User:MIDI/RD

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You may be here because I've linked to this essay in an edit summary – well here's the rationale for that edit.

{{recent death}} is often added to articles inappropriately or prematurely. The template's objective is not to tag an article to say "hey, reader – the article you're looking at is about someone who's just died". The purpose of the template is to notify readers that the article might be unstable or rapidly changing, not to tell them information about the subject.

The template

The {{Recent death}} template is, unsurprisingly, regularly used on articles about people who have recently died. Let's look at what the template says:

Focus should be put on the first sentence: "This article is currently being heavily edited...". What constitutes "heavy editing" is subjective, but the template documentation says:

“ ...this template should be used only in cases where many editors (perhaps dozens or more) are editing the article on the same day. It should be removed as soon as this editing subsides. Do not use it merely to tag the article of a recently deceased person... ”

The documentation is clear: do not use this template unless there are lots of edits to the article. Check the edit history before adding. Is it needed? Ask yourself about:

  • The quantity of edits: Is the level of editing high enough to warrant the template? (Is information changing so rapidly that edit conflicts are occurring? Are there dozens of edits to the page already?)
  • The quality of edits: Is the content of the article changing sufficiently? (Dozens of edits about changing tenses of "Joe Bloggs is" to "Joe Bloggs was" probably doesn't warrant the template – the nature of the edits is important)

We do not need to apply templates pre-emptively: even a high-profile death doesn't warrant the template until the level of editing shows it's necessary.

When should the template be used?

First, answer these questions:

  1. Has the subject recently died?
  2. Have you checked the article's history to see what recent editing is like?
  3. Is it being heavily edited?
  4. Is information about their death (and related events) changing significantly?

"Recently", "heavily", and "significantly" are subjective; remember that your interpretation may differ from another editor's. If you can answer yes to all of those questions, consider these:

  1. Would the template's inclusion be beneficial to the reader or other editors?
  2. Would the template's omission be detrimental to the reader or other editors?

If the answer to both these two questions is also yes, then the addition of the template may be appropriate. If the answer to any of the questions is no, then the template's addition would be inappropriate. Remember that we have content and risk disclaimers, so erring on the side of omission is not a bad thing and the gist of this template is already covered at WP:DISCLAIMER.

See also