Wikipedia:Centralized discussion

[[Category:Wikipedia {{{1}}}s|Centralized discussion]]

This page is part of Wikipedia:Votes for deletion/Policy consensus.

Explanation

These discussions were introduced to reduce the post count on VfD. The point of these discussions is to establish consensus about a recurring theme that is related to inclusion or deletion of certain categories of articles on Wikipedia. If a number of related articles are nominated for VfD, the same arguments tend to be used for all of them; in that case, it would be helpful to create a centralized place for discussion. The outcome of that discussion can then be used as a guideline in the future. It can be assumed that the Wikipedian consensus holds that they hold true in the majority of situations to which they apply.

For your attention

These discussions are supposed to be as public as possible. If you know of an article page or WikiProject page that would be interested in any particular discussion, please create a (two-way) link between them.

New discussions

• Anyone can add a discussion to the list. This is done by creating a page on Wikipedia:Consensus/<<enter topic here>>, and adding it to the bottom of the list.
  • Many earlier topics have their pages listed under 'deletion policy/<<topic>>', but that naming is somewhat awkward since (to some people) it implies a policy to delete all articles on the topic, which is not the case.
• Please look at existing discussions first to get an idea of layout and how to describe the discussion.
• If you create a discussion about a group of articles, please do not list those individual articles on VfD while the discussion lasts. Instead, add a link to the bottom of your article.
• If you see a VfD nomination that relates to an existing discussion here, please link both the nomination and the discussion to one another. Do not remove the nomination.

Closing discussions

• Discussions will be kept for at least a week, and may be kept longer if there is no clear consensus after that time. After that, they will be moved to the conclusions page.
• The person closing the discussion should list conclusions drawn from it, and contact some other people taking a different opinion in the discussion to verify the conclusions.

General points

• The point is to establish a consensual guideline through discussion, not to establish a rule through voting.
• As with all discussions on Wikipedia, be civil about it, do not make personal attacks, and uphold Wikiquette.

Reopening old discussions

• It is possible for consensus to change over time. Thus, it may be useful at some point to re-open some of these discussions.
• If so, the relevant link should be moved back to the main policy consensus page, and discussion can continue.
• However, please only re-open a discussion if, after you've asked some other user's views on the matter, it seems to no longer reflect Wikipedian consensus - do not re-open a discussion simply if you personally disagree with the outcome.