User:Lenticel/Deletion isn't Evil

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This is an essay; it contains the advice and/or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. It is not a policy or guideline, and editors are not obliged to follow it.

Deletion is like decay, it is integral to life but nobody likes it except those who do the job which is the deletionist and the scavengers respectively. Although deletion is not evil, some deletionists practice it in an evil manner or in a seemingly evil manner. The tips below are created to avoid such evil labels.

• Know thy opponent's feelings - the deletionist should know the article's creator or maintainer feelings. Usually they are upset that their hard work is up to deletion and might make unreasonable comments or accusations. Please don't engage them in a similar manner but understand their position. In this way, your nomination will not be compromised and you keeping a cool head might calm your opponents feelings as well.

• Don't use the cruft word liberally - Deletionists seem to use the term and its derivatives often. I suggest that one should not use it in arguments simply because contributors might find it offensive.

• Don't be an Ostrich - I have a personal grudge against ostriches, to remedy that problem read WP:OSTRICH.

• Don't play inspector - This is the bane of New pages patroller. See WP:INSPECTOR to understand and remedy the problem.

• Do contribute - create or maintain articles. This way contributors will see that you are not simply a user who cannot do anything aside from arguing and might be more calm in replying on your nominations. It also have the added benefit that you know how hard the other side do in creating articles. You might even have your article nominated for deletion and appreciate them even more.

• Don't single out a group - If you have successfully nominated and deleted an article, don't quickly nominate other related articles etc. Do not set to yourself that this is your job to do so. This is to avoid being labelled a witchhunter or someone who has a grudge or is simply ignorant of their target articles. Avoiding such practice will also prevent you from becoming a dick.

• Be professional - dealing with crappy articles doesn't give you the license to be a crappy deletionist as well. These are some unprofessional ways of nominating articles.

1. Single word reasons (nn, cruft etc.)
2. Copy-pasted arguments for different nominations.

• Search engines are your friends - If you are not sure about the notability of the article in question, I suggest that you search it in Google first. If you really can't find reliable sources out there, then you should present your results in your nomination. If you found some reliable sources, consider improving the article with that source.

• Contributors are your friends - If you are unsure of something, consider talking with the contributor or Wikiproject that covers your prospective nom. If you are unsure, simply talk with WP:RESCUE. That way they might improve the nom or actually encourage you to proceed.

• Afd is not cleanup - Do not use Afd as a tool to improve the article. It is just plain annoying and give the impression that you are too lazy to do it yourself. Besides, other editors might feel that you are simply using the Afd to give yourself authority to shape Wikipedia in your own image.

• Try to relocate your nomination if possible - Some articles are simply "misplaced" in Wikipedia. Suggest in your nomination to Transwiki the article into a fan Wiki. This way, the contributors will see that their hard work isn't simply vanishing to oblivion.

Remember: