Wikipedia:Deletion of newly created pages

Placing the {{construction}} or {{Underconstruction}} tag on a page will display the following:

"This article or section is in the middle of an expansion or major revamping, and is not yet ready for use. You are welcome to assist in its construction by editing it as well. Please view the edit history should you wish to contact the person who placed this template. If this article has not been edited in several days, please remove this template. Consider not tagging with a deletion tag unless the page hasn't been edited in several days."

As mentioned in the above text, a page bearing this template will say "consider not tagging with a deletion tag unless the page hasn't been edited in several days." However, there are various criteria for which such a page may be deleted:

Lengths of time for construction tag

Wikipedia is a volunteer service, and editors have made and will always continue to make their contributions around their busy schedules that may include long work hours, academic studies, family obligations, travel, and more. Amounts of free time to edit vary for each individual, and such time constraints shall be respected.

Generally, when an article is labeled "under construction," it shall be considered to be under construction as long as not more than one week (seven days) passes without a significant addition being made to the page. A "significant addition" generally refers to any amount of information added in any form that appears to be progress toward the creator's intention of a completion, given the creator's probable plans. Even if an editor other than the original creator makes the addition, it may still be considered a significant addition.

A "significant addition" does not include minor edits, such as the correction of existing spelling, grammar, punctuation, or factual information, or changes made in the writing style that do not add to the information provided. Also excluded are minute amounts of information added, that provided new information not previously found in the article, but are minimal additions. What constitutes an inclusion or exclusion is not whether the edit is marked as minor or not (as the guidelines for such are sometimes unclear and are frequently not followed), but the actual content that is added or removed.

If no edits (major or minor) are made to a page after a period of 7–10 days, the construction tag is usually bot-removed. Even if only minor edits are made during this time, if the seven-day period elapses, and no significant additions are made, any editor may remove the tag manually, after which time, if the page does not meet Wikipedia's guidelines for inclusion, it may be proposed for deletion.

Requesting more time

While the one-week period is given as a general guideline, the creator of an article, if needed, may request a greater but reasonable amount of time between significant edits. If the creator needs this additional time, s/he should describe on the article's discussion page the request, and a brief description of the reason, such as going out of town, busy with work, studies, family obligations, etc. Even if a bot removes the construction tag during that time, this request shall be respected by other editors.

When to delete

The page may be proposed for deletion if, following the expiration of the allotted time, the page has not had any significant edits, and no work has been done to bring the page within the necessary guidelines for inclusion. At this time, anyone may feel free to propose the page for deletion using the deletion process.

If, during such an AfD, the creator of the article comments, and states his/her intentions to bring the page within Wikipedia guidelines for inclusion and describes reasonably in reality how this goal will be met, full respect shall be paid to the creator's request, regardless of how many others support deletion of the page, or how strongly others argue for the page's deletion, and the nomination shall be withdrawn.

Following withdrawal, or following the lapse of the construction period even if a page was not previously nominated, if the page fails to meet Wikipedia's guidelines for inclusion, it may be nominated for deletion. It is recommended that an editor who is aware of the existence of such a page that may be considered for deletion in the future under these guidelines place the page on his/her watchlist and observe whether changes made in the coming days bring the page up to par.

Prior to proposing a page for deletion, it may be worth attempting to contact the creator and attempting a one-on-one discussion in hopes of coming to an amicable solution. If more than two people are involved, this can be brought up on the article's discussion page.

PROD versus AfD

In most cases, when deletion is proposed, it is recommended that an AfD discussion be formed. A {{prod}} tag can be removed by anyone, thereby averting the deletion. If an article is actively being constructed, by all likelihood, the creator will oppose deletion, and therefore, remove it. The {{prod}} tag is ideal for pages that are candidates for deletion and appear to have been abandoned by their creators.

Bot-removed tags

If a bot removes a construction tag from a page, and the page falls short of Wikipedia's guidelines for inclusion, the page may be proposed for deletion at this time.

If the creator of the page re-inserts the construction tag, s/he shall write on the discussion page that s/he has done so, and that s/he has the intention of continuing to work on the page. If the creator re-inserts the tag without a discussion, the tag may be removed manually, and the page may be proposed for deletion.

These guidelines also prevent gaming the system by using the construction tag to keep alive a page that would otherwise be proposed for deletion.

