Category talk:Orphaned articles

VFD discussion

Template:Orphan and Category:Orphaned articles

Unused template that still has the experiment tag on the top of the template page. It had the vfd tag at the top for about 6 years with, apparently, no clear results accomplished (see Template talk:Orphan) and the tag was finally removed in early March. But let's get this sorted out, once and for all. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 23:03, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

Keep. I think we should be making use of this. It was mentioned in the previous discussion that this just replicates Special:LonelyPages. I saw a page recently which does not appear in Special:LonelyPages because it was linked on the talk page of the anonymous editor who made it, but was otherwise unlinked from any mainspace page. This template would be a good use case for that. If there exists a truly equivalent special page, or at least a third-party tool, then I would see a case for deletion. ARR8 (talk | contribs) 23:10, 26 March 2019 (UTC)

The concern I have is that, during the nomination there may be some interest in the template, but within a month or two of being kept (if it is kept in the end), it will again return to disuse. If this template has been hardly ever used, if at all, since Wikivoyage was set up, I don't see why the template will become popular in the future. On top of this, the template is still currently in the "experimental" category, and as long as it remains experimental, the Orphan template can only be used on one page, more-or-less making it useless. If we move Template:Orphan out of the experimental category and we use it commonly, I don't mind keeping it, but otherwise, it's just more to take up space that never gets used. That is my concern. But thanks for your input. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 00:10, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

Keep. A little longer. If you look at the history I restored this at the beginning of March. Did some experiments to identify articles with no main page links to them. Method I tried did not work but still working on the subject on and off. AutoWikiBrowser should do this but could not get it to work. --Traveler100 (talk) 06:19, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

Keep Maintenance templates are often not be used - somebody identifies the problem and puts the template in the article, then the next day another editor fixes the problem and removes the template. Unless the problem can no longer occur, or there is a replacement way of identifying the problem, the template should be kept. AlasdairW (talk) 19:39, 27 March 2019 (UTC)

I have just added this template to Parks and monuments in New England and to Records, which I found in the current COTM push for banners on travel topics. I think that this shows that the template is useful. AlasdairW (talk) 22:18, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

I've nominated the first of those two for deletion, but trust me, that's in no way anything to do with Template:Orphan. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 01:46, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

I now see that the Maintenance Panel links to Special:LonelyPages as Orphaned pages. However I think that the template will highlight the issue to anybody else editing the page, which would normally mean that links would be added to other articles than nominating it here. AlasdairW (talk) 14:05, 29 March 2019 (UTC)

• I won't say too much, but I must say that I am being convinced. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 22:37, 28 March 2019 (UTC)

Comment undeleted the category created by the template and added it to this discussion. No sense in keeping one without the other. ARR8 (talk | contribs) 15:56, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

Sorry, when was the category undeleted? I don't see that in the page history. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 16:34, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

Just now - see Special:Log for that page ARR8 (talk | contribs) 16:43, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

Sure, thanks. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 17:02, 30 March 2019 (UTC)

• Result: keep. --Comment by Selfie City (talk | contributions) 15:27, 8 April 2019 (UTC)

Status

As of 20th May 2019 there were 128 orphaned articles. --Traveler100 (talk) 07:23, 20 May 2019 (UTC)