 | This page is currently inactive and is retained for historical reference.
Either the page is no longer relevant or consensus on its purpose has become unclear. To revive discussion, seek broader input via a forum such as the village pump. |
To list a category for deletion, merging or renaming, follow this process:
| I.
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Edit the category.
Determine whether the category needs deleting, merging, or renaming.
- If it is a red link and has no articles or subcategories, then it is already deleted (more likely, it was never really created in the first place), and does not need to be listed here.
- Read and understand Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories) before using this page. Nominate categories here that violate policies, or are misspelled, mis-capitalized, redundant, need to be merged, not NPOV, small without potential for growth, or are generally bad ideas.
- Please read the Wikipedia:Categorization of people policy when nominating or voting on a people-related category.
- In the following four special cases:
Add one of the following tags at the top of the category text of every category to be deleted or renamed.
- If the category is a candidate for speedy renaming, use:
- and follow the instructions at Speedy renaming.
- If a single category:
- For deletion, {{subst:cfd1}}
- For a merger, {{subst:cfm|OtherCategory}}
- For renaming, {{subst:cfr|ProposedName}}
- For converting the category text into an article, {{subst:cfc|ProposedName}}
- If a group of similar categories or a category and its subcategories, use an umbrella nomination (each category must be tagged, for nominations involving large numbers of categories tagging help can be requested at the talk page):
- For deletion, {{subst:cfd1|CfdSectionName}}
- For a merger, {{subst:cfm|OtherCategory|CfdSectionName}}
- For renaming, {{subst:cfr|ProposedName|CfdSectionName}}
- For converting the category text into an article, {{subst:cfc|ProposedName|CfdSectionName}}
- Please include in the edit summary the phrase
CfD: Nominated for deletion; see [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/NominationName]]
replace NominationName with the name of the page where the nomination will be- this is normally the same as the category name that is up for discussion (CategoryName).
- (But if it has been nominated before, use "
CategoryName (2nd nomination)" or "CategoryName (3rd nomination)" etc.)
- Preview before saving. The display will give more precise instructions about the next step.
- You can check the "Watch this page" box to follow the page in your watchlist. This allows you to notice if the CfD tag is removed by a vandal or a new user unfamiliar with deletion policy.
- Save the page.
- See the talk pages at Cfd1, Cfm, and Cfr for more specific information.
- Consider adding {{subst:cfdnotice|Cfd section name|date=yyyy Month d}} to the main article's talk page or to categories that are merge targets to notify users that the category has been nominated for deletion or renaming. Doing so would not only extend an additional courtesy, but possibly also bring in editors who know more about the subject at hand. See the talk page at cfdnotice for more information on how to use this template.
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| II.
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Create the category's discussion page.
The resulting CfD box at the top of the article should contain a link to "Preloaded debate" in the CfD page.
- Click that link to open the category's discussion page. Some preloaded text and some instructions will appear.
Follow the instructions in the comments (visible during edit), to copy and paste the template shown. All categories are specified without the Category: prefix.
- For
{{Cfd}}, use:
- {{subst:cfd2|ObsoleteCategory|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed deletion. ~~~~}}
- For
{{Cfm}}, use:
- {{subst:cfm2|FromCategory|ToCategory|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed merge. ~~~~}}
- For
{{Cfr}}, to a definite name use:
- {{subst:cfr2|OldCategory|NewCategory|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}
- For
{{Cfr}}, to an indefinite name use:
- {{subst:cfr2|OldCategory|to be determined by consensus|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}
- For
{{Cfc}}, use:
- {{subst:cfc2|FromCategory|ToArticle|text= Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}
- For umbrella nominations, the standard templates should build the "Cfd section name" for the 1st nomination, although the 2nd and subsequent nominations must be added manually, like this:
- ==== Cfd section name ====
- 1st category
- 2nd category
- '''Your vote''': Your reason for nominating the category ~~~~
- When using these templates, the old and new categories you specify are automatically converted to links: you do not specify them as links yourself.
- Include delete:, merge: etc. at the start of your reason (after text=) to make it clear what you are recommending.
- In your reason, please link appropriate articles or categories to help other editors.
- In your reason, when linking to a category, always add a colon (':') in the link, like [[:Category:Foo]]. This makes a category link that can be seen on the page (and avoids putting this page into the category you are nominating).
- Preview before saving to ensure all the fields have been properly listed.
- Consider checking "Watch this page" to follow the progress of the debate.
- Please use an edit summary such as
Creating discussion page for [[CategoryName]]
replacing CategoryName with the name of the category you are proposing for deletion.
- Save the page.
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| III.
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Add the discussion to the list.
Open the categories for discussion log page. At the top of the list on the log page (there's a comment indicating the spot), insert:
{{subst:cfd3 | pg=NominationName}}
replacing NominationName appropriately, (use "CategoryName (2nd nomination)" instead of "CategoryName" for a second nomination, etc.).
- Include the discussion page's name in your edit summary like
Adding [[Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/NominationName]]
replacing NominationName with the name of the nomination page you are proposing for deletion.
- Save the page. Your insertion will be automatically expanded to the same form as the preceding lines in the file:
{{Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/NominationName}}.
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Once you have previewed your entry, please make sure to add your signature after your proposal. If nominating a list of entries as a batch below your rationale, it is somewhat neater to place these after the signature (rather than leave the signature dangling at the end of the list, apparently unrelated to your reasons).
Once you have submitted a category here, no further action is necessary on your part. If the nomination is supported, helpful administrators and editors will log the result and ensure that the change is implemented to all affected pages.
Also, consider adding to your watchlist any categories you nominate. This will help ensure that your nomination tag is not mistakenly or deliberately removed.
Users without accounts and users with new accounts
[edit]Users without accounts (anonymous users) may nominate and comment on proceedings, just as in Articles for Deletion (AfD). Comments from anonymous users or users who have made very few edits may be taken less seriously, or even ignored. See Wikipedia:Sock puppetry and Wikipedia:Suffrage for details.
Redirecting categories
[edit]It is our general policy to delete categories that do not have articles in them. Unlike articles, categories are mostly for internal use only. If they don't have any articles, they shouldn't have any links from any articles or any other categories, because they are not useful for navigation and classification.
However, some categories frequently have articles assigned to them accidentally, or are otherwise re-created over and over again. In these cases, we use a form of "soft" redirection.
Categories cannot be redirected using "hard" redirects (#REDIRECT [[target]]) due to limitations in the MediaWiki software. Instead, use {{Category redirect|target}}. Helpful bots patrol these categories and move articles into the redirect targets.
You can see a list of redirected categories in Category:Wikipedia soft redirected categories.
