This is an essay on the deletion policy. It contains the advice or opinions of one or more Wikipedia contributors. This page is not an encyclopedia article, nor is it one of Wikipedia's policies or guidelines, as it has not been thoroughly vetted by the community. Some essays represent widespread norms; others only represent minority viewpoints.

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If you're reading this, it's probably because a page you created was tagged for deletion based on Wikipedia's speedy deletion policy.

A Speedy Deletion (CSD) tag looks something like this:

The contents inside the tag will differ according to the speedy deletion criterion that it is based on.

There are four major reasons why an article gets tagged for speedy deletion: it is asserted to be non-encyclopedic, a copyright violation, an advertisement or spam, or an attack page, hoax or other form of vandalism.

Non-encyclopedic pages

The most basic standard for inclusion in Wikipedia is notability – that is, whether or not the subject has received attention from the press or other reliable sources. Wikipedia is not a place to establish one's notability, and so things like the band you started with your friends (even the ones that are so close to being noticed/signed/gigged), the shop down the street that sells good donuts, the hot guy/girl that sits across from you in study hall, or the sweet awesomeness of your best friend, don't belong in Wikipedia (unless they've been written about elsewhere, reliably and independently, first).

If your subject has been written about elsewhere, you have to say why. Creating an article that just says "Paul is a really good cook" doesn't provide a starting point for other editors to build on. Who is Paul? What kind of food does he cook? Who says he's good? How do we find out more about him? Now, an article that says "Paul Prudhomme is a world-class cajun chef who hosts the show Paul Prudhomme's Always Cooking! on PBS"... that gives you something to sink your teeth into!

And finally, articles which just can't become articles – articles with random text or no content.

Copyright violations

Sadly, all the notability in the world can't save a copyright violation. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia, and as such we must use free content (with a couple of fair-use exceptions). If you copied most or all of your article^[a] from another website, chances are near 100% that it's going to stay deleted. After all, with a handful of exceptions that text is copyrighted by the website you took it from, and its unauthorized use can land Wikipedia in a heap of trouble. You can write an article using the website as a source – but pure copying is a big no-no.

Advertisements or spam

Wikipedia is not an advertising service, and the community is very sensitive to being treated as one. If you wrote an article that reads like advertising copy – if it extolls the virtues of your product, uses marketing terms like "dynamic" and "capable" and "world-leading expertise" to describe your company, boasts about how your website is the fastest growing "ceramic-doll related forum on the internets" – it's probably going to stay deleted.

Surprisingly enough, this includes companies you may not be associated with. An overenthusiastic analysis of a company by a genuine fan can be mistaken for something drafted by that company's marketing department (after all, it's not that difficult to fake). If this is the case, then I'm sorry your article was deleted but you simply need to tone it down next time. Also, see reason one above about Notability. If no one else, outside of Wikipedia, has written about your company yet, it's highly unlikely that Wikipedia will be willing to be "Your Big Break".

Attack pages or other forms of vandalism

Writing an article saying "Damian is a jerk" will lead to deletion. So will writing an article comparing his gaming skills to a sloth. Wikipedia does not tolerate personal attacks of any kind, be they against editors here online or about the horrible people (and bad bands and corrupt companies) you know in the real world. While it's only natural to want to blow off steam every now and then, Wikipedia is simply not your punching bag or bulletin board. The same goes for pages created to vandalize or otherwise disrupt the project.

If you contest the speedy deletion, stop and think. Why shouldn't the article be deleted? If you can think of a valid reason why the article shouldn't be deleted, go ahead and click the button. Then replace "(your reason here)" in the edit field that appears, with your reason. Then click save. If the reviewing administrator thinks your reason is valid enough, they won't delete the page straight away, but will give you time to edit the article first — go on, now's your chance! On the flip side, if your reason is not good enough, or the page will never meet policy, then the reviewing administrator may just delete the page anyway.

But don't despair!

If you want your article back, it's definitely possible. Reading this far is a good first step and means you're serious about it. Keep in mind though, you need to ask a willing administrator very nicely. They may or may not comply with your request, depending on the type of page that was deleted (i.e. a page deleted because notability was not established is much more likely to be restored than an attack page or pure copyright violation). Give them a good reason! Show them some sources for that unsourced, deleted article! If they still don't comply and you believe your article was deleted against procedure, you can list it for review at Wikipedia deletion review, although your time and energy would more likely be better spent writing a new and improved version from scratch.

• Wikipedia:Why was my page deleted?
• Wikipedia:Why I Hate Speedy Deleters
• Wikipedia:Field guide to proper speedy deletion
• Wikipedia:So your article has been nominated for deletion