User:Consigned/Participating in Deletion Requests

Wikimedia Commons users are invited to participate in deletion requests (DRs) and help to assess whether files nominated for deletion meet Commons' requirements. Open Deletion Requests are open to community input, both by involved or uninvolved users. Once the discussion has run its course and a decision is clear, an administrator will review the discussion and make a decision on whether a file will be kept or deleted, though often administrators may need to make a judgement call.

Community participation in Deletion Requests is welcomed from the creator or uploader of the file, as well as from uninvolved users. Feedback is encouraged whether you agree or disagree with the nomination or other participants.

Note that Deletion Requests are not a vote. The closing administrator will make a decision based on the strength of the arguments, not based on the number of Keeps or Deletes. As such, a well-reasoned comment, with quotations and links to sources, is much more valuable than a simple Keep or Delete.

Why participate in DRs?

By providing your input and detailed rationale of why a file should be kept or deleted, including quotations and links to the relevant policies or sources, the closing administrator can more easily validate the situation to make a decision, without having to do individual research. Comments and explanations also help to keep a record of why files were deleted or kept, hopefully saving time if the file is nominated again or nominated for undeletion.

Criteria

The main criteria for assessing deletion requests are scope and licensing. All files must meet both criteria to be included on Wikimedia Commons.

Participants should have a firm understanding of these policies; comments should reference these policies in as much detail as possible, often including quotations or links.

How to comment in a DRs

To provide input in a Deletion Request, make a comment at the bottom of the request subpage, using a bullet or indent. To summarize your recommendation, begin with a polling template (see below) to summarize their recommendation (e.g.  Keep or  Delete), and then include the rationale.

Replying to other users

You should explain your rationale in as much detail as possible in your own comment. Remember that the closing administrator will read through all comments and rationale to make their decision - it isn't necessary to convince every other responder of your position. Replying to other participants is welcomed if it is civil and constructive, but Bludgeoning a discussion by responding to every participant is not pleasant to the participants, and again, isn't necessary if you've explained yourself in your own comment. Incivility can lead to administrator action and blocks.

Polling templates

Other polling/status templates:

•  Support – {{Support}}

•  Strong support – {{Strong support}}
•  Weak support – {{Weak support}}
•  Agree – {{Agree}}
•  I withdraw my support – {{Unsupport}}
•  I withdraw my nomination – {{Withdraw}}

•  Oppose – {{Oppose}}

•  Strong oppose – {{Strong oppose}}
•  Weak oppose – {{Weak oppose}}
•  Disagree – {{Disagree}}

•  Neutral – {{Neutral}}

•  Abstain – {{Abstain}}
•  No proposal – {{No proposal}}
•  Info – {{Info}}
•  Comment – {{Comment}}
• Warning – {{Warning sign}}

•  Wait - {{Vote wait}}

•  On hold – {{On hold}}
•  Question – {{Question}}
•  Request – {{Request}}

•  Keep – {{Vote keep}}

•  Speedy keep – {{Vote speedykeep}}
•  Weak keep – {{Weak keep}}
•  Strong keep – {{Strong keep}}
•  Keep Category:A - {{Vote keep category}}

Merge Category:A into Category:B – {{Vote merge}}

• Rename Category:A to Category:B – {{Vote rename category}}
•  Redirect Category:A to Category:B – {{Vote redirect}}
• Disambiguate Category:A - {{Vote disambiguate category}}
• Restore – {{Restore}}
•  Delist – {{Delist}}

•  Delist and replace – {{Delistandreplace}}

•  Delete – {{Vote delete}}

•  Speedy delete – {{Vote speedy}}
•  Weak delete – {{Weak delete}}

•  Action – {{Action}}
• Resolved
  – {{Resolved}}

•  Resolved by consensus - {{Resolved by consensus}}
•  Resolved without objection - {{Resolved without objection}}
•  Unresolved – {{Unresolved discussion}}
•  No consensus – {{No consensus}}

•  Done – {{Done}}

• Already done – {{Already done}}
•  Half done – {{Half done}}
•  Not done – {{Not done}}

• Great! – {{Great}}
• A flower for you! – {{Flower}}

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See also on the English Wikipedia: Inline icon templates by shape and color