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When reverting, be sure to indicate your reasons. This can be done in the ] and/or ]. Anti-vandalism tools such as ], ] and ] should not be used to undo good-faith changes in content disputes without an appropriate edit summary. When reverting, be sure to indicate your reasons. This can be done in the ] and/or ]. Anti-vandalism tools such as ], ] and ] should not be used to undo good-faith changes in content disputes without an appropriate edit summary.

==Sanctions for edit warring==
⚫ Editors who engage in edit warring are liable to be ] from editing in order to prevent further disruption. While any edit warring may lead to sanctions, there is a ] called the "three-revert rule", the violation of which often leads to a block.


=== The three-revert rule === === The three-revert rule ===
{{shortcut|WP:3RR}}{{anchor|Application}} {{shortcut|WP:3RR}}{{anchor|Application}}
⚫ Editors who engage in edit warring are liable to be ] from editing to prevent further disruption. While any edit warring may lead to sanctions, there is a ] called the '''three-revert rule''' ('''3RR'''), the violation of which often leads to a block. The 3RR rule states:
The '''three-revert rule''' ("3RR") states:
<br/>
<br/>
⚫ {{divbox|blue|radius=4em|An editor must not perform '''more than three reverts''' on a '''single page''' within a '''24-hour period'''. Undoing another editor's work—whether in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material each time—counts as a revert. Violations of the 3RR rule normally attract blocks of at least 24 hours. Any appearance of gaming the system by reverting a fourth time just outside the 24-hour slot is likely to be treated as a 3RR violation. See below for exemptions.}}
<br/>
⚫ A "page" means any page on Misplaced Pages, including talk and project space. A "revert" means any edit (or administrative action) that reverses the actions of other editors, in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material. It can involve as little as one word. A series of consecutive saved revert edits by one user with no intervening edits by another user counts as one revert.


⚫ The 3RR rule applies per person, not per account; reverts made by ] operated by one editor count together. Editors violating 3RR will usually be blocked for 24 hours for a first incident. {{anchor|Not an entitlement|Is not an entitlement}} Even without a 3RR violation, an administrator may still act if they believe a user's behavior constitutes edit warring, and any user may ] with or without 3RR being breached. The rule is '''not an entitlement''' to revert a page a specific number of times.
⚫ {{divbox|green||An editor must not perform '''more than three reverts''' on a '''single page''' within a '''24-hour period'''. With a few special exceptions, undoing another editor's work—whether in whole or in part, whether it involves the same or different material each time—counts as a revert. Violations of the 3RR rule normally attract blocks of at least 24 hours. Any appearance of gaming the system by reverting a fourth time just outside the 24-hour slot is likely to be treated as a 3RR violation. See below for exceptions to the rule.}}


⚫ If an editor violates 3RR by mistake, they should ] their own most recent reversion. Administrators may take this into account and decide not to block in such cases—for example if the user is not an habitual edit warrior and is genuinely trying to rectify their own mistake.
A "page" means any page on Misplaced Pages, including talk and project space.


====3RR exemptions====
{{anchor|Exceptions}} {{anchor|Exceptions}}
The following actions are ''not'' counted as reverts for the purposes of 3RR:
⚫ A "revert" means any edit (or administrative action) that reverses the actions of ''other'' editors, in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material. It can involve as little as one word. A series of consecutive saved revert edits by one user with no intervening edits by another user counts as one revert. The following actions are ''not'' counted as reverts for the purposes of the three-revert rule:

* Reverting your own actions ("self-reverting"). * Reverting your own actions ("self-reverting").
* <span id="Exception_for_user_page_and_user_subpages" />Reverting edits to pages in your own user space, so long as you are respecting the ] guidelines. * <span id="Exception_for_user_page_and_user_subpages" />Reverting edits to pages in your own user space, so long as you are respecting the ] guidelines.
* Reverting actions performed by ]. * Reverting actions performed by ].
* Reverting '''obvious''' ] – edits which any well-intentioned user would immediately agree constitute vandalism, such as page blanking and adding offensive language. * Reverting '''obvious''' ]—edits that any well-intentioned user would agree constitute vandalism, such as page blanking and adding offensive language.
* Removal of clear ] or content that unquestionably violates ]. * Removal of clear ] or content that '''unquestionably''' violates ].
* Removal of other content that is clearly illegal in the U.S. state of Florida where Misplaced Pages's servers are located, such as child pornography and pirated software. * Removal of other content that is clearly illegal in the U.S. state of Florida where Misplaced Pages's servers are located, such as child pornography and pirated software.
* Removal of libelous, biased, unsourced, or poorly sourced contentious material that violates the policy on ] (BLP). What counts as exempt under BLP can be controversial. Consider reporting to the ] instead of relying on this exemption. * Removal of libelous, biased, unsourced, or poorly sourced contentious material that violates the policy on ] (BLP). What counts as exempt under BLP can be controversial. Consider reporting to the ] instead of relying on this exemption.
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If you are claiming an exemption, make sure there is a clearly visible edit summary or separate section of the talk page that explains the exemption. When in doubt, do not revert. Instead, engage in ], and in particular ask for help at ] such as the ]. If you are claiming an exemption, make sure there is a clearly visible edit summary or separate section of the talk page that explains the exemption. When in doubt, do not revert. Instead, engage in ], and in particular ask for help at ] such as the ].

