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| {{Disputedpolicy}} | {{Disputedpolicy}} | ||
| {{guideline|]<br/>]}} | {{guideline|]<br/>]}} | ||
| Misplaced Pages's '''] ]''' is one of the most visible and heavily edited on the site. For this reason, it receives a lot of ] edits from unregistered users visiting Misplaced Pages. | Misplaced Pages's '''] ]''' is one of the most visible and heavily edited on the site. For this reason, it receives a lot of ] edits from unregistered users visiting Misplaced Pages. It has thus been suggested many times in the past that the featured article should thus be ] or ]. Full protection of the page is generally prohibited. ] may semi-protect the page until the end of the day or for shorter periods as a response to heavy vandalism. They should notify the community when they choose to do so. Circumstances under which semi-protection are appropriate are given below. | ||
| It has been suggested many times in the past that the featured article should thus be ] or ]. Protection of the page is generally prohibited. ] are advised to use extreme caution when deciding whether to semi-protect the page. They should notify the community when they choose to do so. Circumstances under which semi-protection are appropriate are given below. | |||
| ==Rationale== | ==Rationale== | ||
| There are several reasons for this policy. | There are several reasons for this policy. | ||
| * Some featured articles may be improved by their time on the main page.<ref> of ]: Today's featured article on ] ].</ref> Fully protecting the featured articles might postpone or even prevent these improvements. However, unprotected articles are not always improved and can be damaged while on the Main Page.<ref> of ]: Today's featured article on ] ]. There are three errors introduced by vandals: "predecessor =<nowiki>]</nowiki>", "In 817" (should be 917), and "they was resting".</ref> There is also no evidence that ''semi''-protecting the articles will prevent improvement. | |||
| * Almost without exception, featured articles are improved by their time on the main page (some of them greatly improved). Check out these before-and-after diffs from September 2005: . Protecting the featured articles means that these pages may not be improved. | |||
| * A featured article ] ''"exemplify our very best work, representing Misplaced Pages's unique qualities on the Internet"''. This includes being editable by anyone. Visitors often tend to look at our most visible articles, and having those articles editable helps attract new users to the project. |
* A featured article ] ''"exemplify our very best work, representing Misplaced Pages's unique qualities on the Internet"''. This includes being editable by anyone.<ref>]'s slogan describes it as 'the 💕 that anyone can edit.'</ref> Visitors often tend to look at our most visible articles, and having those articles editable helps attract new users to the project. | ||
| * Much vandalism (especially to highly visible articles like the main page featured article) is cleaned up |
* Much vandalism (especially to highly visible articles like the main page featured article) is cleaned up fairly quickly. Main page featured article vandalism is reverted with an average response time of 1 minute 35 seconds.<ref name="December study" /> This is helped by specialized automated bots such as ]. What is most important for readers however is not how quickly vandalism is removed, but how much time the page spends in a vandalized state. On average FAs are vandalized for over two hours of total time during their stay on the main page.<ref name="December study">For detailed data see ] - a study on the nature of edits while on the Main Page.</ref><ref>See also ] and ]</ref> | ||
| * Although the more visible featured article of the day attracts more vandals than other articles, it also attracts more curious and good faith editors. A higher than normal volume of edits due to the high visibility of the article will correspond with a higher than normal volume of vandalism. |
* Although the more visible featured article of the day attracts more vandals than other articles, it also attracts more curious and good faith editors. A higher than normal volume of edits due to the high visibility of the article will correspond with a higher than normal volume of vandalism. | ||
| * This is codified in the page protection policy: ''When a page is particularly high profile, either because it is linked off the main page, or because it has recently received a prominent link from offsite, it will often become a target for vandalism. It is best not to protect pages in this case. Instead, consider adding them to your watchlist, and reverting vandalism yourself.'' - ] | |||
| ==Counter rationale== | ==Counter rationale== | ||
| Line 18: | Line 15: | ||
| * Without exception, featured articles on the main page are brutally vandalized, and many editors spend more time reverting vandals than improving the article. | * Without exception, featured articles on the main page are brutally vandalized, and many editors spend more time reverting vandals than improving the article. | ||
| * "Our best work" is not exemplified by a new user coming in and seeing vandalized pages featured on the main page. | * "Our best work" is not exemplified by a new user coming in and seeing vandalized pages featured on the main page. | ||
| * Users should not have to fight vandals in the first place. | |||
| * It is best to not allow the problem to occur in the first place than wasting time cleaning up. | * It is best to not allow the problem to occur in the first place than wasting time cleaning up. | ||
| * Having to fight vandals subject the article's editors to harassment and is insulting to their work. The attitude that the article on the Main Page should not be protected from unregistered users is insulting and fails to consider the welfare of the people behind the article. | * Having to fight vandals subject the article's editors to harassment and is insulting to their work. The attitude that the article on the Main Page should not be protected from unregistered users is insulting and fails to consider the welfare of the people behind the article. | ||
| * Most new users don't first encounter Misplaced Pages via the main page but by Google search hits, or links from other sites; thus, the argument about all the new users being able to edit this article is moot. | |||
