NOTICE:
This is a sandbox page.
It is not approved or active policy. It is a draft, and as such, may be incomplete.
This version of the Deletions Guide is made to provide an exhaustive reference tool for staff with questions, concerns, and comments about the processing of articles which have reached the deletion threshold. The version which is designed for users is location on the wiki itself where this guide used to be kept.
Foreword
In order to maintain our standards of quality, pages found to be substandard are deleted. These deletions are, in most instances, decided upon by the community through voting and carried out by the administration. There are exceptions for submissions that are found to be in violation of site policy. No matter the reason for deletion, deletions are always announced, with reasons clearly given.
Reasons For Deletion
See the mainsite Deletions Guide for a list of reasons why a page may be deleted.
Author Request
Author request is no longer a valid reason for staff to delete a page, following a vote to change that policy.
Other Pertinent Information
Votes From Authors & Deleted Accounts
All votes on a page from deleted accounts are voided; if a page is at -10 with two downvotes from deleted accounts, that page is treated as being at -8, and would not be eligible for deletion. Similarly, if a page were rated -8, with two upvotes from deleted accounts, that page would be eligible. Staff able to do so can install the Real Rating Info userscript from the User Tools page. This will show the actual rating minus double votes, votes from deleted accounts and if applicable author self-upvotes. It does not filter out votes from authors or banned users.
Similarly, all votes from authors (and translators, rewriters, etc.) are voided. Votes from anyone with an entry in a given page's attribution metadata do not count towards a page's score for purposes of deletion.
A page's adjusted score is its displayed score with votes from authors and deleted accounts voided.
The deletions process
Witnessing a deletion
All deletions must be witnessed by three staff members. At least two of the witnesses must be operational staff or administrators, due to the permanent nature of Wikidot deletions. One witness may be a junior staff member. This allows members of JS to become familiar with the deletions process and makes it easier for deletions to be carried out in a timely manner. At least two witnesses to any deletion must be operational staff or administrators.
The first witness to a deletion is responsible for tagging the page and creating the deletion post in the page's discussion. They will remove any existing tags and add the in-deletion tag.
The third witness to a deletion should carry out the deletion if possible; if not, they should replace the in-deletion tag with deletable so that other members of staff will know that no more witnesses are needed. They may omit the third discussion post if they're prepared to carry out the deletion immediately.
Deletions due to score ≤ -10
If a page's adjusted score is -10 or less, it's eligible for deletion due to score.
Deletions for any other reason
The procedure for deletions due to other reasons is the same as described above, except that all witnesses should clearly state the reason for deletion. E.g. witnessing for deletion due to generative AI use. or Witnessing for deletion due to a violation of the licensing policy.
Questions
Can staff delete a page without witnesses if it's malicious or contains policy-violating content?
No. Staff can unilaterally blank such a page, as well as locking it (if the member of staff is an administrator or an operational staff member with mod tools.)
What should I do if a user who is unable to delete their own page (e.g. banned users, users who have lost access to their Wikidot account) wants to have their work removed?
In that case, the work will remain on the site. However, the user may request removal of their attribution for the work. Please refer the matter to the Anonymous Articles subteam of the Curation team.