Wikipedia:Pseudo-deletion by redirection

This is an essay on the deletion policy.

It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

Shortcuts

When an article is converted to a WP:Redirect the action may or may not constitute a pseudo-deletion of the article's topic.

The conversion to a redirect probably amounts to a pseudo-deletion if the following is true:

Sourced material is lost, and there is no reasonable scope for including the same material at the redirect topic

The target article is a Wikipedia:List article
The target article is very weakly connected to the topic

Conversion to a redirect is probably not pseudo-deletion if the following is true:

The old redirected article and the new target contained overlapping material, known as Wikipedia:Content forking.

Redirects, pseudo-deletion, and deletion processes

WP:AfD generally does not welcome nominations for redirection that are not cases of proposed pseudo-deletion. These cases are typically concerned with editorial decisions on specific questions of how much content should be included. Editors advocating redirection typically favour restraining the content to the more brief version that exists at the target. An applicable policy to this sort of issue is WP:UNDUE. Resolving the issue may involve an extended process of discussion and negotiation, and if so AfD is not a suitable venue.

WP:AfD may welcome discussions where the nominator is effectively proposing a pseudo-deletion. In these cases, if the AfD discussion is disagreed with, it may be reviewed at WP:DRV.

Redirects, pseudo-deletion, and deletion processes

See also