Before nominating a category:

• Read and understand the guidance for category names and overcategorization.
• For categories containing biographical articles, read the guidance for categorization of people.
• For categories containing the user pages of Wikipedians, read the guidance for user categories.

In the following special cases:

• If a category is a red link, then it is already deleted (or was never created in the first place) and does not need to be nominated.
• If a category is unpopulated, use {{db-catempty}} to request it be speedily deleted in 7 days.
• If a category is populated solely by a template (other than a stub template, see #Stub types below) and you are proposing to delete both the category and template, follow the instructions at Wikipedia:Templates for discussion.

For further information, see Wikipedia:Categorization and Wikipedia:Manual of Style.

Add one of the following templates at the beginning of the category page (not the talk page) of every category to be discussed. For nominations involving large numbers of categories, help adding these templates can be requested here.

Otherwise, if nominating a single category:

• For deleting, use {{subst:Cfd}}
• For merging, use {{subst:Cfm|Other category}}
  • For merging to two categories, use {{subst:Cfm-double|Other category 1|Other category 2}}
• For renaming, use {{subst:Cfr|Proposed name}}
• For splitting, use {{subst:Cfs|Proposed name 1|Proposed name 2}}
• For converting the category into a list, use {{subst:Cfl|Proposed name}}
• For other options (containerization, etc.), use {{subst:Cfd|type=nature of proposed discussion}} (see Template:Cfd/doc#Optional parameter)

If nominating a group of related categories, use a bundled nomination:

• For deleting, use {{subst:Cfd|CfD section name}}
• For merging, use {{subst:Cfm|Other category|CfD section name}}
  • For merging to two categories, use {{subst:Cfm-double|Other category 1|Other category 2|CfD section name}}
• For renaming, use {{subst:Cfr|Proposed name|CfD section name}}
• For splitting, use {{subst:Cfs|Proposed name 1|Proposed name 2|CfD section name}}
• For converting the category into a list, {{subst:Cfl|Proposed name|CfD section name}}
• For other options (containerization, etc.), use {{subst:Cfd|type=nature of proposed discussion|CfD section name}} (see Template:Cfd/doc#Optional parameter)

• Include "CfD", "CfM", "CfR", "CfS" or "CfL" in the edit summary, and do not mark the edit as minor. Preview before saving.
• To add the template for previous nomination days, use the "full" version of the template by appending "full" to the template name, i.e. {{cfd full}}, {{cfm full}}, {{cfr full}}, {{cfs full}} and {{cfl full}}. Use the |day=, |month= and |year= parameters to make the banner link to the correct CfD page.
• Consider adding {{subst:cfd notice|Category name|2024 December 14|CfD section name}} ~~~~ to the talk page of the category's creator.
• For details about these templates, see each template's documentation.

Follow the instructions (visible in edit mode) to copy and paste one of the templates below. When inserting category names into these template's parameters, except the text= parameter, omit the Category: prefix and do not use wikilinks, as the template takes care of this.

If nominating a single category:

• For deleting, use {{subst:Cfd2|Obsolete category|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed deletion. ~~~~}}
• For merging, use {{subst:Cfm2|Origin category|Destination category|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed merge. ~~~~}}
  • For merging to two categories, use {{subst:Cfm2|Origin category|Destination category 1|target2=Destination category 2|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed merge. ~~~~}}
• For renaming, use {{subst:Cfr2|Current category|Proposed name|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed rename. ~~~~}}
• For splitting, use {{subst:Cfs2|Current category|Proposed category 1|Proposed category 2|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed split. ~~~~}}
• For converting the category into a list, use {{subst:Cfc2|Current category|Proposed article|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed conversion. ~~~~}}
• For other options (containerization, etc.), use {{subst:Cfd2|Current category|type=other type|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed conversion. ~~~~}}

For a bundled nomination, use one of the standard templates to build the "Cfd section name" for the first nominated category. After saving that, the second and subsequent nominations must be inserted manually, as follows:

==== Cfd section name ====

* 1st category

* 2nd category [Make clear whether you propose deletion, merging or renaming]

* Your reason for nominating the categories, and signature.

• If a bundled nomination is too long, consider using {{hidden}} to hide some of the nominated categories.
• In your reason, use links if mentioning articles or categories. To link to a category, use the colon trick by adding a colon (:) to the beginning of the link, e.g. [[:Category:Foo]].
• Preview before saving to check that your nomination is formatted correctly, and remember to include your signature at the end of the nomination.

In general, a stub type consists of a stub template and a dedicated stub category. Before nominating a stub type for deletion, merging or renaming:

• Read and understand guidance for creating stub types and stub type naming conventions.
• Review the list of existing stub types—be advised, this list may not be comprehensive.
• If you wish to:
  • Create a new stub type—follow the procedure for proposing new stub types.
  • Delete, merge or rename a stub category only, without deleting or renaming the associated stub template—follow the instructions above this section.
  • Delete or rename a stub template—continue to section II.

Add one of the following tags at the beginning of the template to be discussed.

• For deletion, use {{subst:Sfd-t|Section name}}
• For renaming, use {{subst:Sfr-t|Proposed name|Section name}}

• Please include "SFD" or "SFR" in the edit summary, and don't mark the edit as minor. Preview before saving.
• Consider notifying the template's creator on their talk page. To find the contributor, check the page history of the stub template.

Follow the instructions (visible in edit mode) and paste the following text (remember to update the default parameters):

• For deletion, use {{subst:sfd-t2|TemplateName|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed deletion. ~~~~}}
• For renaming, use {{subst:sfr-t2|TemplateOldName|TemplateNewName|text=Your reason(s) for the proposed deletion. ~~~~}}

• In your rationale, mention how many articles currently use the template to help other editors. When linking to a category in your rationale, always add a colon (:) to the beginning of 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 check that your nomination is formatted correctly, and remember to include your signature at the end of the nomination.