Wiktionary:Sysop deleted

	This is a Wiktionary policy, guideline or common practices page. This is a draft proposal. It is unofficial, and it is unknown whether it is widely accepted by Wiktionary editors.
	Policies – Entries: CFI - EL - NORM - NPOV - QUOTE - REDIR - DELETE. Languages: LT - AXX. Others: BLOCK - BOTS - VOTES.

You have most likely arrived at this page after following a link in a deletion log comment.

By default, MediaWiki (the software that Wiktionary runs) includes a portion of the deleted content in the deletion log. Some vandalism contains personal information, and so Wiktionary uses JavaScript to override this behaviour. Originally, the summary was replaced with the text --explanation of deletion--, which linked to a previous version of this page. This was then extended to the current system, which lets administrators choose a range of standard deletion summaries or enter their own custom ones.

This page explains the most likely reasons for each deletion, and what you can do next. In all cases you can contact the administrator who deleted the page, but you are encouraged to read this page first. Sometimes, the deletion comment seems to be obviously wrong; the most likely reason is that the administrator hit the wrong option, and after the entry is deleted it is too late to correct.

In all cases, the deletion of an entry means that the existing entry had no place on Wiktionary, but it's still possible that some entry should be created with that title.

Wiktionary often deletes pages which are potentially libelous or contain personal information.

Wiktionary generally does not use redirects, unlike Wikipedia, because spelling is of tantamount importance in a dictionary, particularly for headwords. Since we aim to include all words in all languages, a redirect is very rarely appropriate, as the word probably exists with that spelling in another language. For example, Wikipedia might redirect galon to gallon, but galon is also a French word meaning stripe in the sense of a badge worn by certain military officers.

Wiktionary's entry titles are case sensitive, and we do not redirect from one capitalisation to another because they can be completely different words. For example, handy is an English adjective and Handy is a German noun.

Wikipedia navigation redirects assist people looking up concepts; a lookup in this dictionary however, can only assume the person is checking a particular spelling. If a redirect is in place, the reader is unlikely to realize they spelled the word incorrectly.

Wiktionary deletes pages which have bad titles. This is often the case if the title contains punctuation.

Wiktionary does not tolerate copyright violations. See Wiktionary:Copyrights for more information.

Wiktionary's Criteria for inclusion state that a word must have been in use for at least a year before being included here. Protologisms are words that have been proposed to fill a lexical gap (that is, a meaning for which there is not currently a word) but which have not actually been used.

This term (in a particular language) failed WT:RFD. Do not re-enter it. You may re-enter a different term, especially in a different language.

This term failed WT:RFV. You need to provide proof that the word exists if you re-create it.

This deletion summary is used when there's simply nothing to be said for an entry: it may have been a joke, a ridiculous claim, or a bit of vanity; in any case, it simply wasn't worth keeping.

This deletion summary is intended to be used for editor misspellings: when an editor creates an entry for a certain word, but misspells it in the title. The administrator deleting the entry should then indicate what the correct spelling is; if instead the deletion summary links here, that indicates that the administrator either neglected to do so or made a mistake of some sort (likely clicking in the wrong place). If it is not clear what the correct spelling is (try a search of Wiktionary entries, using a search engine or using the spell check facility in a word processor or similar application), then you can ask the administrator who performed the deletion.

(Note: Wiktionary does include "misspelling of" entries, but only for particularly common misspellings, such as miniscule. Most editor misspellings do not warrant such entries.)

Sometimes a new editor will create an entry with no content except "What does this mean?", or a repetition of the headword, or the like. Since the entry contains absolutely no usable content, either (1) no entry should exist with this title, in which case there's no point keeping it, or (2) we want someone to write a real entry, in which case it makes sense to delete the existing one so that inbound links will be red and hopefully attract the attention of someone who can help.

Similar to the above, but more wordy.

Wiktionary is not Wikipedia.

A talk-page (discussion page) is said to be "orphaned" if the page it discusses does not exist. Some orphaned talk pages, such as user-talk pages for users who haven't created user-pages, are clearly acceptable, and should not be deleted; however, in most cases a talk-page is supposed to be for the improvement of a corresponding non-talk-page. If there is no corresponding non-talk-page, then the talk-page arguably serves no purpose, and arguably should be deleted. (This has been a matter of some debate, however.)

This deletion summary is used if an entry has been deleted before and then re-added without addressing the reason(s) why it was deleted. The initial deletion was most likely because there was consensus at Wiktionary:Requests for deletion (RFD) that it does not belong on Wiktionary, or no citations showing the word in use were provided following a listing at Wiktionary:Requests for verification (RFV).

There should be one or more previous entries in the deletion log that give the reason it was deleted before. If there isn't then the deleting administrator made a mistake in selecting this summary and you should contact them to ascertain the reason it was deleted.

Entries that have been re-entered after being deleted are the most likely to be protected against recreation. If you want to enter a different word at this title, or have evidence that the previous entry was deleted in error (usually this will be in the form of citations showing the word meets our Criteria for inclusion (CFI)), see the "Protected titles" section further down this page.

As a wiki, Wiktionary is sometimes targeted by individuals wishing to promote their own Web sites, companies, products, and so on. These individuals are frequently well-meaning, and genuinely believe that Wiktionary is an appropriate forum for such promotion; however, they are mistaken: Wiktionary is free as in speech, not as in spam.

This applies to user-pages as well as to actual entries; see Wiktionary:Usernames and user pages.

Contact the administrator who deleted the page, or comment on WT:RFD.

Add it! If the page is protected, write on the talk page, contact the administrator who protected the page, or comment in the Tea Room.

Sometimes a page is protected so that only administrators can create an entry there. This is usually done where a page that has been deleted has been repeatedly recreated. If you want to create a different entry there you can contact an administrator on their talk page to request unprotection. Be polite, and remember to say what entry you want to create.

Unless it is clear that the entry is for a very different word to the one that was deleted (for example it is in a different language) it is probable that they will ask you to prove the word does meet our Criteria for inclusion. This is done by providing three citations spanning at least a year that convey meaning - see Wiktionary:Criteria for inclusion#Attestation.

If the deletion was recent, it is often best to contact the administrator who carried out the deletion, as they are more likely to be familiar with the history of the entry. Alternatively, you can find a list of active administrators at Wiktionary:Administrators.

Other reasons for deletion include: that a category was unused, that a template was unused. That a sysop/administrator was merely clearing an entry from the database (which does not mean the entry cannot ever be recreated, but does however, suggest that the entry as submitted was inadequate). User pages of permanently blocked users.