View source for Star Trek Expanded Universe:Deletion policy

{{policy}}
The '''Star Trek Expanded Universe deletion policy''' is simple: Articles and images that do not fit into this wiki will be put up for a vote to be deleted.  It should be noted that only users with sysops privileges ([[admin]]s) have the ability to delete articles and images.

==Author's request==
Articles can be deleted at the request of the person who created the article or the uploader of an image.  Simply add one of the tags ({{tl|speedydelete}} or {{tl|deletion}}) and use "author's/uploaders request" as the reason for deletion.  Setting up for a vote is not required.

==Junk articles==
"Junk articles" refers to articles containing nothing but nonsense, spam, or inappropriate material/language. These are to be marked with the {{tl|speedydelete}} tag. [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Vandalism|Vandalism]] will be removed immediately.

==No source articles==
It is a requirement for most articles on STEU to have a [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Sourced article|verifiable source]].  This is done through external links to the source of the information or by internal citation to sourced articles.  If an article lack a source it may become subject to deletion if no source is given within a reasonable amount of time.  A vote is usually not required as the only way to prevent the deletion is to provide a verifiable source, if that is done the deletion proposal will be invalidated.

==Shopping lists==
"Shopping lists" refers to articles that are just a list of names, objects or topics with no real attempt at fleshing out. Exceptions could be an article about standard [[away team]] materials, but an article like that should at least have a paragraph explaining what the following list is about. Otherwise these are to be marked with the {{tl|deletion}} tag.

==Other wikis/websites and redlinking==
===Links===
When linking to other articles, those on STEU should receive preference ("internal links"). "[[Redlinking]]" allows contributors to know what articles we need. "External links" are permitted for exceptional cases; articles beyond our scope: [[canon]] characters without a verifiable fan basis, actors or Trek production staff not found on this database. It is preferred that you link to the most relevant external sources of information, such as Wikipedia, Memory Alpha, or another wiki via [[interwiki shortcuts]].

===Memory Alpha===
[[memoryalpha:|Memory Alpha]] articles should ''not'' be reproduced here. MA content is protected under a [[Memoryalpha:Creative Commons License|Creative Commons license]], allowing no altered derivatives or "rewrites" which violate the terms of MA's CCL. This clashes with the nature of STEU content, freely offered under [[Wikia:GFDL]]. Thus, Memory Alpha copies are subject to deletion. In addition, Memory Alpha's focus is [[canon]] information, while STEU's is [[fanon]].

===Memory Beta===
[http://startrek.wikia.com/wiki/ Memory Beta] handles licensed publications. We have no need of direct copies of MBeta articles. Certain sections of such articles (also freely available under Wikia [http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html GNU]) may be reproduced here for convenience, to further illustrate the significance of special coverage; however, complete copies are candidates for speedy deletion. STEU's focus is fan universe content, beyond the novels (which are themselves based on [[canon]]).

===Wikipedia===
Copies of Wikipedia articles are discouraged. Wikipedia takes a "real world" approach, while STEU's is an "in-world" approach (similar to Memory Alpha).

===Other websites===
Material copied from websites which are not "open source" is subject to immediate deletion, without notice. If contributed by the creator(s) of said website(s), '''a note should be placed to that effect'''. However, we encourage writing of ''original'' material. Note that copyright law governs creative ''expression'' of ideas, not ideas or information. It is perfectly legal to read an encyclopedia article or other work, reformulate it in your own words and submit it.

==Deletion==
Nominating an article for deletion does not mean that it will automatically be deleted. This will be determined by consensus and voting of available, registered community members.

If you feel that an article deserves deletion, please put {{tl|deletion}} (with the brackets) at the top of the page, in the edit field, and click ''Save page''. Then post the following to that article's [[Help:Talk page|talk page]]:

===Votes for deletion===

;Support

;Oppose

;Comments

If you support deletion, place a # after "Support", in front of your signature (--four tildes; <nowiki>--~~~~</nowiki>). This numbers your entry as the first vote. If you oppose deletion, follow the same procedure under "Oppose".