| * Many users waste their time fighting front-page article vandals instead of producing good articles. | * Many users waste their time fighting front-page article vandals instead of producing good articles. | ||
| * Many new and newer users come to the talk page to register their complaints and dismay that the FA is being vandalized and request protection. When it is protected, few good faith new users seem to ever request unprotection on the talk page, countering the idea that new users would prefer a page they can edit to a page that isn't vandalized | * Many new and newer users come to the talk page to register their complaints and dismay that the FA is being vandalized and request protection. When it is protected, few good faith new users seem to ever request unprotection on the talk page, countering the idea that new users would prefer a page they can edit to a page that isn't vandalized. | ||
| *Most of the logic that applies to main page protection also applies to the main page FA, though the polices are completely different - one being completely protected, the other less so than a normal article. | |||
| * Vandalism isn't always cleaned up quickly, with many FAs being vandalized for over an hour of total time during their stay on the main page | |||
| *Registration is required for much more trivial matters than editing the main page, such as uploading a picture to ]. | |||
| ==Protection== | ==Protection== | ||
| Full protection prevents anyone without administrative powers from editing an article. This should almost never occur on the day's featured article, and should only be used in rare situations where semi-protection is ineffective. | |||
| ==Semi-protection== | ===Semi-protection=== | ||
| ] prevents all unregistered or recently registered users from editing a page. The main page featured article |
] prevents all unregistered or recently registered users from editing a page. The main page featured article may be semi-protected until the end of the day or for shorter periods when, for example, a range of dynamic ]es are being used to vandalize the featured article page in quick succession; where personal information or potentially distressing content is being repeatedly placed onto the article; or where a few minutes of protection are needed to remove harmful vandalism from a page. In general, the higher the number of readers, the greater the likelihood of anonymous user vandalism, and the more the need for semi-protection. | ||
| Semi-protection can thus be introduced for |
Semi-protection can thus be introduced for brief periods, though admins may prefer to try other methods of dealing with vandalism first, such as blocking problematic accounts and IPs. | ||
| ==Templates== | ===Templates=== | ||
| Templates included in the main page FA are sometimes vandalized, and it is more difficult to find the source of this kind of vandalism quickly. It is also less likely that casual readers would need to modify the templates. Admins may semi/full-protect the templates as needed. | Templates included in the main page FA are sometimes vandalized, and it is more difficult to find the source of this kind of vandalism quickly. It is also less likely that casual readers would need to modify the templates. Admins may semi/full-protect the templates as needed. | ||
| ⚫ | ===Move protection=== | ||
| ⚫ | To qualify for ] status, the day's featured article will be at a stable and agreed-upon title. Therefore, admins should protect the article from being moved, before it is posted on the main page. For housekeeping and process reasons, this protection should be lifted at the end of an article's stay on the front page. | ||
| ==Notification== | ==Notification== | ||
| Should an administrator deem that protection or semi-protection of the Main Page featured article is necessary, a notice should be placed at the ] |
Should an administrator deem that protection or semi-protection of the Main Page featured article is necessary, a notice should be placed at the ] as to the reason and rationale behind the decision to protect or semi-protect, and whether there are any recommended steps for the unprotection of the page. | ||
| ⚫ | ==Move protection== | ||
| ⚫ | To qualify for ] status, the day's featured article will be at a stable and agreed-upon title. Therefore, |
||
| ==Other front page articles== | ==Other front page articles== | ||
| These are covered under the ]. Although they can be semi-protected, admins should generally be more cautious in applying protection to these pages. To qualify for semi-protection, articles linked via the front page should be experiencing a higher frequency of vandalism than other articles. | These are covered under the ]. Although they can be semi-protected, admins should generally be more cautious in applying protection to these pages. To qualify for semi-protection, articles linked via the front page should be experiencing a higher frequency of vandalism than other articles. | ||
| Note that none of |
Note that none of these guidelines apply to the main page itself, which is always protected "as a result of repeated vandalism of the Main Page and keeps our welcome mat clean." – ] | ||
| ==Notes== | |||
| {{Reflist}} | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * ] - A recent study on the nature of edits while on the Main Page. | |||
| ] | ] | ||
| ] | ] | ||
Revision as of 15:54, 1 June 2007
 | This page's designation as a policy or guideline is disputed or under discussion. Please see the relevant talk page discussion for further information. |
 | This page documents an English Misplaced Pages ]. Editors should generally follow it, though exceptions may apply. Substantive edits to this page should reflect consensus. When in doubt, discuss first on this guideline's talk page. |
]
Misplaced Pages's Main Page featured article is one of the most visible and heavily edited on the site. For this reason, it receives a lot of vandal edits from unregistered users visiting Misplaced Pages. It has thus been suggested many times in the past that the featured article should thus be protected or semi-protected. Full protection of the page is generally prohibited. Administrators may semi-protect the page until the end of the day or for shorter periods as a response to heavy vandalism. They should notify the community when they choose to do so. Circumstances under which semi-protection are appropriate are given below.
