Robert Dodier wrote:
It turns out that VfD is used as a general forum to
determine what to do with an article. Deletion is an
option but redirect, cleanup, & copyvio are used as well.
So I suggest renaming "Votes for deletion" to "Triage".
The VfD header message can be changed accordingly --
"This article has been listed on Wikipedia:Triage
because someone decided it would be a good idea to
get some more eyeballs on it."
I'm thinking such a message is more accurate, and
also gentler on new contributors, whose articles
end up on VfD out of proportion to their numbers.
The message would be too gentle, I'm afraid. Not that I oppose being
gentle with new contributors, but if article deletion is to remain an
option, we need to give people fair warning of that. Many people take
umbrage even at having a few words deleted from articles, let alone
having an entire article deleted. Since deletion is such a serious step,
we need to make some effort to let people know about the possibility.
That being said, I certainly agree that people discussing potential
deletions should be more aware of other alternatives.
--Michael Snow