Wikipedia:Discussing cruft

This is an essay. 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 WP:TALKCRUFT WP:DISCUSSCRUFT WP:CRUFTISREAL

This page in a nutshell: Many Wikipedians use cruft as a shorthand term to describe content that is inappropriate for Wikipedia. Because cruft is a real problem, efforts to identify cruft should be taken in good faith. In order to appropriately deal with cruft, editors need to be specific and back their assertions with Wikipedia's policy and guidelines rather than personal preference.

"Cruft" is computer jargon for excessive or needlessly detailed information. It has become adopted by the Wikipedia community in order to describe information that embodies excessive detail and triviality, to the point that it violates Wikipedia's policies and guidelines.

Many Wikipedians use "cruft" as a shorthand term to describe content that is inappropriate for Wikipedia, and the use of this term should not always be treated as a bad faith dismissal of the information. Nevertheless, editors who declare something to be "cruft" should take care to explain in their rationale for deletion which policy it fails and why it fails it.^[1]