Wikipedia is great for SEO and also for bolstering your credentials in the online world; almost every search term throws up a Wikipedia page on the first page of Google, and it has become the first stop for information for millions across the globe. At last count, Wikipedia clocked 18 billion (yes that’s a B) page views per month!
But you knew all that; which is why you spent all that time and effort creating a Wikipedia page in the first place! And I guess it got deleted? Which is why you are reading this article!
Facilius Inc. creates more approved Wikipedia pages than any other company and as most of our clients come to us once their own efforts have failed to produce results – we have dealt with a LOT of deleted pages!
Before we tell you what to do with your deleted page,
let’s understand some details of why pages are usually nominated for deletion.
Most deletions fall under these 5 processes:
Speedy Deletion: As the name suggests, these are pages which are deleted instantly and don’t require any discussion. Why? Because they don’t warrant a discussion; speedy deletion is used for pages that are hoaxes, pages in blatant violation of copyright, empty pages or for ones filled with nonsensical content or pages on topics already covered under another title.
Proposed Deletion (PROD): These have been flagged for deletion and unless an objection is raised will be automatically deleted in 7 days. If an objection is raised, then it will proceed to AfD (articles of Deletion).
Articles of Deletion (AfD): this is an invitation to open a deletion discussion. Editors discuss whether an article needs to be deleted and unless there is an agreement on keeping the article intact it will be deleted. This process lasts for a week.
Proposed deletion of biographies of living persons (BLIPROD): This is specifically for articles on living persons. If the said article does not have any sources or references at all, then it can be nominated for deletion. If the writer adds one reliable source within a week, then the deletion nomination is removed.
Copyright Problem (copyvio or CP): This type of deletion is for copyright violation which hasn’t been sorted out within two weeks from nomination.
To effectively defend your submitted page, it is crucial to understand these deletion processes, For a novice, all this markup text and abbreviations might seem complicated, but once you decipher the code, the reasons behind them are usually fairly easy to understand and in some cases easy to fix.
Here is what we do with a deleted Wikipedia page, and we are certain it will work for you too:
Find out why
When we first encounter a deleted page, we evaluate the objections that were raised very objectively. The guidelines are fairly clear on what are the basic requirements of a good Wikipedia article – namely notability, verifiability, and neutrality.
Do read the objection raised and try to understand what the problem is. If you don’t seem to understand the problem, then you can also ask the nominator who originally raised the objection or raise a query in the general forum.
Your page or your deletion log will have the objection and the process under which your page is flagged. You will also find the name of the editor and the deletion summary there along with a talk option to message the editor directly for more clarity.
Address the Problem
Now that you know the objection raised against your article you have two choices; fix it or let it go.
If the problem is something you can work on, then all in not lost (details in the next point).
If you feel the objection raised holds water and you can’t really change the article to meet the guidelines, then the honourable thing to do would be to submit it for deletion on your own (you can just put a {{db-author}} right at the top of the article).
Re-edit, resubmit or represent your views
If you have decided to fight to save your page, then you can do a few things:
Rework the content to overcome the objection
If you feel the objection is not correct, then raise the matter for discussion
Let the deletion take place and resubmit the changed content later (don’t resubmit the same content as it will get deleted again) – this could be useful in scenarios such as adding third-party sources to make your article meet the verifiability criteria.
Conclusion
Your first reaction – or your second (disbelief being the first) – will probably be panic (if it’s for your boss) or anger (for all the lost hard work), but don’t worry a deleted page is just a deleted page. If it falls under the basic guidelines of Wikipedia submissions, then there are ways to fix it – we at Facilius Inc, have done it for hundreds of clients over the past few years.
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