Creator-removed tags

Wikipedia is not finished. Therefore, no page can technically be considered complete. But if the page's creator has removed the construction tag, it shall be assumed from this moment on that the page has been completed to the creator's intentions. If, by now, the page does not appear to be worthy of inclusion, it may be proposed for deletion.

Criteria for speedy deletion

If it is evident early on that an article with the {{construction}} tag meets one of the following criteria for speedy deletion, it may be deleted. Other criteria for speedy deletion are often mistaken with incomplete pages that will, over time, turn out to be acceptable articles, and therefore, plenty of more time should be allowed in order for additional construction of the page. These pages may also have been created by newbies who may be unfamiliar with the proper formatting for a Wikipedia article, in which case, proper guidance shall be given, while corrections should be made to bring the page within Wikipedia's standards.

Criteria for speedy deletion even with a construction tag include:

Reason	Description
Blatant advertising or spam	Pages that are written clearly beyond a reasonable doubt to promote a person, a company or organization, or a belief, and not just tell about one of these in an encyclopedic manner. This includes obvious autobiographies or situations in which the user name matches that of the person, company, or organization the article describes (see WP:COI).
Blatant copyright violations	Pages that are clearly designed to violate copyright, such as copy-paste jobs. Since copying copyrighted material is a violation of Wikipedia policy, a page that demonstrates intentional copying early on shall be immediately deleted. If the text itself it not copied, but one or more images are in violation, the image(s) shall be independently deleted.
Blatant attack pages	Pages that intentionally display anger or hate or are otherwise offensive toward a person, company, organization, group of people, or belief. Excluded from this are good-faith encyclopedia-style pages with WP:NPOV or other point-of-view issues falling under WP:SOAP.
Deliberate misinformation	Pages that are designed to intentionally provide inaccurate information, spread rumors, or create hoaxes when this is obvious during their construction may be speedy deleted. POV pushes, depending on the situation, may either be speedied as attack pages, or proposed for deletion under WP:SOAP. For unreferenced pages, as long as they are under construction, time shall be allowed for references to be added.
Total nonsense	Pages that beyond a reasonable doubt, do not contain intelligently-written text, such as repetitive characters that do not spell out words or words that do not combine into intelligent sentences with meaning. Other pages that seem non-sensical early on may be in the early construction phases of a legitimate article and progress shall be observed.

Criteria for proposed deletion

If an article does not meet any of the above criteria for speedy deletion, and bears a {{construction}} tag, generally, it shall be given a chance. Pages that seemingly meet Wikipedia's various criteria for deletion shall be handled as follows when bearing a construction tag:

