Ever opened a Wikipedia page and wondered why some articles vanish overnight while others stick around for months? It’s not random. Behind every deleted article is a quiet, rule-bound process-three main paths, each with its own speed, rules, and drama. Speedy Deletion, PROD, and AfD aren’t just acronyms. They’re the backbone of Wikipedia’s ability to stay clean, accurate, and useful. And if you’ve ever tried to delete something yourself, you’ve probably stumbled into one of them without knowing it.
Speedy Deletion: The Fast Lane
Speedy Deletion, or Speedy, is Wikipedia’s equivalent of a trash chute. It’s for content so clearly broken that no debate is needed. Think vandalism, blatant copyright violations, or test pages like "I am a robot and I like pizza." There’s no vote. No waiting. Just a tag and a click.
The rules are strict and public. You can’t just delete anything you dislike. There are 11 specific criteria, listed on Wikipedia’s Criteria for Speedy Deletion page. For example:
- A1: No meaningful content at all
- A3: Pure advertising
- A7: No indication of importance or notability
- C1: Copyvio with no source or permission
Only experienced editors with the right tools can apply Speedy tags. But anyone can nominate a page for it. If you spot a page that’s just a single sentence with a link to a company website? Tag it. A bot will check it within minutes. If it matches one of the criteria, an administrator deletes it-sometimes within an hour.
Speedy isn’t about fairness. It’s about efficiency. Wikipedia deletes over 100,000 pages a year this way. Most are spam, bots, or test edits. The system works because it’s automated, predictable, and hard to abuse.
PROD: The 7-Day Warning
PROD-short for Proposed Deletion-is the middle ground. It’s for articles that look questionable but don’t meet the Speedy criteria. Maybe it’s a local business with no outside coverage. Or a person who’s written one book and has no media mentions. Not obviously trash, but not notable enough to stay.
Here’s how it works: An editor adds a PROD tag to the top of the article. That triggers a 7-day countdown. During that time, anyone can object. If no one does, the article gets deleted by an administrator. If someone says, "Wait, this person was interviewed on BBC in 2021," the tag is removed, and the article stays.
PROD is designed to be gentle. It gives editors a chance to fix or defend content without the chaos of a full debate. It’s also a safety net. If you’re unsure whether something should stay, PROD lets the community decide without a formal vote.
But PROD isn’t perfect. Sometimes, editors miss the tag. Or someone adds it to a page that’s actually notable, and the author doesn’t notice until it’s gone. That’s why PROD can’t be used on biographies of living people, or articles that have been previously discussed on AfD. It’s a tool for low-risk cases only.
AfD: The Courtroom of Wikipedia
When Speedy is too harsh and PROD is too slow, you get AfD-Articles for Deletion. This is Wikipedia’s version of a public trial. It’s for controversial, borderline, or high-profile pages. A celebrity with mixed media coverage. A small nonprofit that’s growing. A topic that sparks heated arguments.
To start an AfD, an editor creates a dedicated discussion page. They explain why they think the article should go. Others respond. Arguments get detailed. Sources are cited. People quote policy. It’s messy. It’s slow. It can last 7 to 14 days.
Then, a closing administrator reviews everything. Not by vote count. By policy. They ask: Does this meet Wikipedia’s notability guidelines? Are there reliable, independent sources? Is the article written neutrally? The number of "keep" or "delete" votes doesn’t decide anything. Only policy does.
AfD is where Wikipedia’s soul shows up. It’s where editors argue about what knowledge deserves to survive. In 2024, over 22,000 AfD discussions took place. About 60% ended in deletion. But the rest? They survived because someone fought for them-with citations, with context, with persistence.
One famous case: the article on "The Squirrel That Saved a Village" was debated for 11 days. Critics called it trivial. Supporters showed newspaper articles from three towns, a local history book, and a documentary clip. It stayed. Not because it was popular. Because it was verifiable.
Why These Three Systems Exist Together
Wikipedia doesn’t have one deletion rule because it doesn’t need one. It needs three.
Speedy handles the obvious garbage. PROD handles the gray-area stuff that’s easy to fix. AfD handles the hard cases that matter.
