Memory Alpha:Deletion guidelines for administrators

This page is addressed primarily towards administrators of Memory Alpha.

In most cases, even administrators should use pages for deletion when they find a page that they think should be deleted. (There are a few limited exceptions – see pages for immediate deletion.) Every administrator should review the deletion policy as a matter of course.

When to delete

 * 1) Decide whether a "rough consensus" has been achieved (see below).
 * 2) Adhere to the judgments and sentiments of the Memory Alpha community!  (Translation: Don't delete if the votes don't approve of deletion.)
 * 3) Generally, don't delete pages you nominate for deletion, if there are any votes in favor of keeping the page.
 * 4) When in doubt, don't delete!

Rough consensus
A rough consensus is when a relatively large majority of members who choose to participate in the votes for deletion agree to support a course of action.


 * The reason that there is no formal debate system (and indeed, can never be) is simply a side effect of the wiki system. Since anyone is allowed to join the community and participate in the discussion, there's no reliable way that anyone can count the number of votes that should be cast.  Furthermore, there's no requirement that anyone participate in the discussion.  Therefore, a "rough consensus" only applies to those people who choose to participate in the process.

In all cases, of course, administrators should use their best judgment and be as impartial as possible.

Basic guidelines
Here are some guidelines administrators should follow in making the decision to delete a page or not, when considering entries on pages for deletion.


 * 1) The talk page and any sub-pages are deleted separately from the main article itself.  Depending on the circumstances, you may want to save the talk page, or delete it as well. (Cases for keeping the talk page include preserving the VfD debate or saving the page in case another article on the same subject is going to be created.)
 * 2) When you delete a page, remove it from the VfD listings also.
 * 3) Use your best judgment to determine whether any article is a good-faith attempt to write an article, or whether it is simply vandalism.
 * 4) Follow the  policy.
 * 5) Don't delete pages unless you know how to undelete them as well!