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Whilst Wikipedia is one of the most comprehensive collections of information anywhere in existence, there are some things which we do not, and should not, have articles about. Despite this, such articles are often created - when this happens, it is sadly necessary todelete them.
Thedeletion criteria are quite comprehensive, but basically boil down to two policies:WP:NOT andWP:NOTE. Between them, these govern what can and can't be included in the encyclopedia.WP:NOT covers things that are simply not appropriate (advertising, speculation, personal essays and so on) whilstWP:NOTE covers things that are appropriate, but may not (yet) be sufficientlynoteworthy (for adedicated article at least). Make sure you have at least a passing familiarity with these two policies before you tag anything for deletion.
When considering whether on not to tag a page for deletion, the first question you should ask is, "Can we fix it?" If the answer is yes, you should either fix it yourself (find sources, make corrections, improve the tone etc.) or addcleanup tags to help other editors do so. Only if there is no prospect of fixing the article should you go down the deletion route.
Wikipedia has three process you can use to delete articles which do not conform to the above policies.
If a page falls unambiguously into any of the criteria listed atWP:SPEEDY, it can be deleted promptly and without discussion. Note "unambiguously"; speedy deletion criteria are very specific and should not be interpreted to cover more than their remit.
To tag an article for speedy deletion, place{{db-reason code}} at the top of the article. The most common speedy deletion reason codes are:
{{advert}}).Other tags that you may use occasionally are:
Once tagged, articles are automatically listed inCategory:Candidates for speedy deletion. An admin will check the article (usually within an hour or two at most) and will delete it if they agree with your tag.
You should notify the original author of the page if you apply a speedy deletion tag to their work. The red box that appears when you add a deletion tag has a code at the bottom with which to do this: copy the code, check the edit history to find the page's creator, go to their talk page and paste the code there. If you useTwinkle the script will notify the original creator automatically, so you can skip this step.
If an article doesn't fall into one of the Speedy deletion categories, and you think it clearly failsNOT orWP:NOTE, you can place a tag on it to propose deletion:
{{subst:Proposed deletion|reason=your reason here}}
Make sure you add a valid reason - and be sure to do at least a basic Google search for sources before giving the reason, "It's just not notable." If the article is about a living person and does not cite any sources, you can use the specialised{{BLPPROD}} tag - such articlesmust have sources to comply with thepolicy on biographies of living people.
As with speedy deletion templates, the red box that appears on the page will contain a code to paste onto the author's talkpage. If the PROD tag remains in place for seven days and is not removed by another editor during this time, the page will be deleted.
Be aware that articles should only be proposed for deletion by this methodonce - if the edit history shows that someone else has added a PROD tag before, or if yours is removed, do not replace it. Instead, consider...
If you can't delete an article via the above two methods, and you're still sure it doesn't belong on Wikipedia, you can raise it for discussion atAfD. There are complete instructionshere; those below are just to give you the gist.
{{subst:afd1}} to the top of the article.{{subst:afd2}} provided. Make sure you add a valid reason, and link to any policies you think the page violates.{{subst:afd3|article name}} tag to the top of the list there.(If you're usingTwinkle, the XfD option will perform all these steps for you automatically.)
Once listed, the article will appear atArticles for deletion, where other editors will discuss whether or not to keep it. You should not add aDelete vote yourself (yours is assumed since you nominated the article), but you can add comments and replies to other users. If during the discussion you become convinced that the article should, in fact, be kept after all, you can addNomination withdrawn with your rationale.
After a week, the discussion will usually be closed by an admin, although if very few people have commented the debate might be relisted for another week. If the closure goes agains you (i.e. if the article is kept), you should avoid renominating for deletion for a minimum of three to four months - and only then if you have convincing arguments for deletion.
Sometimes editors will find an article theydislike and go throughthe following process: tag for speedy → declined by admin → tag for PROD → tag removed by another editor → take to AfD → article kept by consensus. That isn't how it's meant to work.
You should only have to use one of the three deletion processes for any article. If you use the correct process and deletion is refused, the article should probably stay.