion

After you add the {{delete}} template, the page will appear in Category:Candidates for deletion. A discussion will be held on the corresponding talk page, where consensus will likely result in the article being kept, deleted, or merged. If, however, the page in question is an article about a smasher or a glitch and it is being considered because of a lack of notability or proof, respectively, and no proof (of notability) is provided within a specific length of time, the page may be deleted without discussion. Similarly, if a reasonable amount of time has elapsed since the addition of a delete template and no one has contested the deletion, the page in question may be deleted by an administrator without discussion.

Speedy deletion

Found a blank page? A duplicate? A misspelling? A page filled with nonsense? Try instead using a speedy deletion. Simply type {{Speedy Delete|reason for speedy deletion}} or {{d|reason for speedy deletion}} on the page and the page will appear in Category:Candidates for speedy deletion. An administrator will check the page and make a decision without the formal discussion process. However, remember to assume good faith before adding a speedy-delete template.

Examples

Good deletion candidates

• A page which contains information that has very little chances of becoming a real page. For example, a page that consists only of something like "wow i love samus so much don't you? lol" will not stay on the site.
• Advertising, spam, and random nonsense or gibberish.
• Copyright violations - i.e. taking images/pages from a website that is not freely licensed and without proper attribution.
• Useless or incorrect redirects, categories, or templates.
• Pages that are entirely written in another language, since this wiki is written in English.
• User pages if the user in question requests it, or the page was created by a vandal. An account itself cannot be deleted.
• User pages of non-registered accounts without contributions outside of their userspace.
• User pages of IP addresses.

Bad deletion candidates

• Stubs. Stubs, no matter how small, could one day become a full and useful article.
• Incomplete pages. An article that is missing crucial sections should be a target for completion. For example, if an article only covers Melee and none of the other Smash games, the page should be updated with the relevant information instead of being deleted altogether.
• Smasher articles with no tournament results. If a smasher article has a PR ranking, but no tournament results, then the results should be retrieved.
• Articles that are out of date. An outdated article should be kept on the wiki in its current state, because new information can always be added.
• Articles whose topic is no longer relevant. SmashWiki uses a "once notable, always notable" policy when assessing content, and articles on old content can serve as an important archive for historical purposes. For example, while the competitive Brawl scene has virtually died out, articles on its history and players will continue to be preserved.
• Articles which are the only existing pages in a larger series. For example, if a five-part tournament series called "SmashTournament" has only one existing article, "SmashTournament 1", you should assume that no one else has put in the effort yet to create the remaining articles. The other four articles should be created, rather than "SmashTournament 1" being deleted.
• Articles whose topics you hold strong opinions on. If you want a competitive article to be deleted, consider whether your own feelings on competitive Smash may be affecting your judgment. A candidate for deletion should require more reasoning than "I don't like the topic."
• Short pages that have no possibility of expansion. A page that covers its point in only a few sentences should not be deleted, as it precisely covers its point.
• Articles with offensive information. SmashWiki is not censored, and articles on potentially offensive content will remain on the site if they are relevant to Smash Bros.
• A page that requires a cleanup. These pages are just in need of attention, they do not need to be deleted.
• User pages of registered users, regardless of their contributions.