Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 02:25, 28 October 2006

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.

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Pages that are semi-protected cannot be edited by unregistered users or accounts less than four days old.

A page can be semi-protected by an administrator in response to vandalism from multiple anonymous or newly-created accounts, where blocking them individually is not a solution. It can also be used to stop banned or blocked users who are using multiple IPs or accounts from editing an article. Semi-protection is usually a temporary measure, and lifted once the problem is likely to have passed, but some articles with a history of vandalism, such as George W. Bush or Jew, may be semi-protected on a continuous basis.

Semi-protected pages are indicated with {{sprotected}} and listed at Misplaced Pages:Protected page#Semi-protection and Category:Semi-protected. To request that semi-protection be lifted, leave a note on the protecting admin's talk page, on the attached discussion page, an existing thread on Misplaced Pages:Administrators' noticeboard/Incidents, or Misplaced Pages:Requests for page protection.

When to use semi-protection

Semi-protection should be considered if it is the only reasonable option left to deal with vandalism on a page or to stop a banned or blocked user from editing it.

Like full protection, it is usually not a pre-emptive measure. However, Jimbo Wales has suggested semi-protection may be used in cases of "minor bios of slightly well known but controversial individuals" which are not widely watchlisted, if they are "subject to POV pushing, trolling vandalism." In such cases, semi-protection "would at least eliminate the drive-by nonsense that we see so often."

Official policy pages

All official policies should be semi-protected on a continuous basis.

When not to use semi-protection

Semi-protection should not be used:

• As a pre-emptive measure against vandalism before any vandalism has occurred;
• As a response to regular content disputes, since it may restrict some editors and not others (see the protection policy for how to deal with this);
• In the case of a static IP vandal hitting a page (blocking is preferable to semi-protection);
• On the day's Featured Article, which should almost never be protected, in the interests of encouraging newcomers to be bold. Other pages linked from the Main Page may be protected if under attack;
• To prohibit anonymous editing in general.

Talk pages

Article talk pages are not protected as a rule. User talk pages subject to persistent vandalism, harassment, or trolling may be semi-protected or protected on request. Those of users engaging with new and/or unregistered editors should be protected sparingly to permit communication.

How

Semi-protection can be requested at Misplaced Pages:Requests for page protection, the article's talk page or, if a fast response is required, the incidents noticeboard.

Administrators:

1. In the protection interface, choose "Block new and unregistered users".
2. The tag {{sprotected}} may be added to the top of the page, which automatically adds the article to Category:Semi-protected, but the tag need not be added to pages that are protected continuously.
3. List the page at Misplaced Pages:List of protected pages#Semi-protection. Remember to remove the listing when you unprotect.
4. When protecting a user or user talk page, {{usertalk-sprotect}} may be used instead.

Unprotecting pages

Requests for a page to be unprotected can be found here: Misplaced Pages:Requests_for_page_protection#Current_requests_for_unprotection

Tools

• While the recent history of an article should be checked before semi-protecting, this tool is useful for tracking vandalism on a particular page over a longer period. It can be misleading, however; for instance, it will show a high vandalism rate if a low-traffic page gets just one instance of vandalism per day.

See also

• Misplaced Pages:Protection policy, which deals principally with full-protection, but contains much of Misplaced Pages's philosophy regarding protection.
• m:Protected pages considered harmful.
• Template:Editprotected, process for protected edit requests applicable to protected pages of any level.

Notes

1. ^ "Proposal: limited extension of semi-protection policy", Jimmy Wales, WikiEN-l, May 19, 2006
2. includes articles, but not templates

• Misplaced Pages policies
• Misplaced Pages vandalism