Rationale
There are several reasons for this policy.
- Some featured articles may be improved by their time on the main page. Fully protecting the featured articles might postpone or even prevent these improvements. However, unprotected articles are not always improved and can be damaged while on the Main Page. There is also no evidence that semi-protecting the articles will prevent improvement.
- A featured article is supposed to "exemplify our very best work, representing Misplaced Pages's unique qualities on the Internet". This includes being editable by anyone. Visitors often tend to look at our most visible articles, and having those articles editable helps attract new users to the project.
- Much vandalism (especially to highly visible articles like the main page featured article) is cleaned up fairly quickly. Main page featured article vandalism is reverted with an average response time of 1 minute 35 seconds. This is helped by specialized automated bots such as AntiVandalBot. What is most important for readers however is not how quickly vandalism is removed, but how much time the page spends in a vandalized state. On average FAs are vandalized for over two hours of total time during their stay on the main page.
- Although the more visible featured article of the day attracts more vandals than other articles, it also attracts more curious and good faith editors. A higher than normal volume of edits due to the high visibility of the article will correspond with a higher than normal volume of vandalism.
Counter rationale
Reasons not to have the policy.
- Without exception, featured articles on the main page are brutally vandalized, and many editors spend more time reverting vandals than improving the article.
- "Our best work" is not exemplified by a new user coming in and seeing vandalized pages featured on the main page.
- It is best to not allow the problem to occur in the first place than wasting time cleaning up.
- Having to fight vandals subject the article's editors to harassment and is insulting to their work. The attitude that the article on the Main Page should not be protected from unregistered users is insulting and fails to consider the welfare of the people behind the article.
- Many users waste their time fighting front-page article vandals instead of producing good articles.
- Many new and newer users come to the talk page to register their complaints and dismay that the FA is being vandalized and request protection. When it is protected, few good faith new users seem to ever request unprotection on the talk page, countering the idea that new users would prefer a page they can edit to a page that isn't vandalized.
- Most of the logic that applies to main page protection also applies to the main page FA, though the polices are completely different - one being completely protected, the other less so than a normal article.
- Registration is required for much more trivial matters than editing the main page, such as uploading a picture to Wikimedia Commons.
Protection
Full protection prevents anyone without administrative powers from editing an article. This should almost never occur on the day's featured article, and should only be used in rare situations where semi-protection is ineffective.
Semi-protection
Semi-protection prevents all unregistered or recently registered users from editing a page. The main page featured article may be semi-protected until the end of the day or for shorter periods when, for example, a range of dynamic IP addresses are being used to vandalize the featured article page in quick succession; where personal information or potentially distressing content is being repeatedly placed onto the article; or where a few minutes of protection are needed to remove harmful vandalism from a page. In general, the higher the number of readers, the greater the likelihood of anonymous user vandalism, and the more the need for semi-protection.
Semi-protection can thus be introduced for brief periods, though admins may prefer to try other methods of dealing with vandalism first, such as blocking problematic accounts and IPs.
Templates
Templates included in the main page FA are sometimes vandalized, and it is more difficult to find the source of this kind of vandalism quickly. It is also less likely that casual readers would need to modify the templates. Admins may semi/full-protect the templates as needed.
Move protection
To qualify for featured article status, the day's featured article will be at a stable and agreed-upon title. Therefore, admins should protect the article from being moved, before it is posted on the main page. For housekeeping and process reasons, this protection should be lifted at the end of an article's stay on the front page.
Notification
Should an administrator deem that protection or semi-protection of the Main Page featured article is necessary, a notice should be placed at the Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard as to the reason and rationale behind the decision to protect or semi-protect, and whether there are any recommended steps for the unprotection of the page.
Other front page articles
These are covered under the semi-protection policy. Although they can be semi-protected, admins should generally be more cautious in applying protection to these pages. To qualify for semi-protection, articles linked via the front page should be experiencing a higher frequency of vandalism than other articles.
Note that none of these guidelines apply to the main page itself, which is always protected "as a result of repeated vandalism of the Main Page and keeps our welcome mat clean." – Misplaced Pages:Main Page FAQ#Why am I not able to edit the Main Page?
Notes
- Before and after comparison of Diplodocus: Today's featured article on 26 May 2007.
- Before and after comparison of Simeon I of Bulgaria: Today's featured article on 27 May 2007. There are three errors introduced by vandals: "predecessor =]", "In 817" (should be 917), and "they was resting".
- Misplaced Pages's slogan describes it as 'the 💕 that anyone can edit.'
- ^ For detailed data see Misplaced Pages talk:Don't protect Main Page featured articles/December Main Page FA analysis - a study on the nature of edits while on the Main Page.
- See also Misplaced Pages talk:Main Page featured article protection#some analysis and Misplaced Pages talk:Main Page featured article protection#Time taken to correct vandalism