User:Bradv/G13 proposal

Proposal: Apply a 7-day hold to G13

There are currently 1508 drafts eligible for G13 listed at Wikipedia:Database reports/Stale drafts, and the number continues to rise. With the current workflow, clearing this backlog requires going through each of the drafts, checking them for notability/potential usefulness, and tagging them for speedy deletion. Then a closing admin will need to go through each of them again, verify it meets the G13 criteria, and delete.

This may happen quickly enough that the author of the draft, any reviewers who thought the draft might have potential, or other interested editors who may have the draft watchlisted, may not receive any warning or notification until the draft is already deleted. Admins can view and restore the deleted version, the original creator should hopefully remember what the draft was about and request a REFUND, but others have no ability to save the draft or even remember if it was useful.

I believe there is simpler and better way. Tag each stale draft as G13, with an appropriate notification for the creator of the draft. After 7 days, if no one has contested the deletion, an admin will delete it. If someone has contested it but does not improve the draft, the process repeats in six months. By applying a 7-day hold, the entire community could review the existing stale drafts and act to save them. Compare that to the current system, where no action results in the draft being saved, and editors need to act to delete them.

If we make this change we should be able to do a better job of clearing out old drafts, while working together to save the good ones. ~~~~