Issue
There is an ongoing debate about how to deal with stale userspace drafts. Look at MfD or at any of numerous discussions (see especially here or here) for a taste of the debate. Current guidelines (mostly at WP:STALEDRAFT) are unclear or confused - they do not provide a way forward. Clarity and consensus on how to deal with stale userspace drafts is required.
This RfC is a bit different from others: instead of !voting Support or Oppose, give your ideal course of action in each case. Comment on as many cases as you feel that you can. To keep discussion focused, options for courses of action are limited to the following:
- Delete
- Keep - no action
- Blank and template - blank the page and replace its contents with ((Userpage blanked)) or some other appropriate template
- Categorize - add a template to the page identifying it as a draft and sorting it into a maintenance category (categories TBD, ideas are things like Category:Stale drafts with low potential, Category:Stale drafts with unclear potential)
- Redirect (in your comment, please note where the page should be redirected to)
Assuming that stale means that the draft has not been edited in a year, nor has its creator made any edits in the past year, what is the most desirable course of action for a stale, non-AfC userspace draft in each of the following circumstances?
Responses by case
The draft fails GNG and its subject appears unlikely to ever pass GNG.
The draft is promotional (but not blatant enough for G11 speedy deletion).
The draft is soapboxing - it fails WP:SOAPBOX.
The draft is covers the same topic as an article in mainspace and has no useful information or sources not already present in the mainspace article.
The draft is a copy or nearly a copy of an article currently in mainspace.
The "draft" is patent nonsense or a test page.
Discussion