Destructive Edit
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The term "destructive edit" refers to an edit that cannot easily be undone/reverted and that involves loss of (possibly good) data.
Edits that are considered "destructive" are never auto-edits; they always go into the voting queue (and can't be approved) so that they can get extra scrutiny.[1]
While merges and deletions are both destructive, merges are considered less destructive. The general rule is Merge Rather Than Delete, because merges redirect MBIDs rather than destroy them.
Notes
- ↑ URL removals are handled differently, they can be approved and are auto-edits by default for Auto-Editors