[WikiEN-l] you have to improve upon it before tagging it for speedy deletion

[Carcharoth]

On Sat, Sep 19, 2009 at 4:29 AM, David Goodman <dgoodmanny at gmail.com> wrote:
> The best PR we can do is to improve the improvable articles, and
> explain to the authors of the others why the subjects are not suitable
> for Wikipedia, or why the subjects might be, but the submitted
> articles are not  capable of being used even as a base for rewriting.
>
> Sometimes when I find a totally impossible article (such as complete
> copyvio) on an important subject that interests me, I will decide to
> write what amounts to a new article on that subject--and I call it an
> improved version--but that's a polite  fiction. I am actually writing
> an article using the original of the copied page as a source. True, at
> this point I am more likely to do that than to write an article of my
> own choosing, but I can't see any think they are obliged to do this.
>
> Spending time  rewriting the best article possible on altogether
> unencyclopedic subjects that will inevitably be deleted does not help
> build the encyclopedia--rather the authors should be guided towards
> more fruitful subject matter.

Absolutely.

Just to get back to the question of speedy tags and PRODs for a
minute, I have seen some people edit an article to "improve" it by
cutting bits out, and editing it down (sometimes quite legitimately),
and then, because there is not much left of the article, nominating it
for speedy, or PROD. My feeling is that the processes should be
separated somewhat. If you get involved to the extent that you prune
and edit the article, you should wait for a reaction to that, rather
than going stright to PROD. Or ask another editor to review the
editing and decide on whether PROD/speedy is needed. At the very
least, the admin who reviews the PROD or speedy tag should be aware
that such editing has taken place by the person who nominated the
article.

Sometimes articles genuinely need editing down and stuff removed, and
what is left should be PRODed, but at other times it can be a way to
game the system and fool an admin into thinking that an article should
be speedied or PRODed.

Carcharoth