Forum:Stubs

Let me be clear on this. I'm TheSlicer; I'm closing my main account and starting over. I was the one who started the trend of putting Template:Stub on short pages and deleting them after an arbitrary period of time. This is my rant.

I now think that policy, as it's being used now, is hurtful. I think it makes sense to delete pages that have nothing more than an infobox and a sentence, but otherwise--even if the content would be too short to merit a page on Wikipedia--the stub template shouldn't be used.

Our policy is to give users control over their page unless they specify otherwise, so we can't really add to the page to improve it--only to revise it, and that can't really make it longer. I see pages that are "wikified", with proper syntax, templates, and formatting, being nominated for deletion just because they're only a few paragraphs long.

Not only is that hurtful to the community by driving off people who put effort into these pages (but who just don't make them super long) and by simply destroying content regardless of its quality, but it's unfair. The rules are being enforced arbitrarily, there's nothing the creators can often do (they don't know) and because of the nature of the wiki, nobody can add to them.

Just because something's short doesn't mean that it needs fixing. The stub template should be for pages that really are almost empty, with just a brief description like "Bob controls ice" with a picture. Paragraph long? Sure, stub it. If it's long enough to divide into sections it's long enough for me.

Look at, say, Temple of Henkka (stub template removed on request): short, fine. Not the best-written page. But effort was put into it, and there's no reason to delete it. To fix it, sure.

Now let's look at the wikify template. It's supposed to be a call for people to improve the layout and such of a page, but it's now all but a deletion label. I've noticed a cycle: people post it on a page, ignore it, then two weeks later slap a deletion template on it. That's counterproductive to say the least.

Look at Inika Man: not short at all, but nominated for deletion because it's not perfect. I think this is shameful for a fan fiction wiki, where the whole point is to store people's creations. Once again, content shouldn't just get thrown away just because it's not formatted well. Maybe it's not gone forever, but it might as well be.

'''If something does need fixing, fix it. Don't delete it.''' I know the userbase doesn't care as much as I do about other people's pages--not too many people spruce up others' work out of goodwill, and I'm just doing it right now out of moral outrage that they'll get deleted otherwise.

If anything, there are dozens of pages that should be undeleted. Selectively, of course.

Finally, there needs to be an official policy about when a page can be deleted. All Project:Policy/Deletion says is that a page if it "does not meet the requirements of the Manual of Style". I don't think pages deserve deletion just because they don't have the right template. And it's wide open to interpretation, leading to arbitrary enforcement.

I know this'll be controversial, but let's keep the discussion reasonable please.  I  Diotic  11:33, December 23, 2014 (UTC)