Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Howto 

Determine whether the category needs deleting, merging, or renaming.

1. If it is a red link and has no articles or subcategories, then it is already deleted (more likely, it was never really created in the first place), and does not need to be listed here.
2. Read and understand Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories) before using this page. Nominate categories here that violate policies, or are misspelled, mis-capitalized, redundant, need to be merged, not NPOV, small without potential for growth, or are generally bad ideas.
3. Please read the Wikipedia:Categorization of people policy when nominating or voting on a people-related category.
4. In the following four special cases:
   1. If the category in question is a stub category, go to Wikipedia:Stub types for deletion.
   2. If the category in question is a user category, go to Wikipedia:User categories for discussion.
   3. If the category is only populated by a template and both the category and template are being proposed for deletion, go to Wikipedia:Templates for deletion. For a template with the same name use {{catfd}}.
   4. If the category is empty for more than four days, use {{db-catempty}} for a speedy deletion.

• For further information, please consult Wikipedia:Category deletion policy, Wikipedia:Categorization, Wikipedia:Manual of Style, and Wikipedia:Naming conventions (categories).

Add one of the following tags at the top of the category text of every category to be deleted or renamed.

If the category is a candidate for speedy renaming, use:

• {{subst:cfr-speedy|ProposedName}}

and follow the instructions at Speedy renaming.

If a single category:

• For deletion, {{subst:cfd}}
• For a merger, {{subst:cfm|OtherCategory}}
• For renaming, {{subst:cfr|ProposedName}}
• For converting the category text into an article, {{subst:cfc|ProposedName}}

If a group of similar categories or a category and its subcategories, use an umbrella nomination (each category must be tagged, for nominations involving large numbers of categories tagging help can be requested at the talk page):

• For deletion, {{subst:cfd|CfdSectionName}}
• For a merger, {{subst:cfm|OtherCategory|CfdSectionName}}
• For renaming, {{subst:cfr|ProposedName|CfdSectionName}}
• For converting the category text into an article, {{subst:cfc|ProposedName|CfdSectionName}}

• Please include "cfd", "cfm", "cfr", or "cfc" in the edit summary, and don't mark the edit as minor.
• Preview before saving. The display will give more precise instructions about the next step.
• See the talk pages at Cfd, Cfm, Cfr, and Cfc for more specific information.
• Consider adding {{subst:cfdnotice|Cfd section name|date=yyyy Month d}} to the main article's talk page or to categories that are merge targets to notify users that the category has been nominated for deletion or renaming. Doing so would not only extend an additional courtesy, but possibly also bring in editors who know more about the subject at hand. See the doc page at cfdnotice for more information on how to use this template.

Click on THIS LINK to edit the section of CFD for today's entries.

Follow the instructions in the comments (visible during edit), to copy and paste the template shown. All categories are specified without the Category: prefix.

For {{Cfd}}, use:

{{subst:cfd2|ObsoleteCategory|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed deletion. ~~~~}}

For {{Cfm}}, use:

{{subst:cfm2|FromCategory|ToCategory|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed merge. ~~~~}}

For {{Cfr}}, to a definite name use:

{{subst:cfr2|OldCategory|NewCategory|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}

For {{Cfr}}, to an indefinite name use:

{{subst:cfr2|OldCategory|to be determined by consensus|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}

For {{Cfc}}, use:

{{subst:cfc2|FromCategory|ToArticle|text= Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}

For umbrella nominations, the standard templates should build the "Cfd section name" for the 1st nomination, although the 2nd and subsequent nominations must be added manually, like this:

==== Cfd section name ====

• 1st category
• 2nd category
• '''Your vote''': Your reason for nominating the category ~~~~

• When using these templates, the old and new categories you specify are automatically converted to links: you do not specify them as links yourself.
• Include delete:, merge: etc. at the start of your reason (after text=) to make it clear what you are recommending.
• In your reason, please link appropriate articles or categories to help other editors.
• In your reason, when linking to a category, always add a colon (':') in the link, like [[:Category:Foo]]. This makes a category link that can be seen on the page (and avoids putting this page into the category you are nominating).
• Preview before saving to ensure all the fields have been properly listed.