Together, they keep Wikipedia from becoming a digital landfill. Without Speedy, spam would drown out real content. Without PROD, editors would be forced into endless debates over minor pages. Without AfD, borderline topics would vanish before they could prove their worth.
Each system has limits. Speedy can’t be used on living people. PROD can’t be used on previously debated pages. AfD can’t be rushed. And all three require editors to follow the rules-not their gut.
Wikipedia’s deletion policy isn’t about censorship. It’s about quality control. It’s about making sure that what survives is worth keeping-not because it’s popular, but because it’s documented, verified, and meaningful.
What Happens After Deletion?
Just because an article is deleted doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. It’s still in the history logs. Anyone can view the last version. And if you fix the problems-add sources, clarify notability, remove bias-you can restore it.
Many successful Wikipedia articles started as deleted drafts. A student wrote an article on a local historian. It was Speedy-deleted for lacking sources. They went back, found archived interviews, local government records, and a university press release. They resubmitted. It stayed.
Deletion isn’t the end. It’s feedback. The system is designed to teach, not punish.
Common Mistakes Editors Make
- Using Speedy on articles that need PROD or AfD. This causes backlash and reversals.
- Tagging a page for PROD and then forgetting about it. The 7-day window passes unnoticed, and the article vanishes.
- Arguing in AfD based on personal opinion instead of policy. "I don’t like this person" isn’t valid. "No independent sources exist" is.
- Assuming deletion means the topic isn’t important. Many notable people and topics have been deleted due to poor writing-not lack of significance.
The best editors don’t just delete. They improve. They leave comments. They link to guidelines. They help others understand why something was removed-and how to fix it.
How to Participate
You don’t need to be an admin to help. Here’s how:
- Look for untagged pages that look like spam, ads, or empty stubs. Tag them for Speedy if they fit the criteria.
- Check the "Proposed Deletions" list. If you see something you know is notable, remove the tag and add sources.
- Join AfD discussions. Even one well-researched comment can change the outcome.
- Don’t just vote. Explain. Cite policy. Link to sources.
Wikipedia’s deletion system only works if people care enough to use it right. It’s not about being harsh. It’s about being careful.
Can anyone delete a Wikipedia article?
No. Only registered editors can nominate articles for deletion, but only administrators can actually delete them. Speedy deletions are done by admins after a tag is applied. PROD and AfD require no admin action until the process ends. Regular users can’t delete pages directly.
Why do some articles get deleted so fast while others stay for years?
It depends on how clearly the article meets Wikipedia’s notability and sourcing rules. Speedy deletions happen when content breaks obvious rules-like being a copy-paste ad. Articles that stay often have multiple reliable sources, neutral tone, and verifiable claims. If an article is borderline, it goes to AfD, where it can survive for weeks with strong support.
Is AfD biased toward deleting articles?
AfD isn’t biased toward deletion-it’s biased toward policy. If an article lacks reliable sources, it’s likely to be deleted, no matter how popular it is. If it has multiple independent sources and meets notability guidelines, it usually survives-even if only a few people vote to keep it. The closing admin looks at evidence, not votes.
Can I appeal a deletion decision?
Yes. If you believe an article was deleted in error, you can request undeletion through the "Requests for Undeletion" page. You must show new evidence-like recently published sources-that proves notability. Just saying "I disagree" won’t work. You need to fix the original problem.
Do deletion policies vary by language version of Wikipedia?
Yes. While the core ideas are similar, each language version has its own rules and traditions. For example, the German Wikipedia is stricter about notability and deletes more articles via Speedy. The Japanese Wikipedia uses a different tagging system. The English Wikipedia’s system is among the most detailed and widely studied, but it’s not universal.
What Comes Next?
Wikipedia’s deletion system keeps evolving. In 2025, new tools are being tested to flag low-quality articles earlier using AI. But the human element remains. No algorithm can judge whether a local historian’s memoir deserves a page better than someone who’s read the archives.
If you care about Wikipedia’s future, don’t just read it. Help shape it. Tag the junk. defend the worthy. Learn the rules. And remember: deletion isn’t failure. It’s refinement.
