Background: The Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion page contains the speedy deletion policy. There is a discussion as to whether this policy should be made less prescriptive and more descriptive. 16:00, 20 May 2009 (UTC)
- Proposed changes
- Alter the language of the policy, especially in the introduction, so that it does not imply that the policy is a firm rule;
- Generalize the criteria where necessary so that administrators making deletion decisions are not bound by technicalities, but instead are bound by the spirit of the policy;
- If necessary, further simplify the policy by reducing the number of criteria or merging them, so that the policy is easier to follow and the spirit of the policy is not obfuscated by jargon.
- Possible objections to the proposals
- The policy has been this way for a long time and therefore it already reflects community consensus. So there is no need to change it.
- Policy that is not prescriptive is merely tactical information, and as such it would not be policy at all. Therefore the policy is prescriptive or it is not policy.
- Administrators do not need leeway to interpret the criteria, since any ambiguous content can be sent to WP:XFD.
- The criteria already represent consensus for what counts as a valid speedy deletion, and so an administrator who deletes outside the policy necessarily contravenes consensus.
- When administrators are given too much leeway, they are bound to disagree. A clear and unambiguous explication of this policy is needed to resolve these disputes.