MediaWiki talk:Deletereason-dropdown

"Prohibited content" should be added. Leucosticte (talk) 21:40, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Yes. (And thanks to Koavf for adding this to the list.) However, there is no category for a discussed deletion with a community decision. If there were a central page for deletion discussions, such as WikiIndex:Deletion requests, with an abbreviated redirect to it, perhaps WI:DR, then a reason could simply be "per WI:DR" and the deletion discussion would always be found by looking at that page history and finding the deletion discussion and the "close" in the version current as of the deletion date. The other deletion reasons are what are called "Speedy deletion" reasons on active wikis. They should be uncontroversial, an administrator should not unilaterally delete controversially, and especially not on their own initiative. We have few active admins on Wikiversity, they avoid deleting on their own initiative unless the reason is completely clear and uncontroversial, such as blatant spam. However, any user may tag for speedy deletion, and an admin agreeing that this is not likely to be controversial, may delete. Generally, anything speedy deleted on the idea that it won't be controversial will be restored on request, going for discussion if someone still wants it deleted.

Administrators who think a page should be deleted, as their opinion, do not ordinarily directly delete, they will tag for speedy deletion the same as anyone else. Any user may remove the tag. There are then two other deletion tags that are used: proposed deletion, which is generally not to be removed by a page creator, but only by another user, and which has a normal 3-month expiration, and deletion request, which must be accompanied by the start of a deletion discussion on Wikiversity:Wikiversity:Requests for deletion. Those discussions have no time limit, they sometimes remain open for months, whatever it takes to find consensus or decide "no-consensus," which defaults to Keep.

What we have found, with a very active wiki, and with a user base that increasingly understands the process, there are very few Requests for deletion. We have other alternatives to deletion. If I see that some user has created a "nonsense page," I will not usually tag it for deletion, I will move it to their user space. I don't do this with anonymous pages. If an anonymous page seems to have some possible redeeming value, I may move it to a space created for anonymous essays. Sometimes these pages get a proposed deletion tag.

Hardly ever does anyone get upset. Exceptions are rare, the most recent involved Leucosticte, who knew that the page he created would be controversial. He did not choose to appeal a deletion decision. (He was advised not to, that he is teetering on the edge of a global WMF ban for his general activity, but he could have appealed, in this case, and would not have been sanctioned for appealing, as long as he didn't do something grossly disruptive. His activity here would get him blocked in a flash on just about any WMF wiki. --Abd (talk) 23:02, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

I recommend holding deletion discussions on talk pages, and then preserving those talk pages after the page is deleted. On the other hand, WikiIndex:Deleting pages is a cleaner solution. Leucosticte (talk) 23:06, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Leucosticte has Wikipedia in mind, which is an insanely cumbersome solution. Having been a Wikiversity sysop, and having maintained the Wikiversity RfD page, this is what's important: a single page that all active sysops watch, that lists all deletion discussions. That is, in fact, done on Wikipedia, so every deletion discussion requires two page edits (plus the tag on the article or other page), and then another extra edit closing (on the summary page). Wikipedia discussions can frequently get very long, so having separate discussions there could make sense. Discussing on an article talk page can be useful, but ... few will see it. First of all, the process should avoid contentious deletion discussions where possible. Template:W has been a radical inclusionist, he knows the arguments against deletion well. We actually get quite close to it on Wikiversity. Deletion discussions are few. Essentially all deletion is either uncontroversial or represents an established or defacto consensus. Process then exists to challenge or change that. --Abd (talk) 23:41, 7 January 2015 (UTC)