⚫ The 3RR rule applies per person, not per account; reverts made by ] count together. Editors violating the rule will usually be blocked for 24 hours for a first incident. {{anchor|Not an entitlement|Is not an entitlement}} An administrator may still act whenever they believe a user's behavior constitutes edit warring, and any user may ] edit-warring, even if the three-revert rule has not been breached. The rule is '''not an entitlement''' to revert a page a specific number of times.

⚫ If an editor breaks the three-revert rule by mistake, they should ] their own most recent reversion. Administrators may take this into account and decide not to block in such cases, for example if the user is not a habitual edit warrior and appears to be genuinely trying to rectify their own mistake.


===Other revert rules=== ===Other revert rules===

Revision as of 06:33, 27 January 2011

"WP:EW" redirects here. For To report editors who are edit warring, please see the Edit warring noticeboard, see WP:EW (disambiguation).
This page documents an English Misplaced Pages policy.It describes a widely accepted standard that editors should normally follow, though exceptions may apply. Changes made to it should reflect consensus.Shortcuts
This page in a nutshell: Don't use edits to fight with other editors – disagreements should be resolved through discussion.
Page history showing a severe edit war

An edit war occurs when editors who disagree about the content of a page repeatedly override each other's contributions, rather than trying to resolve the disagreement by discussion. Edit warring is unconstructive and creates animosity between editors, making it harder to reach a consensus. Users who engage in edit wars risk being blocked or even banned.

There is a bright line known as the three-revert rule (3RR). A revert means undoing the actions of another editor. The 3RR rule says an editor must not perform more than three reverts, in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material, on a single page within a 24-hour period. Any appearance of gaming the system by reverting a fourth time just outside the 24-hour slot is likely to be treated as a 3RR violation. There are certain exemptions to 3RR, such as reverting vandalism or clear violations of the Biographies of living persons policy; see below for details.

What edit warring is

See also: Misplaced Pages:Editing policy
Conduct policies

Not every revert or controversial edit is regarded as edit warring:

  • Misplaced Pages encourages editors to be bold. A potentially controversial change may be made to find out whether it is opposed. Another editor may revert it. This is known as the bold, revert, discuss (BRD) cycle. An edit war only arises if the situation develops into a series of back-and-forth reverts.
  • Reverting vandalism is not edit warring, but note that merely editing from a slanted point of view, general insertion or removal of material, or other good-faith changes, are not considered vandalism. See Types of vandalism and What is not vandalism.
  • Reverting to enforce certain overriding policies is not considered edit warring. For example, under the policy on biographies of living persons, where negative unsourced content is being introduced, the risk of harm is such that removal is required.
  • Reverting edits by banned users is not edit warring.

When reverting, be sure to indicate your reasons. This can be done in the edit summary and/or talk page. Anti-vandalism tools such as Twinkle, Huggle and rollback should not be used to undo good-faith changes in content disputes without an appropriate edit summary.

The three-revert rule

Shortcut

Editors who engage in edit warring are liable to be blocked from editing to prevent further disruption. While any edit warring may lead to sanctions, there is a bright-line rule called the three-revert rule (3RR), the violation of which often leads to a block. The 3RR rule states:

An editor must not perform more than three reverts on a single page within a 24-hour period. Undoing another editor's work—whether in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material each time—counts as a revert. Violations of the 3RR rule normally attract blocks of at least 24 hours. Any appearance of gaming the system by reverting a fourth time just outside the 24-hour slot is likely to be treated as a 3RR violation. See below for exemptions.


A "page" means any page on Misplaced Pages, including talk and project space. A "revert" means any edit (or administrative action) that reverses the actions of other editors, in whole or in part, whether involving the same or different material. It can involve as little as one word. A series of consecutive saved revert edits by one user with no intervening edits by another user counts as one revert.

The 3RR rule applies per person, not per account; reverts made by multiple accounts operated by one editor count together. Editors violating 3RR will usually be blocked for 24 hours for a first incident. Even without a 3RR violation, an administrator may still act if they believe a user's behavior constitutes edit warring, and any user may report edit-warring with or without 3RR being breached. The rule is not an entitlement to revert a page a specific number of times.

If an editor violates 3RR by mistake, they should reverse their own most recent reversion. Administrators may take this into account and decide not to block in such cases—for example if the user is not an habitual edit warrior and is genuinely trying to rectify their own mistake.

