Help:Nominating an article for cleanup or deletion

For a full list of codes, templates, lists, categories etc, see Wiktionary:Cleanup and deletion elements

[edit] Flag the article

Insert the one of the following templates into the article text:

{{rfc}} Request for cleanup: the article needs improvement.
{{rfd}} Request for deletion: the article may not warrant a place in Wiktionary and should probably be deleted. If the article is a copyvio or contains offensive material the article may also be blanked while waiting for an administrator to delete it, but please note that Wiktionary does not exclude words simply because they are vulgar. Blank offensive material if it is also not dictionary content. Blatant rubbish is best tagged with {{delete}}, and will generally be deleted as soon as an administrator sees it. Articles which are under some debate will remain during the debate so that the community can see them.
{{delete}} Request for immediate deletion when there is no doubt of the article being kept (e.g. complete nonsense, unintentional misspelling). This adds the article to Category:Candidates for speedy deletion. Syntax: {{delete|reason for deletion}}
{{rfv}} Request for verification: the word itself is questionable or doesn't appear to be in common use.

Please report vandalism on this page.

Go to the appropriate page and list the article in question:

In the headline for your nomination, put the name of the nominated article as an internal Wiki link, e.g.: === [[PileOfJunk]] ===. This makes it easy to navigate to the article.

Give a brief reason for your nomination of the article for cleanup or deletion.
Thinking deeply before listing an article here is not discouraged, but it is definitely not a requirement either. Most comments here are first impressions, not considered analyses of an article.
Limit comments to a few words only; verbose comments will be edited for brevity!
Be specific. Saying "needs work" is not enough.

For the following, if the term is unattested, use RFD. If it's attested, use RFC.

vandalism Invalid entry made with ill intent. E.g. So-and-So sucks (If this is the headword, RFD as non-dictionary If it's in the definition of a valid word, use RFC). Report repeated or persistent vandalism at WT:VIP.
self-promotion, advert Promotes a particular product.
vanity page Calls attention to a particular person for no particular reason.
nonsense Definition text makes no sense at all.
joke Doesn't really belong, but funny enough to let people have a look at before gunning. See WT:BJAODN.

unattested Unattested term, May be a protologism.
non-dictionary The headword is not a term to be defined in a dictionary. E.g., name three songs by the Rolling Stones.
unidiomatic A phrase the meaning of which is apparent from the meaning of its constituent words and could well be any of various meanings of those words depending on context. For example, "car roof" is unidiomatic, because it simply means "the roof of a car", and the meanings of "roof" and "car" in that phrase could be any of the various meanings of those words; on the other hand, "car phone" is idiomatic, because it has the specific meaning of a cellular phone for use in a motor car, and not any other kind of phone used in any other kind of car. For this reason, the use of sum of its parts or sum of parts is to be avoided in RFD. Both "car roof" and "car phone" are the sum of their respective parts, but only the latter is idiomatic and merits an entry. "Sum of parts" does not make this distinction.

OK now? You've tried to clean up the article, but you're not sure if it's good enough.
encyclopedic The current content tries to explain the term instead in depth instead of briefly defining what it means. The body might be good raw material for Wikipedia (but keep their process in mind when submitting it), and the headword still warrants a dictionary definition.
stub (use the {{stub}} template) The headword is valid, but there are no definitions. Typically there will be translations.
substub (use the {{substub}} template) The particular section is empty. E.g., if a term has a verb sense, but only the noun sense is defined.
vandalism A previously valid entry has been vandalized. It's generally better just to revert these (there's a description of how to do this at m:Help:Reverting).
ungrammatical The defining text is not grammatical.
format The article does not adhere to the standard format (there's an article on this somewhere).
POV The text promotes a particular point of view.
copyvio (copyright violation). Defining text is lifted from a copyrighted source without permission. Quotations to support a definition generally fall under "fair use".

Begin your comments with a "-" to separate it from the previous one, but:
- If you have made or are reporting a change to the page in question, Use a "+" instead (e.g. "+ fixed the first paragraph", "+ deleted" or "+ stubbified")
The comment "delete" or "RFD" is a vote to move this page to Wiktionary:Requests for deletion, not to delete it immediately. Please list such entries in bold.
If you think an article needs it, write "delete immediately".
Please sign your entry.

Edit conflicts can be mitigated by copying your own text before you submit it, so you can paste and repost it quickly.