Sage Ross wrote:
In my experience, the biggest problems with notability deletions (both A7 and via proposed deletion) is that so many (mostly new) users feel blindsided by them. The interface doesn't do an adequate job of making clear what is expected from a new article (e.g., all information is verifiable from reliable published sources, information on living people is explicitly referenced, the article explains why the topic is significant).
In the end, I think that is a much bigger problem than the actual loss of marginal content that ends up deleted (nearly all of which is unreferenced, even if the subject is actually meets notability requirements). That content really shouldn't be in Wikipedia (at least in the form that got deleted), but new users are not made aware of that ahead of time. Our standards have changed so much over the last year and a half or so that I think we need a much heavier-handed interface for guiding new users through the article creation process.
I don't think that "heavier-handed" is appropriate. Nevertheless it should be more informative, and relevant to what the newbie has actually done. If it's only that references are missing that should be a specific request, and providing those references would immediately void the AfD. Many of the AfD notices give the impression that they have been put there by an ignorant robot.
Ec