3RR exemptions

The following actions are not counted as reverts for the purposes of 3RR:

  • Reverting your own actions ("self-reverting").
  • Reverting edits to pages in your own user space, so long as you are respecting the user page guidelines.
  • Reverting actions performed by banned users.
  • Reverting obvious vandalism—edits that any well-intentioned user would agree constitute vandalism, such as page blanking and adding offensive language.
  • Removal of clear copyright violations or content that unquestionably violates the non-free content policy.
  • Removal of other content that is clearly illegal in the U.S. state of Florida where Misplaced Pages's servers are located, such as child pornography and pirated software.
  • Removal of libelous, biased, unsourced, or poorly sourced contentious material that violates the policy on biographies of living persons (BLP). What counts as exempt under BLP can be controversial. Consider reporting to the BLP noticeboard instead of relying on this exemption.
  • Considerable leeway is given to editors reverting to maintain the quality of a featured article while it appears on the main page.

If you are claiming an exemption, make sure there is a clearly visible edit summary or separate section of the talk page that explains the exemption. When in doubt, do not revert. Instead, engage in dispute resolution, and in particular ask for help at relevant noticeboards such as the Edit war/3RR noticeboard.

Other revert rules

Shortcuts

Additional restrictions on reverting are sometimes imposed on particular editors and/or particular pages, by ArbCom or under administrator enforcement, or by the community (see Editing restrictions). These may be phrased using such terms as 1RR ("one-revert rule") or 0RR ("zero-revert rule"). A "one-revert rule" is analogous to the three-revert rule as described above, with the words "more than three reverts" replaced by "more than one revert". A zero-revert rule means a complete prohibition on reverts (as defined for the purposes of the three-revert rule). Sometimes editors voluntarily agree to abide by a stricter standard on reverting such as 1RR or 0RR, either in response to problems in a particular area, or as a general editing philosophy. For more details, see Misplaced Pages:Revert only when necessary.

Handling of edit warring behaviors

What to do if you see edit warring behavior

If an edit war develops, participants should try to discuss the issue on the talk page and work things out.

It is better to seek help in addressing the issue than to engage in edit warring over it. When disagreement becomes apparent, one, both, or all participants should cease warring and try to discuss the issue on the talk page, or approach appropriate venues for help. Other alternative approaches recommended within the community are suggested below.

If, despite trying, one or more users will not cease edit warring, refuse to work collaboratively or heed the information given to them, or will not move on to appropriate dispute resolution, then a request for administrative involvement via a report at the Edit war/3RR noticeboard is the norm. A warning is not required, but if the user appears unaware that edit warring is prohibited, they can be told about this policy by posting a {{uw-3rr}} template message on their user talk page. Avoid posting a generic warning template if actively involved in the edit war, it can be seen as aggressive. Consider writing your own note to the user specifically appropriate for the situation, with a view to explicitly cooling things down.

How experienced editors avoid being dragged into edit wars

Shortcut
This section in a nutshell: Communication is the key to avoiding conflict: follow Misplaced Pages:Editing policy#Talking and editing.

In general, communication is the key to avoiding conflict: follow Misplaced Pages:Editing policy#Talking and editing. Once it is clear that there is a dispute, avoid relying solely on edit summaries and discuss the matter on the article's talk page. The primary venue for discussing the dispute should be the article talk page, which is where a reviewing admin will look for evidence of trying to settle the dispute. It may help to remember that there is no deadline and that editors can add appropriate cleanup tags to problematic sections under current discussion. When discussion does not produce a conclusion, bringing wider attention to a dispute can lead to compromise. Consider getting a third opinion or starting a request for comments. Neutral editors aware of the dispute will help curb egregious edits while also building consensus about the dispute. When these methods fail, seek informal and formal dispute resolution.

A number of experienced editors deliberately adopt a policy of reverting only edits covered by the exceptions listed above, or limiting themselves to a single revert; if there is further dispute they seek dialog or outside help rather than make the problem worse. Editors may wish to adopt a policy of reverting only edits covered by the exceptions listed above; see Misplaced Pages:Revert only when necessary. This policy may be particularly appropriate for controversial topics where views are polarized and emotions run high, and as a result edit warring is more frequent.

The bottom line: use common sense, and do not participate in edit wars. Rather than reverting repeatedly, discuss the matter with others; if a revert is necessary, another editor may conclude the same and do it (without you prompting them), which would then demonstrate consensus for the action. Request page protection rather than becoming part of the dispute by reverting.

Administrator guidance

Administrators decide whether to issue a warning or block; these are intended to prevent, deter and encourage change in disruptive behavior, not to punish it. Where a block is appropriate, 24 hours is common for a first offense; administrators tend to issue longer blocks for repeated or aggravated violations, and will consider other factors, such as civility and previous blocks. Where multiple editors edit war or breach 3RR, administrators should consider all sides, since perceived unfairness can fuel issues. However, according to wp:administrators, "Administrators should not use their tools to advantage, or in a content dispute (or article) where they are a party (or significant editor), or where a significant conflict of interest is likely to exist."

See also

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