If you are the one who nominated for deletion, please explain why under "Comments", signing your comment as above, at the same time that you open the vote.

If you are neutral or simply wish to comment, place appropriate comments under "Comments" (again, including your signature).

===Timestamp===
'''Note:''' When opening a vote for deletion, place a timestamp under the "Votes for deletion" header, in the form of:

:'''Vote opened''' followed by five tildes (<nowiki>~~~~~</nowiki>)
or
:'''Vote closes''' followed by five tildes (<nowiki>~~~~~</nowiki>), then click "Show preview" before saving and advance the date seven days, accordingly.
e.g.
:'''Vote closes 15:48, 24 October 2007 (UTC)'''

This allows others to see how long they have to vote. (Admins, please check the page history to corroborate this.)

===Voting===
Once a deletion has been proposed, community members have a predetermined length of time to vote.

In cases of standard deletion, once a vote for deletion has been opened, voting will take place over a period of seven (7) days. At the end of that time, the majority vote will hold sway, and the article will be kept or deleted.

If there is no clear majority at the expiration of the voting period, the period may be extended, or the deletion tag may be removed from the article and replaced with a {{tl|copyedit}} tag. This will be determined by [[Star Trek Expanded Universe: Administrators|admins]].

In all cases, if a majority votes to ''keep'' an article nominated for deletion, and the article requires copyediting, the {{tl|deletion}} tag will be removed and substituted with {{tl|copyedit}}.

==Speedy deletion==
In some cases, a page may be a candidate for immediate, "speedy" deletion. Pages meeting the criteria should be tagged with {{tl|speedydelete}}.

===Criteria for speedy deletion===
#Unused redirects.
#No meaningful content or history. This includes
##"junk articles" as described [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Deletion policy#Junk articles|above]];
##pages or categories (other than user pages) for personal use ("Articles I have created", "A list of my favorite (fill in the blank)", etc.). See also [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Patent nonsense|patent nonsense]].
#Test pages (e.g. "Can I really create a page here?").
#Pure [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Vandalism|vandalism]].
#Very short pages with little or no definition or context. (Not necessarily the same as [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Stubs|stubs]].) This includes redundant category pages; e.g. "Category:Users who..." (and there is clearly only one user), or categories which clutter the category tree if a better category branch is available.
#Reposted content that was deleted according to this deletion policy. This does not apply to undeleted content that was undeleted according to [[Star Trek Expanded Universe: Undeletion policy|undeletion policy]].
#Pages created and edited solely by a banned user, after they were banned (see [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Ban policy|bans and blocks]]).
#New user home pages accidentally created in the main article space. In such cases, move content to their user home page first, and consider waiting a day or two before deleting the resulting redirect.
#User pages/user talk pages of anonymous (IP) users (e.g. User:127.0.0.1), if the content consists of only a welcome message and was edited more than seven (7) days ago.
#Any material (image, audio file, video, et al.) uploaded and stored on Star Trek Expanded Universe not directly related to an article or the project. This includes personal items for user pages and unused images.

Administrators may also delete pages for the following technical purposes:
#Deleting a redirect which has no useful history, to make way for a non-controversial [[Help:Rename a page|page move]].
#Temporarily deleting a page in order to [[Help:Rename a page#Merging page histories|merge page histories]] after a cut and paste move.
#Deleting a page/image not adhering to the [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Naming conventions|naming conventions]] after copying/moving the page/image to another title.

In cases of speedy deletion, the standard voting period will be two (2) days, or possibly less depending on the circumstances. If simple [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Vandalism|vandalism]] or spam (which is also considered [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Vandalism|vandalism]]), there is no need to vote; the offensive content can be immediately deleted. (If you are unsure what constitutes "offensive" content, consult an [[Star Trek Expanded Universe:Administrators|administrator]].)