Reason	Description
Dictionaric entries	These pages shall be marked as stubs. The article may initially be written simply as "____________ is ____________," but in the coming days may be expanded. If not expanded beyond a definition before time has elapsed, it may be proposed for deletion or transferred to Wiktionary.
Pages lacking assertion of notability	During the initial phases of construction, the text may lack a statement that describes the topic as encyclopedic. Time shall be given for notability to be established. If the time elapses, the page may be deleted as non-notable.
Unreferenced pages	During the initial phases of construction, the creator may not have placed references on the page yet. The creator may also be in the process of searching for references. Time shall be given before the construction phase has elapsed for references to be provided. If the topic seems obviously or even possibly notable, plenty of time shall be given for references to be provided. If it appears that the creator has provided some of his/her own knowledge on the topic, but has not listed any sources, an {{expert}} tag should be inserted rather than deletion proposed.
Original research	A page in its initial stages of construction may lack the references that would draw the line between sourced information and original research. If it appears that the text of the page is a blatant essay giving one's own viewpoints on a topic rather than neutral, factual information, it may be immediately proposed for deletion.
Hoaxes	While an article that is incomplete may appear to be a hoax, please keep in mind that the truth may not be evident until the article is complete, or more information has been added. Many topics are obscure to most people, so until you can verify that information provided is surely a hoax, it is important to assume good faith, particularly if you are not familiar with the subject matter. If, beyond reasonable doubt, a page created is a blatant hoax or is otherwise designed to intentionally mislead, it may be speedy deleted.
Propaganda, promotion, advertising	Pages that are blatantly promoting a person, company, organization or cause may be deleted even with a construction tag, in some cases speedy. Others that describe a topic that may possibly belong, but with a writing style that reflects advertising shall be marked with {{ad}}, or that see only one side of the issue shall be marked with {{npov}}.
Conflicts of interest	Since the COI concept is so broad and complex, each situation shall be handled individually using other guidelines listed here. These are often forms of propaganda or promotion, or are neutrality issues.
Biographies	For a biography of a person in a category of people often considered to be notable, time shall be allowed for more information to be added, including references. Common categories of people frequently considered to be notable include, but are not limited to politicians, writers, entertainers, professional athletes, and criminals. This does not mean that all people who fit into these categories are inherently notable, or that those not belonging to any of these categories are not notable. Articles about an obviously non-notable persons that amount to some form of promotion or attack (including Autobiographies) may be speedy deleted.
Companies and organizations	Many large corporations, organizations, and government agencies are worthy of an article. In some cases, their individual products or services or other information about them may be worthy of separate articles. If an article appears to be about any of these, it shall be given a chance. If it appears that a page is promoting a small, local business or organization, it shall be speedy deleted as WP:SPAM. If the page does not promote such a business, but simply is an article written in encyclopedic fashion about a non-notable business, following the construction period, it shall be proposed for deletion. Occasionally, a local business or organization may be notable, so the article shall be given a chance for completion.
Directory pages	As there are situations in which directory-like text may be included within an article, a page that initially appears like a directory shall be untouched until further development occurs. If it appears obvious over time that the final product will appear like a list or directory that does not belong on Wikipedia, the page may be proposed for deletion. Prior to the AfD proposal, an attempt shall be made to contact the creator and other major contributors in order to ascertain the intentions behind the page and possibly work out a solution (though a reasonable amount of time should be allowed for the creator to respond to this communication, it shall be assumed that one who has made one or more edits has received the message, since the user will be alerted upon login).
Lists	While some lists are perfectly suitable for Wikipedia, if a list under construction appears to be one that is not, an attempt should be made to contact the creator and other major contributors in order to ascertain the intentions behind the page prior to an AfD proposal. Some of these lists may be quite long, and if such a list is not fitting, proposing its deletion during construction will prevent a lengthy investment in a page that could be deleted. It is best if a two-way discussion between the creator and the editor who wishes to nominate the page for deletion take place prior to the proposal, so an alternative solution can be reached (though a reasonable amount of time should be allowed for the creator to respond to this communication, it shall be assumed that one who has made one or more edits has received the message, since the user will be alerted upon login).
Recreation of previously deleted material	Frequently, recreation of an article that was previously deleted, whether under the identical title, or containing the same text with a different title, is grounds for speedy deletion. But when a construction tag is present, this may represent a good-faith attempt to address the concerns that previously led to the page's deletion, and to turn a problematic article into a legitimate one. If the construction tag is present on a recreated page, every opportunity shall be given for the page's improvement unless the page was deleted due to one of the criteria for speedy deletion described above, and it is obvious that the editor has the same intentions in mind.

Other situations

Reason	Description
Creation of a duplicate page	If one creates a page unaware that a page on the identical topic already exists under a different name, it shall be merged or redirected to the previously existing page (or vice versa if the title of the new one is more fitting). Even if the page is under construction, it can be merged. Merging by another editor constitutes a form of improvement to the page, as it efficiently combines the information found on both pages, and it preserves earlier versions of both.
Short pages	When a page is under construction, in its early stages, it may be very short prior to the addition of information. In fact, the initial creation could include just a single line with nothing else, as the creation process may take many edits. If the page remains short by the time the construction phase elapses, it shall be marked as a stub or merged.
Uncategorized and orphaned pages	During the early stages of construction, the creator may have yet to placed categories on the page, linked terms in the pages to others, or to find the page's title in other pages for linkage purposes. The creator may be in the process of determining which categories the page would belong to, what terms in the article should be linked, or where the topic is mentioned in other articles. If, following construction, a page is deemed worthy of inclusion, the {{uncategorized}} or {{orphan}} tags shall be added, as need be.
Pages with style issues	A page describing a legitimate topic, but written in a style that does not conform to Wikipedia guidelines or otherwise has one or more various issues can be rewritten or otherwise improved. An editor concerned over these issues may either make all or some of these corrections him/herself, or else add appropriate tag(s) at the top of the article or section in question, alerting others to these issues.
Pages with problematic content	If page is legitimate in itself, but contains a section or more that does not belong in an encyclopedia, the problematic content shall be removed, and the article remain.

See also

• Wikipedia:Pruning article revisions – essay about reducing revisions.