Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wiki:Deletion policy

Effective date: 11

This page is an official policy regarding the process of deleting pages and files, when to delete them, and why to delete them. To tag an item for deletion, add the delete template to it, preferably with reasoning, and to see the list of pages and files currently up for deletion, see here.

Reasons for deletion
A page or file may be marked for deletion or instantly deleted for any one of the following reasons. User pages are generally exempt from these standards.
 * The page or file is vandalism, patent nonsense, or rarely shares little to no important information.
 * The page or file is a duplicate of another page or file due to a slight variation in the title or the image appearance. In this case, the content of the two is to be merged and one deleted.
 * All information is represented on other pages, but there are certain exceptions where repetition of the content may be useful.
 * The page or file is not relevant to the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series or Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wiki. User images are exempt from this unless they go unused.
 * The page or file is no longer needed; this applies particularly to depreciated templates and categories.

When tagging an item for deletion, please provide a solid reason more than that it is unused, when possible.

Alternatives to deletion
Articles that are stubs or are of low quality can have todo placed on them. Provided in the template should be a descriptive way in which the article or section can be expanded and prevent the page from becoming eligible for deletion. Also, redirects leading to broken links are called broken redirects. They should be deleted unless the target page was previously moved elsewhere. If this is the case, find the moved page and edit the redirect to match the page's current title. Broken redirects are listed here.

Unused files
All files uploaded by editors must be used within twenty-four hours, lest they become eligible for deletion. Files that are not displayed on any pages, even if linked to, are automatically listed in a gallery of unused files. However, user files aside, being unused in and of itself is not enough reason for a file to be deleted: the image could indeed be useful somewhere, so it is always good to check before deleting unused files. Files often go unused because they were replaced: in which case, the replacement file must be linked to, not just mentioned, in the deletion proposal and at least named in the deletion log.

Administrative steps
When deleting an item, administrators should consider the following:
 * See if at least some of the information presented can be moved and retained elsewhere. If so, do so, and note it in the edit summaries of both pages.
 * Simply deleting an item does not automatically delete its talk page. If doing so, delete its talk page first, then its main page.
 * Retaining the talk page or the subpages of a deleted page may be wise. If the talk page is kept, link its deletion discussion thread there.
 * When providing a reason for deletion, avoid including any copyright-infringing text or the personal information of others.
 * User pages should not be deleted unless requested by the user themselves.

When deciding whether or not to delete a page or file, see if a rough consensus of its fate has been achieved, and always use common sense and respect the judgment and feelings of wiki participants. When in doubt, don't delete. Excessive or unjustified deleting may result in the loss of administrative powers.