This essay can be transcluded; only the first two paragraphs will appear along with a link to the full essay.

To avoid confusion and address some concerns I have seen from new users, no, I am not an administrator. While I try to get content deleted based on relevant policy and guidelines, I do not actually delete content. I'm awfully sorry if I caused your hard work in good faith contributions to be deleted, and I sincerely regret if anything I have done has caused your work to be wrongfully removed. I try to curb my personal desire to have things in Wikipedia deleted, and I never search for topics I don't like to see if they can be deleted.

As a note, according to WP:OWN there is no such thing as your article, only articles you work on, take a personal interest in, and/or created. If you are the only contributor to the article, it is safe to say that you are its author. When I say your article you should interpret it as the article you created that we are all free to edit.

What to do if you think I'm trying to delete your article

If I nominate it for deletion

What it looks like: A grey box with the sentence "This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedia's deletion policy."

What I did: Used substituted {{ afd}} tags according to this process

The relevant policy: Wikipedia:Articles for deletion, also known as AfD ( WP:AFD)

What you can do: participate in the article's AfD discussion

What you cannot do: remove the grey AfD box from the article

What will happen: an administrator will eventually close the AfD discussion (usually after seven days) and may delete the article based on the discussion results

If I nominate it for speedy deletion

What it looks like: A pink box that says "This page may meet Wikipedia's criteria for speedy deletion."

What I did: Placed {{ db}} tag(s) on the article

The relevant policy: Wikipedia:Criteria for speedy deletion, also known as CSD ( WP:CSD)

What you can do: place {{ hangon}} on the article, then either fix the article or explain why the article should be kept on its talk page, then remove your {{ hangon}} tag—be sure to address the CSD criteria given

What you cannot do: remove the pink box(es), that is you cannot remove any tag that starts with {{db

What will happen: usually within 10 minutes (in absence of {{ hangon}}), an administrator will view the article and its talk page, then either delete it or remove the {{ db}} tag

If I propose it for deletion

What it looks like: A grey box that says "It is proposed that this article be deleted."

What I did: Placed a substituted {{ prod}} tag on the article

The relevant policy: Wikipedia:Proposed deletion, also known as prod or PROD ( WP:PROD)

What you can do: remove the notice from the article with a brief edit summary (removed prod because ______)

What will happen: if the proposed deletion note remains present for seven days, the article will be deleted

What I can't do because I'm not an administrator

This list is made up of things I have been assumed to be able to do and is not inclusive.

• Completely delete pages (not just blanking)
• Recover information that was deleted, yours or otherwise