Dormancy Policy

Policy last edited: -- .

Dormancy
A dormant wiki is a wiki where no activity has been shown for a period of 60 days or longer. Dormant wikis are considered inactive, and because they still use server resources (such as disk space for the wiki database), we have to close (or delete) them. After 45 days, a site notice may be placed on the wiki to remind users that they must be more active. After this banner has been placed for at least 15 days (minimum 60 days total inactivity), the wiki will be automatically closed/locked (making it read-only). Bureaucrats of the wiki will be notified on their talk page (on the affected wiki) and via email (if the user set a confirmed email address in Special:Preferences), and reopening (see #Reopening) will be allowed two weeks after the closure. If no user has requested the reopening of a wiki at least 120 days after the closing of a wiki (minimum 180 days/6 months inactivity) and it still remains inactive, it will be marked as deleted. Two weeks after that, it will become eligible for permanent deletion.

The time before going to the next step (usage -> inactive -> dormant -> closed/locked -> deleted) should increase if notices are not placed appropriately. Users will have a minimum time after each notice to fix the problem if they wish. Here is a table for reference:

Wikis with no contributions
Wikis that literally have 0 contributions (default main page, no edits, no user rights changes, nothing) may be eligible for DELETION as quickly as 60 days after the wiki was created. This is because these users likely forgot about their wiki or Miraheze all together, and the wiki serves no purpose at all. 30 days after a wiki was created, if there are 0 contributions from any users, MediaWiki:Sitenotice on that wiki will be updated to provide information about this policy. After another 30 days, if edits to MediaWiki:Sitenotice are the only contributions (which means there are still no contributions), the wiki may be eligible for deletion.

Exemptions from the Dormancy Policy
If you think you have a valid reason why the wiki should not be closed or deleted, whatsoever happens, then please contact a Steward so we can make a note your wiki should not be closed/deleted.

Reasons to prevent closing of a wiki include but are not limited to:


 * Wikis made to be read, where a lot of information is already on wiki and doesn't need to be actively edited.
 * Wikis made for time-based gatherings, i.e. wikis used to plan bi-yearly or yearly events.
 * Other exceptions.

Note that to be eligible for this exemption,


 *  You must have local rights on the wiki.
 *  You must have been involved significantly in the current state of the wiki.
 *  You must meet at least one of the reasons above.
 *  And you must show some sign of activity globally
 * This can include a message to a Steward or other global advanced permission holder on Meta, a note on Stewards' noticeboard, or local contributions to the wiki in question.

Wikis requesting an exemption from the policy will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis. Wikis granted an exemption will be listed, on Dormancy Policy/Exemptions. Wikis may also be granted varying degrees of exemption - i.e. different time periods for allowed inactivity, different requirements to meet activity guidelines, or complete exemption from the rule.

Exceptions to the Dormancy Policy
Similar to the exemptions above, there are several wikis that are considered exceptions to this policy. The Dormancy Policy never has and never will apply to Miraheze Meta (this central project wiki), Miraheze Login Wiki  (which is required for technical reasons), Miraheze Commons Wiki  (central image repository), CVT Wiki, Miraheze Stewards Wiki , or Miraheze Staff Wiki  (which are all used for internal coordination).

Reopening
Immediately after a wiki has been automatically closed (minimum 60 days inactivity) it will be eligible to be reopened at the request of any good-faith user. The user must meet certain activity guidelines (on any wiki), have read-rights on the wiki (if the wiki is private) and provide a reason for requesting to reopen the wiki. While there is no minimum amount of wikis that one can request to reopen, a Steward may decline to reopen a wiki if the user has requested opening a large amount of wikis in a short period of time.

When a request to reopen is approved, no rights are automatically granted to the user who requested the reopening, these are instead granted on a case-by-case basis following a local election.

Deletion
If no user has requested the reopening of a wiki at least 120 days after the closing of a wiki (minimum 180 days/6 months inactivity) and it still remains inactive, it will be marked as deleted. This will make the wiki inaccessible to everyone (not just readonly). After a wiki is marked as deleted, there will be a period of 14 days where users can request that the wiki be re-enabled. After 14 days, the wiki becomes eligible for deletion, where all data relevant to the wiki will be permanently removed. After a wiki is deleted from our servers, it will not be recoverable. Any efforts to continue that wiki must start over or have a backup (if one exists) imported.

Note that wikis don't have to be deleted as soon as they hit the 6-month mark. All wikis eligible for deletion will be deleted at the discretion of the system administrators.

Background

 * Requests for Comment/Changes to the Dormancy Policy (2) (amended) (November 2021)
 * Requests for Comment/Changes to the Dormancy Policy (amended) (May 2019)