Stupid Question re: Deleted Pages

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Ok, sorry, this is a stupid question, but when pages are deleted, are they truly gone? Or can pieces be cut from them for the purpose of creating a better page?

I'm asking because a religion-oriented page (Omnitheism) I had contributed to a long time ago was deleted; this wasn't that big a deal (and I agree there were some deficiencies in the page that was deleted), but the problem is that since that time, the page keeps being re-created as (I hate to sound judgmental, but...) a very non-encyclopedic, belief-centered, new-age piece. I'm sure the current version is a good faith contribution, and I'm not suggesting removal, but as an encyclopedia page it doesn't cut it.

Personally, I have enough interest & knowledge to contribute something, but not enough to re-create the page from scratch, especially when, truthfully, I don't really want to be associated much with the current version (which technically is not incorrect, however, and therefore will not be deleted by me -- that would be ironic given the title. Plus, the exact same thing will probably happen again...and again...). So I'm wondering if there is any way that I can access the mostly-good old article, copy much of the text, add some refs (the lack of which was the reason for deletion) and hopefully work in the "crystal" version that's currently up, in the appropriate way.

Does anyone know if this is possible? Aloha, --Laualoha 09:47, 27 September 2007 (UTC)

Deleted articles are not gone, they're just inaccessible to most editors. You can ask an admin to provide you with a copy of a deleted article. For an article that keeps getting recreated you'll probably need to specify a date for the version you want.
Equazcionargue/improves10:03, 09/27/2007
Likewise, if a recreated version of the article is clean enough to stick and contains multiple reliable sources, you can also ask at WP:DRV to have the edit history of the article and talk page restored. MrZaiustalk 10:38, 27 September 2007 (UTC)Reply


Nothing in the history is worth salvaging

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If you wish to try again for a new article, please begin from scratch. You may use your personal sandbox or Draft:Omnitheism. Then request a page move of your new version, to overwrite the current {{Wiktionary redirect}}. Do not try to start an article by editing the current soft-redirect. Do not begin with your top-of-mind knowledge of the topic and promise to add sources later, that won't fly. Thanks, wbm1058 (talk) 00:30, 5 June 2016 (UTC)Reply