Introduction and Disclaimer
NOTE: AS OF 2026/06/21, SERVICES AND DOCUMENTS CAN NOW BE DEPRECATED PERMANENTLY!
- Dr_Jeff, Staff Member
If you’re a Curator or Staff member, the following are some guidelines I strongly recommend when deprecating a Service or Document consistently.
Requirements For Deprecating
Bear in mind that, for each subsection below, one or more reasons can occur. The more apply to the target Service/Document, the more definitive is the deprecation.
Services
A service is deprecated when:
- Must be merged with another existing service
- Is a duplicate of an already existing service
- The URL is not found (404 or domain for sale page)
- It has gone bankrupt and/or been discontinued
- The website no longer appears anywhere
- The service provider has communicated with us to tell us that the service will no longer be valid
Documents
A Document is deprecated when:
- Its URL cannot be found, and no similar alternatives are available.
- The Document is a duplicate of an existing one.
Guidelines
- (CURATORS) Notify Staff about the deprecated Service/Document so that they can deprecate it.
- (STAFF) If the Service/Document is valid for deprecation, press the “Deprecate Service” or “Deprecate Document” buttons, depending on what is being deprecated.
If you encounter an issue at any step (and you followed through as instructed) please notify Staff about it, or try again.
Final Remarks
I hope this guide was helpful for you. If you have any feedback, questions or comments for this, please reply below.