Timebomb New Pages

A suggestion sparked by "InSearchOfTheHappyWiki".

DeleteMe if no changes are evident by July 2004. <-- A functional example of what this page is about.

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Context:

You feel like making or deleting another NewPage on the Wiki.

Problem:

There is always tension between the page creators and the page deleters.

Forces:

• There is no absolute measure of the value of a piece of information on this wiki. Even the indicators of potential or future value are weak, in a new page.
• Small pages are created and abandoned. This is fine when they serve a purpose here, but often they don't. Removing them wastes the time of the WikiGnomes.
• Somebody may delete the page if it doesn't immediately show promise of being OnTopic or otherwise great.
• The page may lie abandoned for years if it falls off RecentChanges and you forget about it.
• There will be very few relevant incoming links to draw minds to the new page.
• Without time to grow, and assistance from like minds, the page may come to nothing - even if it has some potential.

(Suggested) Solutions:

• Put something like "DeleteMe after Nextmonth Thisyear if this page shows no signs of life." at the top.
• UseSignatures to remind yourself to FixYourWiki.
• Some folk prefer to work on their page off-line, then post it all at once when it is finished. If it works then that's fine too, but it wouldn't be my choice - I like a little help with my work.

(Desired) Resulting context:

• The DeleteMe reference and line in the sand may help to ward off the impatient WikiPolice.
• You have some time to do the WikiWatering.

Design Rationale:

Well this probably counts against: it smells like an abuse of the DeleteMe tag.

Related:

• WhenToCreatePages vs. WhenToDeletePages
• BrainstormPage?
• There must be some more, but I can't think of any names just now. -- MatthewAstley

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Thanks for the agreement, Earle and 66.143 (first two octets == given name? But not in CIDR...). As a generalization, I seem to have invoked the "ThinkWinWin" solution. I wonder whether that's in the CreativeWhackPack? But today, grep is not my friend. -- MatthewAstley

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I think it's worth noting that many of these issues have been examined in the past. For example, the issue of having many small unconnected pages littering Wiki lead to the idea of WikiSpringCleaning, and several search methods to locate such pages. OrphanPages has a link to find pages with no incoming links. MoreAboutExtraScripts has other links such as the one to find short pages. Also, there is DeleteMe, DeletedButWelcomeToWiki, AreYouThere, AbandonedHomePage, and probably some others I can't remember. Use BackLinks and CategoryWikiMaintenance to find more information.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that there is a lot of information on how to keep Wiki healthy and clean. I'm just trying to make sure people are aware that it's out there so they don't have to re-invent the wheel.

Perhaps this is a sign that this information is scattered around too much and could be better organized.

In my opinion, it serves Wiki best when these kinds of WikiTags and scripts are used over the long term (weeks, months, and years) rather than immediately. The one exception I can think of is DeletedButWelcomeToWiki. It's okay if something is off-topic for a while. Who knows, maybe something relevant to Wiki will emerge. Certainly, if we step all over newcomers' misguided contributions, we'll end up weakening Wiki over the long term. Let's face it, sometimes it takes a while to figure out what this Wiki thing is, and how best to contribute to it. I've always thought it is better to be patient with these situations than to try to 'protect' Wiki prematurely.

Thanks for the perspective: I think, like many RecentChangesJunkies, I'm suffering from WikiTimeDilation?. Perhaps another way to phrase my intentions for this page would be, "Remind the deleter to be more patient."

20090228 I found this page for the first time because I searched for CIDR - maybe that needs its own page. -- ChrisGarrod

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CategoryWikiMaintenance